The Header:
What is Ticket to Ride?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticket_to_Ride_(board_game)
XBLA Conversion
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/t/tickettoridexboxlivearcade/
Release Date and Price
Previews:
Team Xbox
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1955/Ticket-to-Ride/p1/
Screenshots:
Achievements:
http://www.360sync.com/2008/06/22/ticket-to-ride-achievements
Video Footage:
IGN XBOX 360
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/142/14253361/vids_1.html
Reviews:
IGN XBOX 360:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/884/884085p1.html
6.5, Passable
What is Ticket to Ride?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticket_to_Ride_(board_game)
Ticket to Ride (board game)
Ticket to Ride is a railway-themed German-style board game designed by Alan R. Moon and published in 2004 by Days of Wonder. The game is also known as Zug um Zug (German), Les Aventuriers du Rail (French), Aventureros al Tren (Spanish), and Menolippu (Finnish).
The game won the 2004 Spiel des Jahres, the Origins Award for Best Board Game of 2004 and the 2005 Diana Jones award and As d'Or, and came 2nd in the Schweizer Spielepreis for Family Games. Ticket to Ride: Europe won the 2005 International Gamers Award.
The game ends when one player has exhausted or nearly exhausted his or her supply of coloured train pieces. When this occurs, every player then plays one additional turn, after which they each reveal his or her previously hidden 'destination' cards. Additional points are awarded for having successfully completed the routes on the cards, whereas points are subtracted for any incomplete routes. A ten point bonus is awarded to the player who has the longest continuously connected set of routes.
XBLA Conversion
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/t/tickettoridexboxlivearcade/
Features
All aboard! Travel from coast to coast and visit all the stops on the exciting train adventure Ticket to Ride. Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler. Earn points as you claim your tracks and complete your tickets for your chance at the big score. From sea to sea, crisscross the nation as you build the longest route and take home the prize. It's hours of fun for your family and friends. Who will come out on top when the steam clears? Get your Ticket to Ride and see!
* Variable difficulty levels: Either locally or in Xbox LIVE® matches, choose Easy, Medium, or Hard A.I. opponents to challenge your gaming skills.
* Multiplayer: Play with up to three of your friends on a single console, or take on Ranked or Player matches over Xbox LIVE with up to five players.
* Leaderboards and achievements: Post your Xbox LIVE match results to the leaderboards. Follow game stats for each player such as Highest Score, Total Trains Played and their Time Spent Playing. And track your progress with twelve new achievements.
* Camera support: See yourself and your friends during gameplay with Xbox LIVE Vision Camera support.
Release Date and Price
All aboard! Get your Ticket to Ride the rails from coast to coast on this exciting train adventure. Based on the award-winning board game, Ticket to Ride features simple rules and fast play, promising fun for the whole family on Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler, earning points as you claim your tracks and complete your Tickets for your chance at the big score. Ticket to Ride supports play with up to five people on Xbox LIVE or four people on the same Xbox 360 as you lay track from coast to coast. Ticket to Ride features Leaderboards, Achievements and multiple levels of AI players to keep the challenges coming. Who will win when the steam clears? Get your Ticket to Ride and see this Wednesday!
Created by Vancouver-based publisher, Playful Entertainment, Ticket to Ride will be available worldwide (except Hong Kong or Taiwan) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.
Previews:
Team Xbox
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1955/Ticket-to-Ride/p1/
Ticket to Ride Hands-On (Xbox 360)
By: David Chapman - "WldCard"
Like peanut butter and chocolate, these days it seems like Xbox LIVE Arcade and board/card games are two great tastes that taste great together. After the critical success of games like Catan, Carcassonne, and Lost Cities, it's beginning to look like getting together with friends around the table for a good old fashioned game night will soon be replaced with firing up the 360 and chatting things up over Xbox LIVE. The latest board game to make the jump from analog to digital is Alan R. Moon's popular railway building game, Ticket to Ride.
In Ticket to Ride, up to five players compete in a race to build networks of railroads across the United States and parts of Canada. At the beginning of the game, players pick two Destination cards from a random selection of three. These Destination cards show a pair of cities on the map. The player must work to build railways between the two cities listed on each of their Destination cards using train cars of eight different colors, along with Locomotive cards, which act as wildcards and can represent any other colored car. Each turn, players can either claim routes (assuming they have the correct number and colors required), draw new Destination cards to build, or draw cards to add to their selection of rail cars. Players can draw two cards, either from five face up cards, or from a blind draw off the top of the deck.
Select two destination tickets
To get from Point A to Point B, players connect cities by claiming routes between cities, which is done by matching both the number and color of cars that makes up predetermined paths. There are also gray paths scattered around the map that can be built using the right number any single color. Players earn points by building routes between any cities on the map, with longer routes earning more points than shorter ones. Completing the goals of Destination cards earns the player bonus points, while failing to complete Destination goals result in a penalty. Bonus points are also awarded to the player who ends the game with the longest continuous railway.
Ticket to Ride is one of those games that's pretty simple to get the hang of, but requires a lot of strategy to excel at. While the game is certainly fun on its own merits, the competitive nature of the game lends an extra level of excitement. Working against others to build the best and most expansive railway while trying to head others off at the pass, all while trying to connect your Destination goals is a thrill. And while the game's AI proves a good challenge for any skill level, the real fun comes in taking on live opponents in full five player multiplayer games over Xbox LIVE. Games are quick to set up and jump into, and seem to play without ever getting derailed by lag issues. As an added bonus, Playful Entertainment and Days of Wonder have plans to release additional maps and expansions to the game via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
As far as the game's overall presentation goes, there's not a whole lot that can be added to the board game experience. The overall setup is laid out nice and clean, and it's easy to keep track of everything happening on the screen. One problem I ran into in this build of the game, though, is in reading some of the routes on the map. It's difficult to tell the difference between the orange and red routes on the board, and the city labels occasionally obscure parts of the routes, making it difficult to tell just how many or what kind of cars it takes to complete them.
So far, it looks like Ticket to Ride will make the jump from the table to the console without too much difficulty. The digital version is just as much fun to play with friends as the original, but without all the necessary set up and clean up. If you've tried out Carcassonne and Catan and are looking to expand your XBLA board game library, Ticket to Ride should be worth a look when it finally pulls into the station later this year.
Screenshots:
Achievements:
http://www.360sync.com/2008/06/22/ticket-to-ride-achievements
Update 1: I just want to clear a misconception. We believe a small achievement policy change has taken place, but do not have any proof other than what the old rule stated, and the sudden change with the impending release of Ticket To Ride. Could DLC be launching with the title? Either way, until the game comes out, which is rumored to be this Wednesday, we wont have an idea.
Well, we got a ticket to ride, and well be playing it soon on the Xbox Live Arcade. Yet until that time, its time for another sneak peak at some achievements!
Ticket To Ride will launch with an unusual 15 achievements for 250 points. It seems an unannounced achievement policy change has taken place, since games are supposed to launch with only 12, and add more with DLC. Yet, we arent complaining! Youll need to win some games online, play the tutorial, and even find the secret achievement to get all all of them! The full list below!
Achievements
Basic Training
Complete the Tutorial.
5
Train Drain
Play all of your Trains during the match.
10
No Train, No Gain
Win 1 Ranked match playing Ticket to Ride.
10
The Long Haul
Attain the Longest Continuous Route bonus card 5 times.
10
One Track Mind
Make sure all of your Routes are connected by the end of the match.
5
The Big Score
Score at least 150 points in a single match.
30
Canadian Content
In a Xbox LIVE match, connect all Canadian cities and win.
25
All Aboard!
Finish a match in which you have completed all of your Destination Tickets.
10
Loco Motive
Complete 8 or more Destination Tickets during a single match.
30
I Think I Can!
Win 25 Ranked matches playing Ticket to Ride.
30
Master Conductor
Complete 50 matches.
25
European Track Star
Complete each of the 6 European Destination Tickets worth 20 or more points.
15
Au Naturel
Win a Ticket to Ride Europe match without playing any Stations.
15
The Ticket Master
Keep all 5 Destination Tickets at the beginning of a 1910 Mega Game and win.
20
Secret Achievement
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.
10
Video Footage:
IGN XBOX 360
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/142/14253361/vids_1.html
Reviews:
IGN XBOX 360:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/884/884085p1.html
6.5, Passable
