Game Preview: Ticket to Ride: The Computer Game
By Rick Thornquist
December 10, 2005
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Designer: Alan R. Moon
Platforms: PC and Mac
Price: 29.95 US$ or 24.95 €
Note: Registered owners of the Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride - Europe boardgames will be able to purchase Ticket to Ride: The Computer Game at a discounted price that will be announced when the game ships.
Days of Wonder is going to be releasing Ticket to Ride: The Computer Game, a computer version of their award winning boardgames Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride - Europe. The computer version will be available on both PC and Mac platforms. The game will allow both solitaire as well as online play and will come with one year of access to Ticket to Ride Online.
This version will include both the United States map from Ticket to Ride, the Europe map from Ticket to Ride - Europe as well as an all new and exclusive Switzerland map.
Here’s a description of the game from publisher Days of Wonder:
| A better US… Play Ticket to Ride in a high full screen resolution on the US map you have come to know and love. New music, sounds effects and animations all contribute to bring this classic to a new height.
A Deeper Europe… The pitch-black tunnels didn’t scare you? The ferry ride didn’t make you seasick? But our new improved bots will give you a run for your money: for they now know the grand stations of Europe better than ever before! All new Swiss map! Looking for a new challenge? Ready to reach the height’s of train-gaming experience? Then climb aboard our latest train, and explore the brand new map of Switzerland, specially designed by Alan R. Moon for the computer version of Ticket to Ride! With a more limited train reserve, no locomotives in play, and new city-to-country and country-to-country tickets to draw from, you will soon discover that not all is as tranquil as it seems in the high passes and narrow valleys of Switzerland! This exclusive new 2-3 player map is only available in the new computer game version of Ticket to Ride. So what are you waiting for? Hop on board! |
Here’s some more information on the Switzerland map:
| The Swiss map plays with 2-3 players only and introduces new city-to-country and country-to country tickets to draw from. In addition, the 14 Locomotive “wild” cards from the previous versions are gone, replaced by 14 new Tunnel cards. Tunnel cards can be used to complement or replace the colored cards required to claim a Tunnel route, but they can never be used to help claim a regular (non-Tunnel) route! |
Ticket to Ride: The Computer Game is to be released after Christmas 2005.
(Thanks to Mark Kaufmann of Days of Wonder for the information and the pictures.)
| Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version | |
 | The Box |
 | The CD |
 | The Main Menu |
 | The Solo Play Screen |
 | The United States Map |
 | The Europe Map |
 | The Switzerland Map |
Posted by Rick Thornquist on Dec 10, 2005 at 06:53 PM in Game Previews / 2105
Comments:
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On the whole, the stand-alone version is pretty slick (although the irritating opening animation common to all computer game titles is present and correct.) The AI bots are competent but not serious opponents, which is a shame. I hope that the auto-update (which works well) will eventually include improvements to this aspect. Of course, it’s really intended for online play against “real” people… The Switzerland map is a hoot. Taking the tunnels aspect of TtR:Europe to a whole new level of hell, and removing the Loco jokers makes for a fun ride. The “city/country to country” tickets are a neat extension of the idea, although I’m concerned that the multiples might skew the game (I had a game in which I had two “Italy to X” and two “Germany to X” tickets, so once I’d linked Italy to Germany I was laughing.) In the end though, I think that it might simply be too pricey for what it is. If you can play on-line then you might as well use the DoW site directly. If you want a stand-alone version then the AI isn’t good enough. But good luck to them anyway. Posted by David Brain on Dec 11, 2005 at 08:02 AM | #
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