As the title to this review implies, I have never played the original Ticket to Ride nor the Marklin edition. My first and only experience with the series is Europe. So, how does it stand up in its own right?


Bits and Parts
- All the parts are well-made, but I don't understand why some parts are color-blind friendly and yet other pieces are completely color-dependent.

Board
As an owner of Railroad Tycoon, I thought the mapboard was of pretty standard size(read: not gigantor like RRT). "Oooh we better get the table out!" insisted my friend. Hah! I scoffed. You only need a regular-size table for this game. Pfft! In reality, however, it was really nice to see such a manageable board. Heck, I could probably have played this on my coffee table. In fact, the people in this picture look like they really are playing on a coffee table!

The train paths between all of the cities are of differing colors, and even have symbols on them to assist the color blind. Not that this makes the game friendly to people with trouble distinguishing colors (see the rant on the game pieces, below), but I guess it is a nice touch nonetheless?

Game Pieces
As for the bits themselves, they're little plastic train-cars. They are pleasing to handle, and I found them surprisingly un-fiddly. I do have small hands, however.
My primarily complaint with the train car pieces is that they are indistinguishable other than color. And knowing which ones are yours and which belong to someone else, and knowing the location of all of them, is critical to successful gameplay. So: this is not a game for the color-blind! This is especially confusing considering the care taken to make other components color-blind friendly (see Board above and Cards below)!
The other pieces are stations (also plastic) and score-counters (wooden), and they are nice too other than the same color-dependency problem.


Cards
There are cards for various purposes (destination tickets and train tickets) and these are nicely made. The colored train cards even include symbols to assist the color blind (for whatever good that does - ref. the Game Piece section above).

Rules
- Not as easy to learn as some people claim, but nothing the average person can't pick up after playing through once. And at least the rules make sense!

This game is touted as being so simple, you can teach it in 5 minutes. Lies, I say, lies! It took more like 20-30 minutes for me to learn it, primarily because of the following nuances (no, not because i'm slow, although i'm sure that didn't help):

1. Tunnels
2. Two tracks running between two cities, side by side (rule differs depending on if you're playing with 2-3 people or with 4-5)
3. Engine cards (sometimes required for a certain track, but can also be used as a wild-card)
4. Stations (although these really help you out when you've been blocked off by someone! I haven't played the original version, but I can't imagine playing without them now!)
5. Drawing Engine cards (when it means you can draw one card, and when you can still draw a 2nd card, and when you have to replace the entire set of face-up cards due to too many Engines present)
Granted, it's still a pretty easy game to grasp. After you've played through it once, you'll have the rules down fine. But it will still take some effort to explain to newbies, and will take some attention on their part to absorb the rules properly.

Theme
- Who doesn't like trains? Plus, I think the theme works. The game isn't a realistic simulation by any means, but I do always feel like i'm planning out my little European train empire. It's a fun theme, and doesn't come across as too pasted-on. A winner.

Gameplay
- Woohoo! The game flows well and feels balanced. There is a nice mix of strategy, tactics, and luck.

Strategy
This isn't a heavy brain-burner by any means. But you can certainly plan ahead successfully. You can negate the ill effects of luck, and I always felt in control of my destiny rather than just wishing i'd get a better draw or whatever. And I think a little guile is useful too - you don't want your opponents to know where you're headed or else they might block you on purpose. On the other hand, you don't want to wait too long to nab a route, otherwise someone else might snag it first.

Tactics
Overall the game is probably more tactical than strategic. While you can (and should) have an overall plan, you will also have to make adjustments based on everyone else's moves each turn. You might have to go a different route than expected, and that may or may not also mean you need to draw additional cards, or you may need to use a station. You do need some flexibility.

Luck
Yup, there's luck. Luck o' the draw, to be exact. You draw destination tickets, and you draw train cards. In both cases, you get a certain amount of choice, which helps negate the luck factor. Also, I feel like the luck involved simply keeps the game fresh each time (and makes it more newbie friendly), but does not prevent a skilled player from remaining in control of his or her own victory. Sure, you might still lose no matter what, but more times than not, if you know what you are doing and make smart choices, you will win.

Aggressiveness
There is potential for a high screw-you factor in this game. But then again, I play Carcassonne with the entire goal of stealing all your castles and farms. So probably any game I play is going to be sort of aggressive. But, TtR:Europe definitely encourages players to block each other's routes. With 4 or 5 players, the board can become a real battleground, with everyone trying to work in and around each other to get to their destinations. The stations do mitigate this some, however, by allowing you to use another player's track as your own. This can get you out of some tough spots, but also can't save you every time.
On the other hand, the game plays almost solitaire with 2 players (unless you are playing someone like me, who will spend just as much time trying to block you as trying to reach my own destinations).
So with 2 or 3 players, it depends on the style of the players involved. With 4 or 5 players, things are going to be a little tenser, no matter who is playing.

Analysis Paralysis
Depends on your group, but generally minimal. There are only a couple of actions you can choose between in a turn, and while you might sit there for 5 minutes going "draw? or lay track? draw? lay track? augh!" it won't be anything too drawn out.


Conclusion
- Wonderful game, but loses a half-star for falling so sadly shy of being color-blind friendly.

This game is fun! It is well-balanced, in terms of strategy vs. luck, and in terms of being friendly to newcomers yet rewarding to old-timers. The theme is nice, and it is visually pleasing to lay your train pieces on the board and see your routes develop. It is especially fun to block your buddy's route and really piss him or her off.
But, it isn't as theme-draped as some "Ameritrash" games, and it isn't as heavy as some of the other rail games (such as the 18xx series or even Railroad Tycoon/Age of Steam). It is not a simulation, after all.
It is also easier to teach than the heavier games, and I find the theme more interwoven into the game than that of Settlers of Catan.

I only have one real serious complaint against the game: it comes so close to being color-blind accessible, but falls so tragically short. I guess they get kudos for making the cards and board non-color-dependent, but if they hadn't done that, I wouldn't be so irritated that the game still remains inaccessible to the color-blind!

Assuming you are not color-blind, however, you should go out and play this game. If you're new to board-gaming, this is a great start. Or if you are just new to the series, this is a great start as well!

nice and comprehensive review you got there.

I wanted to mention the potential problem for color-blind players. Being color-blind myself, I had absolutely no problems with the train colors (we generally don't see in anything resembling B&W, and the trains have enough difference in hue and shade that I doubt even that would be a problem). The tracks and cards, on the other hand - well, it's good there is also a matching symbol, because they are much paler and a little confusing.

This is the first TtR I ever played, just the other day in fact - and it's now at the top of my shopping list!

I am considering TtR:E for my family game group and was wondering if you felt TtR:E was a good introduction to the game?

It seems to me that the original, with its simpler rules may be a better introduction. However, this version seems so much more interesting to me.

If you could only purchase one, which would it be - TtR or TtR:E?

Thanks,
Mark