iOS Universal, Android, Kindle, PC/Mac •
Somehow I had forgotten that Asmodee Digital, our eventual lords and masters, had taken over control of one of the most venerable digital board games, Ticket to Ride. From our point of view, it’s not all that relevant who’s doing the publishing duties, but it did strike me that we seemingly can’t go a day without mentioning the Asmodee juggernaut. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a juggernaut. Today’s Asmodee news revolves around a new expansion for TtR, the UK.
Unlike most expansions for TtR that add a new map and, maybe, a new way to play your trains, the UK expansion includes an entirely new mechanism: technology. This mechanism changes the way locomotives work and adds Technology cards that can alter your wagons. It sounds like the new wagons allow you to break long-standing rules in the TtR-verse, but I’ll let the Asmodee PR folks explain it in their own words:
The Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom expansion adds special rules for locomotives, along with 16 new technology cards to improve wagons. These cards allow players to develop technologies and create routes with more than two wagons in England. Examples include Concession, Mechanical Stoker and Propeller cards for claiming new routes (including ferries); Boiler Lagging, Steam Turbines and Double Heading cards for earning extra points; and Right of Way, which allows players to claim existing routes.
Of special interest to you, the Stately Players [don’t worry, I’ll get him to stop trying to push that as a thing. -ed.], is Ticket to Ride’s online multiplayer which, unlike most Asmodee titles, is asynchronous. I know it’s a bit lighter game than we’re used to playing around these parts, but a few games of Ticket to Ride are never unwelcome, and this new expansion sounds interesting enough that I might just drop some coin and pick it up. Who’s with me? Hello? Okay, so maybe not, but the expansion still sounds pretty cool.
- Ticket to Ride for iOS Universal, $6
- Ticket to Ride for Android, $7
- Ticket to Ride for Kindle, $7
- Ticket to Ride for PC/Mac via Steam, $10
I’m with you!!!
The problem with the async is that sometimes it seems to drop people even before their time runs out.
Before setting up any kind of tournament, we might want to test that.
Which I’m open for testing.
I’m whovian223 on the Days of Wonder buddy list system as well.
TtR is a great game and has always been a very solid app. I’m surprised it doesn’t get more attention at strategy gaming sites.
i remember that our Buddies group had great problems to get a multiplayer game started. always someone could not see the game, again and again and again.
we kept changing the players who sent the invites, but then someone else could not join.
it was far from solid, it was nerve wrecking.
not sure if problems like these have been fixed by now.
Ironically, the best way to play TtR asynchronously was through the TtR Pocket app … which was discontinued years ago.
I used to just use the 2X setting and play it on my iPad. It worked really well.
Currently, the lobby is a mess, a holdover from the Days of Wonder era. It’s possible Asmodee will try to clean it up and make it more user-friendly, but I don’t know what their plans are.