Familydome! Ticket to Ride v TtR: Europe

I was all excited to do a Heroscape v X-wing thrashdome this week, then saw that one ran last year. Needing an alternative, I'll use my TtR dilemma. I've got the base game, never played Europe, but I've got a line on a cheap copy of TtR: Europe. Going to the in-laws soon, and they love TtR. I don't need two base games. Which do I leave at the in-laws?

choo-choo!

I got Europe first, and later got the 10th Anniversary of the original. I was crushingly disappointed in how bland and lifeless the original board felt, to the point that I never want to play it again. That I can't use the cool carriages on any other map was just the frosting on that particular shit sandwich.

I do think the 1912 Europa expansion's ticket options improve the Europe game for "gamers", but for family, I would always go for the basic Europe game. It looks fantastic, and the tunnels and ferry routes add some interesting choices/tension to the game that the original lacks.

I have every TTR map except for Maarklin, and Europe is my joint favourite with India.

neither, incinerate both and get airlines Europe.

Ticket to Ride: Europe is a very good game. Better than the original.

for non-gamers, some of the fun is playing on a map of things they recognize. I've played Europe with people who are turned off by not being able to find locations easily. I know, basic geography shouldn't be a turn-off point, but it is.

So, for me...non gamers like the one they recognize better.

Trashdome has imploded.

You want simplicity in a family game, but the original TTR is, to me, a little bit too simple. TTR:Eurpoe adds just enough extra's that it's more fun. I also find that if you're playing with little ones, as a N. American, the lessons in geography are a good thing. I know that I learned a decent amount about Geography because of Risk. Kamchatka wouldn't even have been on my radar without that game.

I haven't played the original since we got Europe if that's any indication.

Mad Dog wrote: Trashdome has imploded.

Well, come on back and start running this series again and you won't have rubes like me throwing these together.

For the rest, seems that most agree TtR is more casual so I think I'll leave that with the in-laws. They're _very_ casual. The wife and I play TtR quite a bit, so it'll be nice to play in Europe for awhile.

EDIT: Yeah, the geography is a big reason we play it with the kids. The thing is, when I drop the USA map, then we'll have EuroRails and TtR Europe at our house. Fun for me, I grew up there, but I'll probably need to get Empire Builder now or something for a good US map based game.

Tangent: What's that 90s eurogame where you travel the world looking for animals? Does it have city and country names on the map? Is it any good?

Jeff, I had a lot of Ticket to Ride stuff for a long time and eventually scaled it back to TTR: Europe along with the Switzerland map.

I do like that the US map a little more, just because I like how the routes out east are more congested and the ones in the west are more spread out. The Europe map leaves the big routes towards the outside of the board, and the congestion is in the middle. I also think the familiar geography is nice. It doesn't help that the Europe map uses the names in their original language, which removes a lot of potential familiarity.

That said, there are some tweaks that I like a lot more in Europe. I like the stations, which keep the middle of the board from getting completely locked up. It's a lot easier to win by pursuing a lot of short tickets, something that was basically impossible with the original board I think. So it's just a touch more balanced I think. I normally don't think that's a big deal, but with a casual game I feel it's a decent choice. Anyway they are able to accomplish it with a minimum of extra rules, which is admirable.

So yeah, TtR: Europe gets my vote.

What about that Europe 1912 Expansion? I'll be getting it as well in a bundle.

We threw out the little cards in TtR and always used the 1910 cards. Plus, I like the 'Big Cities' option for two.

What variants in 1912 are worth it?

One of the biggest problems of the original TtR map is that it is VERY easy to totally screw somebody. If memory serves, Atlanta connects to something and it's an important connection to grab early cuz it opens up possibilities. This is supposed to be a friendly casual family game but the opportunities to totally screw someone are abundant and creates problems.

TtR: Europe clearly addressed that problem and made more work-around solutions with the map design. It's a more friendly map and more fun for everyone.

I really don't like either game very much but I think TtR: Europe accomplishes what both set out to do much better than regular TtR.

Vote: TtR: Europe

1912 is good for the Big Cities tickets, possibly a "must" for two players if not three. I like that with 1912, you have some control over how tight the game will be. Big Cities, no stations being the tightest. Mega Europe and stations being the more open game. The warehouse/depot addition is not something I'll ever play with, after trying it out twice.

1910 is essential for the original. In fact I bought 1910 just for the cards so I'd have a set I could wear out. TTR cards get funky relatively quickly compared to a lot of other games.

TtR Original (=German game) over TtR Europe (=Euro) by a mile

The drama and tension of being able to make your ticket is what distinguishes TtR from so many other bland gaming experiences. The stations in Europe take that all away and make it more of a VP optimization game.

My favorite board is Nordic.

Every time the stations come up it's like everyone who complains about them forgets that you don't have to play with them, and that you can also use them on any map if you want to. It's a total non-argument.

Nordic is fun for what it is but yeesh, talk about clunky exception rules.
"You have to use locomotives for these locomotive spaces. Except if you use three cards of any colour instead."
"Three cards of a colour, right."
"No, any three cards, whatever colour. And you can't use locomotives for regular tracks. And that one big line up there has it's own rules, I'll get the rule book..."

JEM wrote: Every time the stations come up it's like everyone who complains about them forgets that you don't have to play with them, and that you can also use them on any map if you want to. It's a total non-argument.

Then WTF are we voting for? How much we like the map? I think when a good share (most?) of folks on BGG talk about the two games, stations is a factor.