Ticket to Ride Tournament

Dad was able to take Monday off from work so we decided that the best way to spend that time is to figure out who is the Ultimate Ticket to Ride World Champion. My parents have all six games and on most nights we play a round or two.

We started with the USA version with the 1910 expansion. The main difference between the original and the expansion is the size of the cards and more destinations. I won this round!!! Yeah, go me! Mom didn't realize that you can't use double-tracks with 3 people so that messed up her score. (The other games I'll talk about are only for 3 people and you can use double-tracks then.)

Next was Europe and we were pretty close on this one. I won by 7 points with dad close on my tail. Europe has tunnels and you only have the opportunity at the beginning to take a long destination. Also, Europe has the train stations to allow you to use another person's track.

Germany was my worst game. You have the choice between long and short destinations. At home, this is how Nate and I always play and it works out for us. This is our high scoring games (near 200). So, thinking I'll blow my parents out of the water again, I picked 4 long ones. They were all close together straight up and down the board. However, I got blocked and when I figured out how to get my trains connected I was one train short and only completed one destination. My sad pathetic score was 16. (Mom won) Also, Nathan and I have decided on house rules where the written rules were fuzzy which my parents didn't agree with (not that it would have helped me). Germany is the game with train passengers and takes a little longer to set up.

Switzerland wasn't too eventful but it helped my mood since I won by almost 60 points. In Switzerland you have to borrow your trains, score markers, and train cards from another game to play.

Next was Nordic which has been the game we've played the most so far. I found a trick that works for me and won by 100 points. Yeah! Go me!

Finally, we played the card game version of Ticket to Ride. This requires a lot of concentration and a good memory (visual memory). I need to play this one more to get the hang of it. Dad won this game.

Since we played all the games, the person with the lowest score gets to choice the seventh game so they have a shot at redeeming themselves. So mom picked Europe. Dad won this round with me in last place. In my defense I had Hailey on my lap the whole time. She wasn't really bad but gives me an excuse.

And now for the final scoring to declare the World Champ...(drum roll, please)... Mom came in last with 790, with dad ahead with 833, making me the winner with 860. Yeah!!!

I think USA is my favorite because it's simple and familiar. However, Nordic Countries is getting up there because it's meant for three (Darlene likes to play with us when she's over) and I'm getting better at it. Nathan generally beats me at USA. He analyzed where the more populated cities are in reference to destinations.