I have to admit something to you first, I got this board game yesterday. I bought it not because I’m fan of the “Ticket to Ride”, but because I love Berlin, as a town. What Athens was in Old, Florence in the Middle Ages, and NY in 20th century, that is Berlin today, and for the last twenty years. Plume of freedom. I have visited this city of about 6 mil. Inhabitants many times so far, for various reasons (apple strudels mit vanilla sauce, “Metallica“ concert, buying board games, New Year’s eve) and the impressions are always phenomenal.
A city where from every corner you can see the greenery and the sky, has excellent public transportation (as well as bicycle paths). So good that it was only a matter of time before “Ticket to Ride” was devoted to it.
In this sequel of the popular franchise, which scales perfectly from 2-4 players, you’ll get much more excitement than from other, small and large, “Ticket to Ride” incarnations. There’re at least three reasons for that:
First, more elongated and “dangerous” map and connections system, that enables quick, but more difficult decisions than those we’ve seen so far in the “Ticket to Ride” series.
Second, two types of vehicles: streetcars and subways cars, which are fewer (11 and 5 per player). Together with the appearance of the map and the positions of the possible routes, types and number of vehicles here, makes gameplay deeper and the fight for the right lines more cutthroat. At the same time, end game trigger is when one of the players has 0 or only one vehicle left in personal reserve, so you’ll fight until the last “train” and finally
Third, points you’ll potentially score by taking certain routes will put you in situations where you have to rethink and evaluate the decisions you’ve already made.
The quality of the components, as well as the art and atmosphere is excellent, the box is small, the gameplay is interesting, sometimes unforgiving. This “Ticket to Ride” will certainly keep us company during our next visit to Berlin. It’s perfectly match with apple strudel mit vanilla sauce (in “Einstein cafe”, across Checkpoint Charlie) or with excellent hot chocolate with cinnamon (in “Winterfeldt Schokoladen” in West Berlin). Bon appetite.
