Second UK extension to Ticket to Ride
Fan-produced UK expansion-set for Ticket to Ride Europe
A new UK-extension is available for Ticket to Ride. Actually, this is the first extension based on the Ticket to Ride Europe ruleset. The fan-produced UK map has been designed by Wiebke Lüdemann (Illustration) and Stefan Grunhold (Strategy). The board which is 70 x 80 cm in size, connects United Kingdom with the rest of Europe (e.g. Amsterdam in The Netherlands as well as Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, Helgoland in Germany, etc.).
Download the map by clicking here.
What's so special about this extension?
1. In addition to the original Ticket to Ride Europe this map contains routes which are 7 waggons in length - scoring 18 points.
2. The design and illustration is truly unique and awesome. The ferry routes are multi-colored (instead of having the original's grey color / locomotive symbol on it). Due to the integration of some "overseas"-destinations, a lot of ferries are available. The same is true for tunnels, which are indicated by rounded boxes. Here, I was missing the clearer tunnel borders from the original, but it is not a big disadvantage. The tickets look wonderful - long and short routes are clearly distinguishable. A lot of love, energy and enthusiam has been put into the illustration. Congratulations.
3. The scoring track is a great novelty as it uses railroad tracks in the background which looks really nice.
4. A first-glance board analysis reveals: the long routes are only available in the periphery, while the central UK cities are connected by short routes (the maximum is 3, I believe). Part of the periphery can only be reached on a single track, which obviously requires plenty of stations to be used. There are many tickets connecting the central UK - be prepared for a crowded board in the middle. The long routes connect destinations in a star-shaped fashion (from left to right, from top-left to bottom-right and from top-right to bottom-left) while some partially intersect. I am exciting about how this will play out in a real game. Certainly the destination tickets and board layout is as well designed as the illustrations are.
I am afraid I have to get some new glossy photo paper along with some cardboard to tinker this one... It's just to great to have a fan-made TtR Europe extension. Great work!
[Key words in German: UK Erweiterung Zug um Zug Europa]