Ticket to Ride: Marklin Edition

One trend in the gaming industry is of companies, who once they've produced a hit game, produce many sequels and spin-offs of this hit. Another trend is of folks who like to complain about these new additions, accusing the company of simply cashing in on their original game's popularity. Ticket to Ride certainly doesn't follow this trend. Each of the three Ticket to Ride games has the same basic mechanic, but Alan Moon tends to rework the mechanics like a composer rearranging the score to a movie. Ticket to Ride: Marklin is like the full realization of the original game - the main part of the marvelous symphony that is Ticket to Ride. While I will still point newcomers to the original game for its cheerful simplicity, T2R Marklin is an incredible version of the game, adding more tenseness, more options, and a lot of "beef" to the game. Tickets are more streamlined, the artwork surpasses even the great illustrations of the original, and the game rates a 10 for me. My wife and I adore it as a two-player game; and with many players, the tension and fun increase quite a bit. I suspect that Ticket to Ride fans will be delighted with this advanced version of the basic game. Even though there is more going on in Marklin, it still retains a simple play format, and the options added are quite natural. I encourage anyone who shied away from the original to give this version a try; it's not simply an expansion but a completely new game. At the same time, players who thought T2R: Europe had too much luck might enjoy the lessening of luck in this version. While I'll still retain the original game and Europe for teaching newcomers how to play this series, Marklin is definitely my choice right now. It's a fantastic game and is one of the most balanced systems I've ever played. Alan Moon has proved that Ticket to Ride is not a tired franchise, but rather a series of exciting, interesting games.