Ticket to Ride – Legends of the West: Review with Updates

Anyone who wants to play Ticket to Ride as a campaign can design it themselves using previously published map sets 1-7. Just in time for SPIEL ’23, Days of Wonder and above all authors Rob Daviau, Matt Leacock and of course Alan R. Moon have released not only a new map collection, but Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West. The first step-by-step game ends differently than it started.

We assume that the principle of the game Step by Step a favour. If not, please read the review Ticket to Ride America.

Big package

The toy box is very large and very heavy at over 4kg. In fact, the interior is not only full, but also attractively packaged. In addition to the already familiar destination cards and carriages, the stylish campaign box contains postcards, event cards, bank receipts for calculating points for individual games and one card for each railway company: Company Reward Cards. Everything is neatly sorted by card sections.

There are also beautifully designed chests where each player saves certain materials for later games, other equally beautiful chests containing additional playing materials that are only unlocked gradually and of course the carts in five colours. Recently, the coins required to calculate points have also appeared. There is no registration path (see below).

But before you jump on the material to exploit it, you first have to slow down. “Stop!” she says clearly. “Read these instructions first.” Even if you know the Ticket to Ride well, you should first read the entire instructions after setting up, because there are deviations from the regular Ticket to Ride.

Westbound train

At first you will search in vain for a gamepad with a recording track. Instead, there are five pieces of the game board with which you can puzzle eastern North America together. The journey to the rest of the USA could begin, which is also evident from the fact that the game plan shows open communications with the West and the South. Access to all other materials is strictly prohibited at first! There are actually several roads in the portion of the comprehensive plan that are now visible, but none of them are more than four cars long. Tasks are correspondingly short; More than ten points can be obtained with just a few points. There are now actually single point orders.

This is also new: points are no longer awarded immediately for connections used. All goal cards only give points in the form of money at the end of the game. Exception: You immediately receive (2) coins when you use a connection in your player color.

In addition to route destinations, destination cards display additional text and symbols that become more important as the campaign progresses. They are ignored at first.

In full force

Once you get familiar with the (new) rules, the whole thing continues in a fairly familiar way. By using six colors instead of eight for a car card, you try to use track connections to fulfill orders and, if possible, stay away from the hustle and bustle so that others don’t block tracks for you. As usual, this is a vague and highly unlikely hope given the initially clear map. When connecting a large city, the builder gets at least one additional car card as a reward.

Sometimes, event cards play a role when drawing. For example, you suddenly have to play an extra card when using the road or you can use the car card color as a joker color. Good and evil have been balanced in our games so far.

The game ends as usual when only one player has two or fewer carts. Then the settlement takes place, and here too there is nothing new at the beginning. Completed orders bring money, unfulfilled orders mean losing something. However, those who have installed as many of their vehicles as possible will receive a generous reward. If you have nothing left, you get $16 (=point). You will have to build a lot of roads for this.

Each person writes down the points they have accumulated on a bank receipt and then places them in their personal player’s box, from which they can no longer be removed. Only at the end of the campaign will the overall winner be determined from the bank receipts collected.

The journey begins

Our expectations for Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West were high. As a fan of the Ticket to Ride series, you have certain expectations for such a project. Previous editions and map sets frequently introduced innovations (such as tunnels, ferries, and difficult roads), but were also a bit disappointing at times.

After the first two games, two things became clear:

1. Expectations were not disappointing. The beautifully designed toy material and toy box presentation (inside and out) give it an initial inviting scent. There are a lot of new things to discover over the course of the twelve games. Even in the rules of the game there are empty sections that are gradually supplemented with stickers. This fuels curiosity and excitement.
2. It becomes clear from the second game that it will not be possible to use the game in this format again after the twelve campaign matches. The game materials have been altered, not to mention damaged, which is unlikely to make them usable later. Here too, tension is growing over whether this can be met in the final matches of the campaign. It’s possible.

Otherwise, Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West is very familiar. It is unlikely that anyone will expect that it will give you a completely different gaming experience. But the old idea creates noticeable confusion due to the various allusions and ideas that seem to still be present in the campaign, making it a new experience. In any case, our established gaming group is excited to see what happens next.

Information: This review will continue after additional stops on the journey across the West. Stay tuned!