After viewing the not so great reviews that the 10 Days series gets here on the geek, I hesitated to make the buy for my family. However, my homeschooled kids have been studying world geography, and I thought that it would be a good way to introduce it to them in a fun way. I bought 10 Days in the USA 4 months ago and 10 days in Europe a while after that. In short, both of the games have been far more fun, more tactical, and more rewarding than I thought they would be.

The only change in 10 Days in Europe (except for th obvious) over its American counterpart is the replacement of cars with oceans. Now, instead of packing the kids into the minivan and heading down the interstate, you can travel through the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean or Baltic seas. In my playings, I do believe this adds a bit more challenge, but not enough to be overboard. The planes, including the colors for the planes stay the same for both versions.

Tactically, the game can be quite rewarding, and this was quite a surprise from what I expected. I thought that you would quickly reduce your hand into needing one or two tiles - and the rest of the game would be a blind draw to get the needed cards. In actually, this rarely occurs. I find that decisions often need to be made regarding whether or not you should "break up" a portion of the route which could help your flexibility. I believe this flexibility is essential, and makes the game far more fun.

Likewise, I had assumed that your initial tile draw was an all-important determinate of your success in the game. I was surprised to find that this was not the case. In fact, some of the fastest games occurred when I thought my initial card draw was awful. A few plane cards later - I had won.

I usually play the game with my 7 yo son and 5 yo daughter. I do not allow them to win but offer some handicapping rules. My daughter is allowed to rearrange her hand at any time, and my son may rearrange the hand at the beginning. Playing this way, I can give it my all and yet they still win 75-80% of the time.

Of course, they are learning excellent geography all the while. Despite the fact that I have to pronounce "Bosnia-Herzegovina" more than I can remember, we have a great time playing. I have also caught them playing there own solitaire variant we call "40 Days in Europe", where they use all of the tile holders to make a mega-journey.

In closing, 10 Days in Europe has been a fun and educational addition to our gaming collection. I have 10 Days in Asia waiting for Christmas - so I'll report back on how they like the trains. Highly recommended.