Editorial pick ยท $39.99, checked Oct 14

Ticket to Ride

Build train routes across America, block your family, win by one point. The board game that starts people on board games.

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Ticket to Ride No 03

Ticket to Ride is the game people buy after they realize Monopoly is the problem. Players collect colored cards and claim train routes between American cities, racing to connect the destinations on their secret tickets, and the tension of someone taking the route you needed is the whole experience. It is simple enough for an eight-year-old and sharp enough for adults.

It is the Christmas gift for a couple or a family with kids past the toddler years, the birthday present for grandparents who want a reason for the grandchildren to visit, and the game a friend group plays when there are five people and one table.

Two to five players, about an hour, with a big board and little plastic trains that are satisfying to place. Forty dollars for the game that has stayed in print for twenty years for a reason.

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