I think I’m gonna be sad, I think it’s today… Ticket To Ride from Days of Wonder, the board game that won the 2004 Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year Award in Germany) arrived on the iPad this week. Featuring solo play and online play against other iPad, Mac and PC players, this faithful adaptation of the board game to the iPad sees you building train routes across maps of America, Europe, Switzerland or USA 1910 (the latter three are available as an in-app purchase).
If you’ve ever played the board game before, you’ll feel right at home with the iPad version. The graphics and look and feel are identical to the physical board game. According to Touch Arcade, “Ticket to Ride is, without a doubt, a traditional game that requires the old-fashioned stuff: deduction, tactics, and skill. It isn’t for people who want flash and glam; rather, it’s for people who can appreciate sharp, boiled-down design that presents compelling challenges without the mess.”
One of the best parts of playing Ticket To Ride is the strategy and the frantic re-routing required if another player blocks your path. The iPad version offers solo play against AI, but its real strength is in the online play against other people. Fortunately, there is a strong existing community of online players, and since the game supports Days of Wonder accounts as well as Game Center, you can play against both iPad users as well as Mac and PC players.
Some of the reviews knock the user interface somewhat, but once the gameplay starts, none of that matters. All of the aspects of the game are there. However, one of the major things not implemented at this point is pass and play, or so-called ‘hotseat’ mode. That means you can’t start a game on your iPad and just hand it off to someone to take their turn, you must play other people through the online mode. Here’s hoping they implement that in a future update.
The video below will take you on a walkthrough of the rules of the game and gameplay, if you want to take a look. Considering that just one of the board games will set you back upwards of $40, at $6.99 it’s a steal. Each expansion map is $0.99, but only for this first week, so jump on board if you want to get in on the action!
Article Via wired
