Ticket to Ride

Unlike most board games, Ticket to Ride hasn’t yet been adapted to death, with only the XBLA version coming prior to this multiplatform release. As such, the fact that this is just a one-to-one recreation of the physical product isn’t too much of a problem. It’s a perfectly enjoyable family game, which is to say it’s at least 50% luck, and it’s been brought to life in exquisite fashion. The controls, art, and audio are all impeccable, albeit missing some variety in the latter. The rapidity of a video game format quickly reveals how interchangeable each match can feel, however, which could have been alleviated with more ticket and map variety. Unfortunately, the adherence to the original game extends to its use of expansions. This means that the initial price only buys a single map, while the others have to be purchased separately. Considering that three of these expansions (including one specifically made for this version!) were available as day-one DLC, it’s a reprehensible setup that sours a lot of the experience.

Note: this score was changed from 6.0 to reflect the author’s changing opinion.