Matthew BaileyOn the 7th day of Christmas, my children played with me… Seven toiling train lines, Six locking safe keys… FIVE CARLSBERG CHIPS!, Four Sad Snowmen, Three Magnetic Mazes, Two “Unmatched: Witcher” sets, and a reaction game I played with all three!
Today’s review is a bit unusual because this is one of the few games I’ve reviewed that I haven’t actually played with my kids—though I definitely could have. Instead, “Ticket to Ride: Legacy – Legends of the West” is a game I started exactly one year ago on New Year’s Eve with Katie. Tonight, New Year’s Eve a year later, we’re playing the final game to determine the overall winner.
First, let’s talk a little about “Ticket to Ride” in general. It’s a well-known train game where players collect cards and lay routes to connect various locations on the map. By making connections based on the cards you’ve chosen, you score points, and the player with the most points at the end wins.
“Ticket to Ride: Legacy,” however, takes this to another level. It’s played over 12 sessions, telling the story of the rail expansion across the United States with a reasonable level of historical accuracy. You begin with a small board focused on the northeast, and as the game progresses, the board expands jigsaw-style, revealing new areas, rules, and mechanics.
Once you have finished the 12 games you then have a custom playable game of Ticket to Ride.
There are other mechanics as well such as taking an employee to give you a special ability as well as bonuses for claiming routes of your colour.
These additions include features like buying shares in different railway companies or prospecting for gold during the Gold Rush.
I’m purposefully keeping this review quick and vague because discovering the evolving mechanics and story is a big part of the fun. The surprises and new challenges introduced during each session are what make this experience so engaging. Equally, this is why there are not many pics.
Although I didn’t play “Ticket to Ride: Legacy” with my kids (this was a date-night project with my wife!), you absolutely could play it with children. While new mechanics are introduced over the course of the campaign, they are retired after a few sessions, so you’re only ever dealing with two or three active mechanics at any given time. If your family has played “Ticket to Ride” before—or even if you haven’t, though I’d recommend starting with “Ticket to Ride: Europe” over the original—this is definitely something you can enjoy together.
It is expensive but has massively Since it was released last year it has massively come down in price and can now be found for around £70.
We’ve absolutely loved playing this game over the last year. I’m genuinely sad that they haven’t released another legacy game for this year, but if (or when!) they bring out another “Ticket to Ride: Legacy,” we’ll definitely be picking it up.
