Last night, we fit two games of Ticket to Ride in, both on the standard board. The first was the USA 1910 expansion, and the second was Big Cities. Let me tell you, it was not my night!

The USA 1910 expansion wasn’t too bad. The final score was Ryan 156, Amanda 144. I had no trains left at the end of the game, and completed 8 routes, but even with three trains left, Ryan managed to complete 10 routes and received the Globetrotter bonus.

Big Cities, however, was a disaster (for me, not for Ryan!). The final score was an embarrassing Ryan 157, Amanda 114. We both completed six routes, but there were no bonuses in this game (not that I would have benefitted from one, anyway). I had four trains left (and was so close to using them up and completing my seventh route!), but Ryan used all of his.

I have learned in playing that board that I should either play a train coming out of Las Vegas immediately at the beginning of the game, whether I think I need it or not, or just abandon any thought of using any route that goes through Las Vegas at all. In both games, I suffered from the fact the Ryan had a route through that city, which made it impossible for me to get a train in there, and in the first game we played, this completely ruined a non-insignificant (read: I probably would have won with it), route for me. Maybe it’s a coincidence, or maybe there’s a strategy involving that city…just an interesting bit of information to tuck away for the future!

I think there’s only one variation left on the standard board, other than the mystery train version, (we’re working on figuring out a way to play that one)–the mega map. It includes all of the destination tickets, plus the two bonus cards (Trans-America Express and Globetrotter). That will be the last game we play to end this challenge, so for now, it’s time to move on to another board!