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Ticket to Ride: Europe is a popular board game where players collect colored train cars, claim railway routes between cities, and complete destination tickets to score points. Here's a breakdown of the rules to get you started on your European train journey:
Number of Players:2-5 players
Objective:Earn the most points by strategically claiming routes, completing destination tickets, and collecting colored train cars. The player with the most points at the game's end wins!
Components:
Game board depicting a map of Europe with colored railway routes connecting cities
Train cars in various colors (usually red, yellow, blue, green, black, orange, white)
Destination ticket decks (long and short routes)
Player stations (wooden houses)
Player colored train tokens
Scoring markers
Setup:
Place the Game Board:Unfold the game board in the center of the playing area.
Train Car Supply:Place the train car piles (usually according to color) within easy reach of all players.
Destination Ticket Decks:Shuffle both the long and short destination ticket decks separately and place them face down near the game board.
Player Stations:Each player receives a set of colored train stations (usually 4).
Player Trains:Each player chooses a colored train token and places it on the scoring track at zero points.
Destination Tickets:Each player draws five destination tickets from both decks (long and short) and chooses to keep three (you can discard any unwanted tickets and draw new ones to replace them). Keep your chosen tickets secret from other players.
Gameplay:
Ticket to Ride: Europe is played over several rounds where players take turns collecting train cars, claiming routes, and completing destination tickets. Here's a breakdown of a turn:
Turns:
Players take turns in clockwise direction.
On Your Turn, You Can Choose ONE of the Following Actions:
Draw Train Cars:Draw two train cars from the train car supply. The cars can be of the same color or two different colors.
Claim a Route:If you have enough train cars of the matching color required for a route, you can claim it by placing your colored train token on the route. You then return the used train cars to the supply.
Draw Destination Tickets:Draw three new destination tickets from the remaining deck (short or long, depending on what's available) and choose to keep one or two (you can discard any unwanted tickets). The remaining tickets go back to the bottom of the deck.
Connecting Cities:Claimed routes must connect two cities that your train token already has a presence on (either by a previously claimed route or your starting city).
Tunnels:Some routes are marked with a black tunnel symbol. To claim these routes, you must discard additional train cars (usually two or three) of any color along with the required colored train cars for the route.
Long Tunnels:A few routes have a double black tunnel symbol, requiring even more train cars (usually four) of any color to be discarded when claiming them.
Claiming Routes with Other Players' Trains:If a route you want to claim already has another player's train token on it, you can "piggyback" on their route by placing your train token next to theirs. You still need the required colored train cars to claim the route, but both players will score points for that route at the end of the game.
Stations:During your turn, you can also choose to place one of your stations on any unoccupied city on the board. This allows you to claim a route departing from that city later in the game, even if it's not connected to any of your existing routes (marked by your train tokens). Stations are especially useful for claiming routes with multiple colors required.
End of Round:
A round ends when either:
The last train car is drawn from the supply.
No more players want to take any actions during their turn and choose to pass consecutively.
Scoring:
After the final round, players score points based on:
Completed Destination Tickets:Each completed destination ticket (connecting the two cities listed) scores points based on the ticket's value.
Claimed Routes:Players score points based on the length of the routes they claimed (indicated on the route itself). Routes with multiple players' trains score points for each player involved.
Longest Continuous Path (Optional Rule):The player with the longest continuous train route (regardless of color) on the board scores a bonus of 10 points (certain versions might have different point values).
Remaining Train Cars and Stations:
At the game's end,players receive points for any remaining train cars in their possession (usually one point per car).Unused stations do not score points.
Winning the Game:
The player with the most points after adding all the scores from completed tickets,claimed routes,longest continuous path (if applicable),and remaining train cars wins the game!
Additional Notes:
Face-Up Train Car Draw Option:Some variations allow players to choose between drawing two face-down train cars or one face-up train car from the visible train car supply.
Wild Locomotive Cards (Optional Rule):Some versions include wild locomotive cards that can be used as any color when claiming routes.
Ferry Routes:Specific ferry routes require locomotive cards (usually the number of locomotives shown on the route) to be claimed instead of colored train cars.
Ticket to Ride: Europe offers a strategic and engaging gameplay experience. It's a great choice for family game nights, gatherings with friends, or whenever you're looking for a fun and strategic board game adventure!