Ticket to Ride

Section 1: Introduction

Ticket to Ride is a route-building board game for two to five players. Each player develops a railway network across a map of North America by collecting matching sets of Train Car cards and spending those cards to claim routes between neighboring cities.

Players earn points immediately for claimed routes. They can earn or lose additional points at the end of the game through Destination Tickets, which name two cities that must be connected by the player’s own continuous network. A bonus rewards the player or players with the longest continuous path.

Objective

Finish with the highest total score by balancing three goals:

• Claim routes between adjacent cities and score their printed lengths.
• Connect the city pairs shown on retained Destination Tickets.
• Build a long continuous path that may earn the longest-path bonus.

Players may discuss the board and enjoy the unfolding railway map, but hands and retained Destination Tickets remain private until final scoring. Claimed routes are permanent and cannot be traded, removed, or taken over during normal play.

Players and Playing Time

The standard North America game supports two to five players and commonly takes about 30 to 60 minutes. Fewer players usually produce a more open map, while four- and five-player games create greater competition for important connections.

Section 2: Components

A complete standard game requires the following equipment. Artwork and component colors may vary between printings, but every component must serve the same gameplay function.

• Game board: A map of North America showing cities, routes, route colors, route lengths, and a scoring track around the edge.
• Playing pieces: Forty-five plastic train cars for each player color are used to occupy claimed routes. Each player also has one spare train that may be kept aside as a replacement.
• Markers: One scoring marker in each player color tracks that player’s score around the board.
• Train Car card deck: Colored Train Car cards represent railway cars. The regular colors are purple, blue, orange, white, green, yellow, black, and red.
• Locomotive cards: Multicolored Locomotives belong to the Train Car deck and act as wild cards when claiming routes.
• Destination Ticket card deck: Each ticket names two cities and displays a point value based on the difficulty of connecting them.
• Longest continuous path card: This reminder card identifies the 10-point endgame bonus.

Understanding the Board

A route is a line of colored or gray spaces directly connecting two neighboring cities. The number of spaces is the route’s length and determines both how many train cars are required to claim it and how many points it scores.

Some city pairs are joined by double routes: two parallel routes of equal length. Each parallel line is a separate route. A player may never claim both routes in the same double-route pair.

Card Functions

Regular Train Car cards are collected into same-color sets. A Locomotive can substitute for a Train Car card of any color. Destination Tickets do not pay for routes; instead, they create secret objectives that are evaluated after the final turn.

Section 3: Setup

1. Place the game board where every player can reach it.
2. Each player chooses a color, takes 45 matching train cars, and places the matching scoring marker on the starting space of the scoring track.
3. Shuffle the Train Car deck. Deal four Train Car cards face down to each player.
4. Place the remaining Train Car deck face down beside the board. Turn over the top five cards and arrange them face up beside the deck.
5. If three or more of the five face-up cards are Locomotives, discard all five cards and reveal five replacements. Repeat whenever this condition occurs during play.
6. Place the longest continuous path bonus card near the board as a reminder.
7. Shuffle the Destination Ticket deck and deal three tickets to each player.
8. Each player secretly examines their three tickets and must keep at least two. A player may keep all three.
9. Return rejected starting tickets to the bottom of the Destination Ticket deck. Place the remaining deck face down near the board.

Players do not reveal which Destination Tickets they kept. There is no hand-size limit for either Train Car cards or Destination Tickets.

Starting Player

Choose a starting player by mutual agreement, a random method, or a lighthearted travel-themed choice such as the player who most recently rode a train. Turns then proceed clockwise.

Setup Check

Before beginning, confirm that every player has four Train Car cards, at least two Destination Tickets, 45 train cars, and a scoring marker on the start of the scoring track. The display must contain five face-up Train Car cards and fewer than three face-up Locomotives.

Section 4: Gameplay

On each turn, the active player performs exactly one of three actions: draw Train Car cards, claim one route, or draw Destination Tickets. After the action is complete, play passes clockwise.

Action A: Draw Train Car Cards

A player normally draws two Train Car cards, one at a time. For each draw, the player may take one of the five face-up cards or draw the top card blindly from the face-down deck.

• Whenever a face-up card is taken, immediately replace it from the deck before the player makes the second draw.
• If a face-up Locomotive is selected as the first draw, it is the player’s only card for that turn.
• A face-up Locomotive cannot be selected as the second draw.
• A Locomotive drawn blindly from the deck counts as an ordinary draw, so the player may still take a second card.
• If fewer than two cards are available in both the deck and display combined, the player draws only what is available.

Whenever three or more cards in the five-card display are Locomotives, discard the entire display and reveal five new cards. If the remaining deck does not contain enough cards to make a full display, reveal as many as possible.

When the face-down deck runs out, thoroughly shuffle the Train Car discard pile to form a new deck. If the deck and discard pile are both empty because cards are being held by players, no Train Car cards can be drawn until cards are spent and discarded.

Action B: Claim a Route

To claim an unoccupied route, play a set of Train Car cards equal to the route’s length. For a colored route, every regular card must match the route color. Locomotives may replace any number of the required cards.

Gray routes may be claimed using a set of any one regular color, together with any Locomotives. Different regular colors cannot be mixed in the same payment. A gray route of length four, for example, could be claimed with four blue cards, or with three blue cards and one Locomotive.

After paying, discard the cards face up and place one of your train cars on every space of the route. Move your scoring marker immediately according to the route-scoring table. A player may claim only one route per turn and may claim a route even if it does not connect to that player’s existing network.

A route cannot be claimed if the player lacks enough train cars to fill every space. Players cannot partially claim a route, cooperate on its cost, or place more cars later to complete it.

Double Routes

• In a four- or five-player game, both parallel routes may be claimed, but they must belong to different players.
• In a two- or three-player game, only one route in each double-route pair may be claimed. Once one side is occupied, the parallel side is closed to everyone.
• A single player may never claim both sides of the same double route, regardless of player count.

Action C: Draw Destination Tickets

Draw the top three Destination Tickets. If fewer than three remain, draw all remaining tickets. Examine them privately and keep at least one. A player may keep two or all three if desired.

Return rejected tickets to the bottom of the Destination Ticket deck. Tickets kept during the game remain in that player’s possession until final scoring and can never be discarded later.

Triggering the Final Round

When a player ends a turn with two or fewer train cars remaining, the final round begins. Every player, including the player who triggered the ending, receives one final turn. The game ends after the triggering player completes that final turn.

The final round begins only after the triggering turn is fully resolved. Having two or fewer trains during a turn does not matter if the player finishes that turn with more than two, although ordinary play provides no normal way to regain placed trains.

Section 5: Scoring & Winning

Points for Claimed Routes

Score a route as soon as it is claimed. The route’s length determines its value:

If a scoring marker was moved incorrectly during play, correct the score before calculating the final result.

Destination Tickets

After the final turn, all players reveal their Destination Tickets. For each ticket, check whether the player has a continuous chain of that player’s own claimed routes connecting the two named cities.

• If the cities are connected, add the ticket’s printed value.
• If the cities are not connected, subtract the ticket’s printed value.
• A network may branch, loop, and pass through the same city multiple ways.
• The same claimed route may help complete more than one Destination Ticket.
• Routes owned by opponents never count toward a player’s connection.

Longest Continuous Path Bonus

Each player identifies the longest continuous path formed by that player’s own train cars. The player with the longest path receives 10 points. If multiple players tie for the longest path, every tied player receives the full 10-point bonus.

A continuous path may pass through the same city more than once, but each individual claimed route may be counted only once in that path. Branches do not all add together automatically; the path must be traceable as one uninterrupted journey without reusing a route.

Winning and Ties

The player with the highest final score wins. If two or more players tie, the tied player who completed the greatest number of Destination Tickets wins. If still tied, the tied player who earned the longest continuous path bonus wins. If the tie remains after those comparisons, the tied players share the victory.

Section 6: Variants & House Rules

The standard rules provide the most balanced experience. The following optional variations are common choices for casual groups. Agree on all variations before setup so that every player uses the same expectations.

Family-Friendly Open Tickets

Players place their retained Destination Tickets face up. This reduces memory demands and makes it easier for adults to help younger players plan connections. For a gentler game, unfinished tickets may score zero instead of subtracting points.

Relaxed Locomotive Draws

Allow a face-up Locomotive to count as one of two normal draws. This makes wild cards easier to acquire and speeds route construction, but it reduces the importance of choosing between a Locomotive and two regular cards.

Ticket Market

Keep three Destination Tickets face up beside the ticket deck. When choosing the ticket action, draw any combination of three tickets from the market and the top of the deck, then keep at least one. Refill the market afterward. This variation gives players more control and makes some objectives public knowledge.

Friendly Route Protection

During a player’s first two turns, opponents may not claim both connections leading into the same city solely to trap that player. This informal courtesy is useful when teaching but requires good-faith judgment and is not recommended for competitive play.

Quick Game

Give each player 30 train cars instead of 45. Trigger the final round when a player ends a turn with two or fewer remaining cars. Shorter networks make difficult Destination Tickets riskier, so groups may also allow each player to discard and replace one starting ticket before play begins.

Long Game

Use all 45 train cars but do not trigger the final round until a player ends a turn with one or no remaining cars. This small change provides additional time for completing tickets while preserving normal component limits.

Team Play

With four players, form two teams seated in alternating order. Teammates keep separate hands, train supplies, turns, and claimed routes. Before setup, decide whether teammates may discuss plans openly and whether their routes count together for Destination Tickets. Add teammates’ final scores to determine the winning team.

Solo Puzzle

For an unofficial solo challenge, draw five Destination Tickets and keep all five. Play normal turns without opponents, but after each turn discard the leftmost face-up Train Car card and refill the display. Try to complete all five tickets before the supply of 45 train cars is exhausted, then calculate the normal score and attempt to improve it in later games.

Casual Etiquette

• Keep cards above the table and avoid revealing hidden tickets accidentally.
• Announce the cities and length of a route before placing train cars.
• Pause briefly after a route claim so everyone can verify the payment and score.
• Use a turn reminder if conversation makes it easy to lose track of the active player.
• Resolve unclear house-rule situations consistently, then record the decision for the remainder of the game.