Does he have a Ticket to Ride?

December 2, 2018 4:25 PM

Kid loves both trains and games. Should I get Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: First Journey? I've never played either, but it seems like an excellent gift idea. Child's game-playing credentials within.

My son is 6 and we play a lot of games. He's pretty good at Fluxx of all varieties (incl. the Fluxx board game), Aquarius, Carcassonne, Monopoly (at which he kicks our asses on the regular), Mille Bournes. He also recently started roleplaying with my husband and one of his D&D partners.

So, regular Ticket to Ride or the kids' version? Is the latter still fun for adults? Would he grow out of it quickly? Is the full version playable by reasonably game-savvy kids?

posted by soren_lorensen to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

The basic Ticket To Ride is not too complex - there are other versions that add more rules, but honestly there aren't a ton of rules in TtR. I'm sure he'd enjoy it fine.
posted by GuyZero at 4:33 PM on December 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

I think Carcassonne is probably more strategically intense than Ticket to Ride, so he'll probably do fine. You might want to go with the Europe version as a starter - it resolves some of the frustrations of the basic US version: e.g. everybody gets a "long" route worth around 20 points, there's ways around your route being blocked, and the cards are normal-sized.
posted by LionIndex at 4:34 PM on December 2, 2018

If he can handle the other games you mention, the regular version should be fine. TtR can go deeper, but at a basic level it's mostly just "build my trains, and is it better right now to try to reach my goals or mess with the other players's efforts."
posted by Wretch729 at 4:36 PM on December 2, 2018

We got Ticket to Ride First Journey for our daughter when she was six and it was a good fit, but she is not big on competition and doesn’t have the gaming skills of your six-year-old. My guess is you can successfully make the leap directly to regular Ticket to Ride, especially since it sounds like your six-year-old will be playing with you and your spouse, not other young kids.
posted by ElizaMain at 4:36 PM on December 2, 2018

The only arguments I could see for getting the kids' version might be attention span, (because a full game of ToR can go on for a bit), or that he might get bored or frustrated if he's not doing well but still has to stick it out for a long time til it's over. But it sounds like these are unlikely concerns for him, given his current preferences, so I'd say go with the full version!
posted by halation at 4:39 PM on December 2, 2018

or mess with the other players's efforts.

When playing with kids that can get easily frustrated by being stymied, we house rule that you can build on already claimed routes for an additional fee, similar to the stations in TtR Europe.

Catan Junior is back in print and has been a hit with my 8 year old good daughter and her friends.
posted by Candleman at 5:01 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I will admit that we like The First Journey better--it's a nice quick game that you can play in just 15 or 20 minutes. I like regular TtR, but it sometimes seems to drag a bit, and all your strategizing can end up for nothing. The First Journey has more smaller goals and you can feel your progress more easily as you play. Either would be good for your kid, I think, but I prefer the kids' version.
posted by gideonfrog at 5:04 PM on December 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

He’d be fine with the regular version but wouldn’t grow out of the kid’s version too quickly either; my 8 year old was in a similar place at 6 and still likes both First Journey and the US map version (we played the European version once but it had a few more game elements and was too much at about your kid’s age.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:37 PM on December 2, 2018

Seconding gideonfrog - First Journey is better! It's got the set-collecting fun, the colorful trains, a little strategy about routes, and then you're done. The full game can drag on.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:15 PM on December 2, 2018

I would go with Ticket to Ride: Europe if they are playing Fluxx and Carcassone! Its like TtR, but has a better board layout.
posted by Canageek at 10:19 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I like to update when I can: We got him Ticket to Ride First Journey and we all love it. He's still getting a hang of strategizing and I think there's enough in there now to make this a good game for him for a year or so. He is better at games where there's more of a chance element (you draw the cards/tiles/whatever you draw and have to make the best of them on a short term basis) than games where you have to strategize over multiple turns and adapt to the other players doing the same, so this is a good fit for him for right now. Maybe in another year he'll be ready to graduate to the full version.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:38 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]