TICKET TO RIDE

RULES OF THE TICKET TO RIDE EUROPE BOARD TACTICAL TOURISM GAME

From the craggy hillsides of Edinburgh to the sunlit docks of Constantinople, from the dusty alleys of Pamplona to a windy train station in Berlin, Ticket to Ride Europe takes you on a new adventure train through cities large in Europe.

Do you dare to venture on a trip through the dark tunnels of Switzerland? On an adventurous ferry across the Black Sea? Or build lavish train stations in the great capitals of the old empire? Your next choice in Ticket to Ride Europe could just make you Europe’s greatest train tycoon!

Video tutorial on how to play the game

TICKET TO RIDE EUROPE BOARD GAME COMPONENTS

• 1 Map of European train routes
• 225 Colored train carriages
• 158 Illustration Cards
• 15 Station
• 5 Wood scores
• 1 Instruction manual

Note: Players familiar with the first game in the series, Ticket to Ride, should pay attention to the following new features: Ferries, Tunnels, and Train Stations.

GAME SETUP

Place the Ticket to Ride Europe map in the center of the table. Each player receives a set of 45 colored Train Cars, a set of three colored Train Stations, and corresponding scoring wood.

In Ticket to Ride Europe, each player places his scoring wood at the starting point on a scoring track that runs along the border of the map. Throughout the game, every time a player scores a point, he puts down more of his scoring wood.

Shuffle the train cards and deal 4 cards to each player. Place the remaining ship deck near the map, then turn over the top 5 cards and place them next to each other.

Place the European Express Bonus and the Summary card, face up next to the map.

Take the Destination Ticket set and discard the long route cards (six Destination Tickets with a blue background) with the regular routes; Shuffle the long route cards and deal them randomly to each player. Place the remaining long routes in the game box without anyone seeing them.

Now shuffle the regular Arrival Tickets – short routes with smooth backgrounds -, divide three tickets among each player and place the remaining ticket in a face-down draw pile next to the map.

BEGIN THE GAME

Before making their first Ticket to Ride Europe play, players must select an Arrival Ticket to keep from among the Tickets initially allocated. Each player must hold a minimum of two tickets although more may be held.

Place any Arrival Tickets you want to discard into the Ticket to Ride Europe game box without other players seeing it. Abandoned tickets can be long-haul tickets or regular tickets. The tickets you decide to keep will be kept until the end of the game.

GAME GOAL

The goal of the Ticket to Ride Europe game is to score the highest total score. Points can be earned by:

• Master the Route between two adjacent cities on the map;
• Complete a continuous route between the two cities listed on your Destination Ticket(s);
• Complete the longest continuous run to win a European Express reward card;
• Get points for each Train Station reserved at the end of the game.

In Ticket to Ride Europe, players lose points for each Ticket to Ride that is not completed by the end of the game.

HOW TO PLAY

Whoever travels to Europe the most gets to start the game and play continues clockwise.

During their turn, the player must perform one (and only one) of the following four actions:

Draw a Train Card – The player can draw two Train cards (or just one if the card he draws is Locomotive, Locomotive has special rules);

Own a Route – Players own a route on the map by using a set of Train cards of the same color as the route and enough numbers to fill the spaces on the route. The player places a colored ship in each space and scores points on the Route Score Board for the length of that route;

Draw Arrival Tickets – The player draws three Arrival Tickets on the same set of Ticket cards, must keep at least one card;

Build a Station – Players can build a station in any city that doesn’t already have a train station. To build a train station, players use a Train card of any color and place their train station on that city. To build the second station, the player uses two cards of the same color, and to build the third station uses three cards of the same color.

WITHDRAW THE TRAIN CARD

Ticket to Ride Europe has eight types of regular train cards, with a quantity of 12 cards of each type and 14 Locomotive cards. The colors of each type of Train card match the colors of the different routes between cities on the map – Purple, Blue, Orange, White, Green, Yellow, Black and Red.

If a player chooses to draw a Tau card, he can draw two cards per turn. Either of these cards can be drawn from the five face-up cards next to the map or from the top of the deck (blind draw).

If a card is drawn face up, the player must immediately replace it with a new card taken from the same draw pile. If a player chooses a face-up Locomotive card, that is the only card they can choose this turn (see Locomotive).

If at any time three of the five face-up Train cards are Locomotives, all five cards are immediately discarded and five new cards are turned face-up to replace them.

Players can have as many cards in their hand as they like. When the draw pile runs out, the discarded decks will be created into a new draw pile. The cards must be shuffled thoroughly as they are usually discarded in sets.

In the rare event that there are no cards left in the draw pile and no cards to shuffle due to the player having all the cards in hand, the player will not be able to draw the Tau card. He must then Own the Route, Draw an Arrival Ticket or Build a Station.

LOCOMOTIVE

The locomotive comes in many colors and acts as an irregular card in the game.

The locomotive card can be played with any set of cards while owning the route. They are also important for players to own Ferries (see Ferries).

If a face-up Locomotive card is chosen during a card draw, it will be the only card chosen that turn. If a face-up Locomotive replaces the first card drawn during the turn, or if a face-up Locomotive is available but was not first (and only) chosen, it cannot be chosen as the second card.

However, if a player is lucky enough to get a Locomotive from the top of the deck in one draw, it still counts as one card and he can draw a total of two cards in the same turn.

OWNERSHIP OF THE ROUTE

A route is a set of continuous colored spaces (in some cases gray spaces) between two adjacent cities on a map. To own a route, the player must play a set of Train cards whose color and number match the color and number of spaces of the selected route.

Most routes require a specific set of colored cards to possess. The locomotive can always be used as a substitute for any color (See example 1).

Gray routes can be owned using a set of cards of any one color (See example 2).

Once a track is owned, the player places his plastic train in the empty space of the track. The tokens used to own the route are then discarded. Players will immediately score their points by moving the Scoring Wood to the appropriate number of spaces along the Scoring Line, on the Scoring Board.

A player can own any empty route on the map. He is not connected to his previously owned route.

The entire route must be owned in one go. For example, you cannot line up two ships on a three-space route and wait until the next turn to line up the third ship.

Only one route can be owned in one turn.

DOUBLE ROUTE

Some cities are connected by Double Lines. These are routes with parallel and equal gaps from one city to the other.

One player cannot own both routes between the same cities throughout the game.

Please note that parallel routes that lead to different cities are not dual routes.

Note: In a two to three player game, only one of the two Double Tracks may be used. A player can own one of two routes between cities, the other route will be closed for the remainder of the game.

FERRY ROUTE

Ferries are special gray routes that connect two adjacent cities across bodies of water. They are a prominent Locomotive symbol(s) on at least one of the spaces that make up the route.

To own a Ferry Line, the player must use a Locomotive card for each Locomotive symbol on the line and a set of regular cards that match the color of the remaining spaces of that Ferry Line.

For example: Owning a Ferry Line from Smyrna to Palermo requires four Train cards of the same color and two Locomotives.

TUNNEL

In Ticket to Ride Europe, tunnels are special routes identifiable by distinctive signs and lines around each of their spaces.

What makes the tunnel special is that the player will never be sure how long the route he is trying to own will be!

When trying to own a Tunnel route, the player first places the required number of cards according to the length of the route. Then, turn the three cards face up on the same pile to draw the Chinese card.

Example: Two parallel tunnels (Black/White) connect Madrid to Pamplona.

For each flipped card that matches the color of the cards played to possess the Tunnel, an additional card of the same color (or Locomotive) must be used by that player. Only then can the player successfully own the tunnel.

If a player does not have enough extra Ship cards of the same color (or does not want to use them), they can take all the cards back and end the turn.

At the end of the turn, three face-up Train cards for Tunnels are discarded.

Remember that Locomotives are colorful irregular cards. Therefore, any Locomotive card drawn from the top of the draw pile while trying to take possession of the tunnel, will automatically match the color of the train card used on the route and force the player to use an additional card.

If a player wants to own a Tunnel using only a Locomotive card, he will only have to play an additional card (in this case it must be an additional Locomotive) if he draws a Locomotive out of the three cards drawn for the Tunnel .

In the rare event that there are not enough cards in the draw pile and discard pile to turn 3 cards face up, only the available cards will be turned face up. If due to the player hoarding cards there are no more cards left to flip, it is possible to own a tunnel but also play additional cards.

WITHDRAW TICKETS TO

Ticket to Ride Europe players can draw additional Ticket to Ride cards during their turn. The player draws three cards from the top of the Arrival Ticket Deck.

If there are less than three Arrival Tickets in the deck, the player only draws the available cards.

Players who draw Tickets must keep at least one ticket, but may choose to keep two or all three. Any drawn Tickets not kept in hand will be placed at the bottom of the Arrival Ticket Deck.

Tickets drawn without immediate discard must be kept until the end of the game. They cannot be removed in a subsequent Ticket draw.

The cities listed on the Arrival Ticket indicate the player’s travel goals; they may have bonuses or face penalties.

If at the end of the game Ticket to Ride Europe, a player creates a continuous route of colored plastic trains between two cities named on the Arrival Ticket he holds, he scores additional points equal to the Points Value on the ticket .

If he does not complete the journey continuously between those cities, he will be deducted points equal to the Points Value on the Ticket.

Arrival Tickets are kept secret until the end of the game. A player can have multiple Arrival Tickets in the game.

TRAIN STATION CONSTRUCTION

A train station allows its owner to use one and only one other player’s route into (or out of) that city, allowing the player to connect the cities on his Arrival Ticket.

Stations can be built on any unowned city, even if that city currently has no owned lines. Two players cannot build a station in the same city.

Each player can build up to one station per turn and three Stations throughout the game.

To build their first Station, the player will discard one of their Train cards, and place a train station of that color on the selected city.

To build a second station, the player must discard any two cards of the same color; and to build your third, three cards of any one color. As usual, you can replace any number of cards with Locomotive cards.

Station costs

If a player uses the same station to connect cities on multiple Tickets, he must use the same route into the city as the station for all of those Tickets. The Station owner does not need to decide which route to use until the end of the game.

Players are not required to build any stations. For each unused station, the player will be awarded four points at the end of the game.

GAME OVER

When a player has two or fewer plastic ships left at the end of a turn, each player, including that player, gets one last extra turn. The game then ends and players calculate their final score.

Two or fewer plastic ships signal the final turn of the game.

HOW TO CALCULATE POINTS

Players should score points while they complete different routes. To make sure you don’t make any mistakes, you can summarize the points for each player’s routes.

The player must then reveal all of their Arrival Tickets. The value of the successfully completed ticket is added to their total score. The value of any incomplete Tickets will be deducted from their point total.

When a player owns a route, he immediately scores the number of points assigned on the Route Scoring Sheet for the length of the route he just owned.

Remember that each station allows its owner to use one (and only one) other player’s route into that City for the purpose of completing the Arrival Ticket.

If a player uses the same station to connect cities en route for multiple Arrival Tickets, the player must use the same route into or out of the city as the station for all Tickets.

When a player owns a route, he immediately scores the number of points assigned on the Route Scoring Sheet for the length of the route he just owned.

Each player gets four extra points for each unused station at the end of the game.

Finally, the player(s) with the longest Continuous Route on the map receive a reward of 10 European Express points. When evaluating and comparing track lengths, only count continuous tracks of plastic trains of the same color.

A continuous route may include detours and pass through a city multiple times, but a plastic train may not be used twice in the same continuous path.

Competitor stations and routes are passed through, not counted towards the longest route. If multiple players have routes of the same length, each player will receive a bonus of 10 European Express points.

The player with the most points wins Ticket to Ride Europe.

If two or more players have the most points, the player who completes the most Arrival Tickets is the winner.

If there is still a tie, the player using the least number of Stations is declared the winner. In the rare event that the number of players is still tied, the player with the European Express bonus card wins.

CONCLUDE

Ticket to Ride Europe takes you on a train adventure across Europe. From Edinburgh to Constantinople and from Lisbon to Moscow, you’ll visit stunning cities. Like the original Ticket to Ride, the game remains simple to play and engaging for both families and experienced players.