Ticket To Ride: Amsterdam

Everyone who has been or dreamed of visiting such a tantalising city as Amsterdam can now visit it in the XVII century thanks to Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam. So go by trains, oops, I mean cart! =)

Components

In Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam you will find a colourful playing field in the form of a map of trade routes in Amsterdam in the 17th century, 68 plastic carts (17 carts of each of 4 colours), 44 Transportation cards(8 multi-coloured Wild cards and 6 cards of each following colour: pink, blue, green, black, red, orange), 24 Contract cards, 16 Bonus Merchandise Bonus cards, 4 Scoring markers, rule leaflet.

Gameplay

If you’ve played Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride Europe, you’re familiar with the basic gameplay of the series. For those who haven’t played, the rules won’t be difficult either.

After placing the playing field in the centre of the table, each player (which can be from 2 to 4) chooses a colour and takes all the carts of that colour. Then each player is given two random Transportation cards and two Contract cards, of which the player must keep at least one in hand (the second one can be discarded if desired or both can be kept).

The remaining Transportation cards are mixed into the deck and the top five cards are revealed, which can be placed next to the field within reach of all players. If at any point in the game there are three multi-coloured Wild cards in the five open Transportation cards, all five Transportation cards are instantly discarded and a new five Transportation cards are revealed from the deck. The remaining Contract cards are also shuffled and placed next to the field. Bonus Merchandise Bonus cards are also placed next to the field.

Players need to keep their Contract cards secret. If the Contract cards are fulfilled at the end of the game, the numbers on them will bring the same number of victory points to their owner. However, if the Contract cards are not fulfilled, the numbers on them are deducted from the holder of the Contract cards.

On a player’s turn, he performs only one action out of three possible actions, namely:

– Draw Transportation Cards. A player may draw two Transportation cards blind from the top of the Transportation cards deck or draw an open card from the five open Transportation cards. If a player draws a multi-coloured Wild card when it is revealed, their turn ends – they draw only that card. However, if you get two multi-coloured Wild cards in the blind, you keep them. You can take one card out of the five open cards and then after replenishing the market of Transportation cards take the second card from the top of the deck or vice versa.

– Claim a route. If a player has collected enough Transportation cards of one colour, he can claim a route of the corresponding colour by discarding the required number of Transportation cards and placing his carts on the corresponding section, immediately receiving as many points as indicated in the scoring table (e.g. a track of one/two carts will bring you one/two points respectively, but three placed carts will bring you four points). If there is a cart symbol on the occupied area, the player receives one Merchandise Bonus card, which will be counted at the end of the game.

– Draw Contract cards. If a player has already completed his Contract cards and still has carts left, he may try his luck and draw an additional two Contract cards. The player will need to keep at least one of them. This can bring more victory points, especially if the Contract card already turns out to be fulfilled thanks to your previous Contract cards and carts.

Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam continues until one player has two or fewer plastic carts left, at which point each player takes one final turn including that player. Then, players add the victory points for the displayed carts to the victory points for the completed Contract cards and determine which player has received the Merchandise Bonus by comparing the number of their Merchandise Bonus cards. The bonus is also added to the victory points. The player with the most victory points is declared the winner.

Final Opinion On Ticket To Ride: Amsterdam

I’m a big fan of the Ticket to Ride series of games. I love them for their brevity, thoughtfulness and fairly simple threshold of entry into the big world of board games hobby. Ticket to Ride leaves no one indifferent and I haven’t met a single person who wouldn’t say that it’s a good game. Even if a person is not very fond of board games, a game of Ticket to Ride will not tire him much.

However, a game of big Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride Europe with a full complement of players can take a long time, especially if everyone is trying to complete as many routes as possible. Sometimes you just don’t have an hour and a half or two hours to play a single game. That’s where the Ticket to Ride mini-series comes in, one of which is Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam (mini-series also includes Ticket to Ride: New-York, Ticket to Ride: London). It takes no more than 20-30 minutes to play with four people, and 10-15 minutes with two people. It’s almost like a filler, but the pleasant feeling of building your own transport network remains even in the mini version. It is also indispensable if you need to quickly explain and show the rules to a newcomer before sitting him down to play with experienced players.

Due to its small size, it is very convenient to take it to a visit, a road trip, or a pub. The quick set-up and easy rules allow you to play even on your lunch break. Of course, it will not replace the big version, but will please you no less. Play good games, and Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam is definitely one of them!