There are so many ways to get into the spirit of the Wild West, and one of those ways is through the most excellent board games coming out that use the West as their theme. One such game that George and I highly endorse is Ticket To Ride.
It's easy to learn, easy to play, and scores pretty low on the "will ruin friendships" scale.
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| Monopoly: Who knew that a little pewter Scotty dog could cause such violence? |
You take on the role of an 1800s railroad tycoon, trying to complete your train routes before your competitors can. You earn points for each train you place on the map and for each route completed. The player with the most points wins!
A quick summary of play: As a player you're given a set of plastic trains and are dealt several train tickets which depict different routes on the board. The routes you keep are kept secret. You're also randomly dealt four colored cards to begin collecting, which you'll eventually use to build your routes. Certain route options require a specific number of a specific color of card, and once you have collected all of the color you need, you "purchase" that length of track and place your little trains on it to claim it as yours. The challenge and the fun is when multiple players end up with routes that collide, and you have to find creative ways to make your route work and claim your lengths of track before other players can!
You can find Ticket To Ride at most neighborhood board game stores and on websites like Amazon. You can learn more about this version of the game (and more!) at a website devoted to board gaming, Board Game Geek. Happy gaming!
