How to play Ticket to Ride

What you need

• The North America board, with a scoring track around the edge
• 45 plastic trains per player in five colors, plus a matching scoring marker (the box includes a few spares, so count out exactly 45)
• 110 train cards: 12 in each of the 8 route colors (purple, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white, black) and 14 multicolored locomotives, which are wild
• 33 destination tickets
• 1 longest path bonus card worth 10 points

Plan for about an hour with four or five players. Two-player games often finish in half that.

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Set up the game

1. Put the board in the middle of the table.
2. Each player takes 45 trains and the scoring marker in their color, and puts the marker on the 0 space of the scoring track.
3. Shuffle the train cards. Deal 4 to each player as a starting hand.
4. Put the rest of the train deck beside the board and turn the top 5 cards face up. If 3 or more of those 5 are locomotives, discard all 5 and turn up 5 new ones.
5. Place the longest path bonus card face up next to the board.
6. Shuffle the destination tickets and deal 4 to each player. Look at them secretly and keep at least 2. You may keep 3 or all 4. Returned tickets go to the bottom of the ticket deck.
7. Choose a first player any way you like. Play goes clockwise.

Playing Ticket to Ride

On your turn you do exactly one of three things.

1. Draw train cards. Take 2 cards, each either from the face-up row or blind from the top of the deck. Refill the face-up row immediately after each face-up draw. If you take a face-up locomotive, it must be your first card and you get no second card. A locomotive drawn blind from the deck counts as a normal single card.
2. Claim one route. A route is the row of colored spaces between two adjacent cities. Discard train cards equal to its length in the route's color, using locomotives as any color, then put one of your trains on each space. Gray routes take any one color, as long as all cards match. You may claim any open route on the board; it does not need to touch your other trains. Score it immediately on the track.
3. Draw destination tickets. Take 3 tickets from the deck and keep at least 1. Returned tickets go to the bottom. You can only return tickets you just drew, never ones already in your hand.
4. Double routes. Some city pairs have two parallel routes. One player may never claim both. In 2- or 3-player games, once one side is claimed the other is closed to everybody.
5. The end. When any player ends a turn with 0, 1 or 2 trains left, every player, including that one, gets one final turn. Then score.

There is no hand limit. When the train deck runs out, shuffle the discards into a new deck.

A sample round, turn by turn

Three players. Dev holds tickets for Seattle to New York and Duluth to Houston. Mia holds Los Angeles to Miami. Sam holds Montréal to Atlanta.

Turn 1, Dev. The face-up row shows red, red, blue, a locomotive and yellow. Dev wants the locomotive, but taking it face up would end his draw at one card. He takes the two reds instead, because he needs red for a long western route. The row is refilled after each card.

Turn 2, Mia. She has four yellow cards in hand. She claims a four-space yellow route on her way across the south, discards the four yellows, places four trains and moves her marker 7 spaces. She has 41 trains left.

Turn 3, Sam. He takes the face-up locomotive. That is his whole draw for the turn.

Turn 4, Dev. He draws one card face up and one blind. The blind card is a locomotive, which is fine; a blind locomotive still lets you take your second card, and this was already his second.

Turn 5, Mia. Worried that she has only one ticket, she draws 3 new tickets and keeps 1 that overlaps her current southern line. She returns the other 2 to the bottom of the deck.

Turn 6, Sam. He claims a gray two-space route on his line toward Atlanta using two green cards. Any single color works on gray. He scores 2.

Notice what did not happen: no one ever claimed a route and drew cards on the same turn. One action per turn is the core rhythm of the game.

Scoring, with a worked example

Scores come from three places:

1. Routes, scored as you claim them using the table above. Recount at the end to catch mistakes.
2. Tickets. Reveal every ticket you kept. Add the value of each completed one and subtract the value of each one you failed.
3. Longest continuous path. The player with the longest unbroken line of their own trains takes the bonus card for 10 points. Paths can loop and revisit cities, but no single train counts twice. Tied players all score 10.

Worked example. At game end Mia's track shows 74 route points. She completed her long southern ticket, worth 20 in this example, and a second ticket worth 11, but missed a third worth 8. Her path of 28 trains is longest. Her total is 74 + 20 + 11 − 8 + 10 = 107.

The rulebook's own example works the same way: completing a 9-point and a 6-point ticket adds 15; completing an 8 while failing a 4 nets only 4.

If two players tie on points, the one who completed more tickets wins. Still tied, the holder of the longest path card wins. Otherwise they share the victory.

Beginner strategy tips

1. Keep tickets that share a line. Two tickets that both run through Chicago cost far fewer trains than two on opposite coasts. At setup, keep the pair that overlaps.
2. Long routes are the best points per turn. A 6-space route scores 15 in one action. Three 2-space routes score 6 total and take three turns.
3. Claim bottlenecks first. Some cities have only one or two ways in. If your ticket depends on a single short link, claim it before anyone else notices, even before you have cards for the long legs.
4. Draw blind when the face-up row is useless. Blind cards hide information about your colors and might be locomotives.
5. Do not take new tickets too late. Every incomplete ticket costs you its full value. When anyone gets below about 10 trains, a new ticket is a gamble.
6. Watch train counts. Count your opponents' remaining trains. If someone is at 5 and can claim a 3-space route, the end may be one turn away.
7. A locomotive in the row is worth a whole turn only sometimes. It is great when you are one card short of a long route, and wasteful otherwise.

Common mistakes and rule disputes

• Taking a face-up locomotive as your second card. Not allowed. A face-up locomotive must be your first card and ends the draw.
• Counting an opponent's trains as part of your ticket. Only your own continuous line counts.
• Claiming part of a route. You must claim the entire route in one turn.
• Claiming both sides of a double route. One player can never hold both. In 2–3 player games, the second side closes entirely.
• Mixing colors on a gray route. Gray means any one color, not any colors.
• Throwing away old tickets. You can only return tickets from the draw you just made.
• Forgetting the final round. When a player ends a turn on 2 or fewer trains, everyone gets one more turn, including that player.
• Using Europe rules. Stations, tunnels and ferries belong to Ticket to Ride: Europe, not this map.

Variants and house rules

Official: Ticket to Ride has many separate maps (Europe, Nordic Countries and others) and expansions such as USA 1910, which adds tickets and bonus cards. Each has its own rulebook.

House rules (not official, agree first):

• Open tickets for kids. Younger players keep tickets face up so an adult can help plan. Remove the penalty for failed tickets for the first game.
• Short game. Each player starts with fewer trains, for example 35, so the game ends sooner. This changes balance, so treat it as casual play.
• Draft the opening tickets. Some groups deal 5 tickets and keep 2 to 3 for a more planned start.

Teach it in 5 minutes

1. "Your secret tickets show two cities. Connect them with your own trains and you score the number on the ticket at the end. Fail and you lose that many."
2. "On your turn do one thing: take two train cards, claim one route, or take three new tickets and keep at least one."
3. "To claim a route, play cards matching its color and length. Rainbow locomotives are wild. Gray routes take any one color."
4. "Claiming scores right away. Long routes score much more."
5. "One catch: a face-up rainbow card counts as your whole draw."
6. "When someone gets down to two trains or fewer, everyone gets one last turn. Longest unbroken line gets 10 bonus points."

Then deal 4 tickets, help each new player pick 2 that overlap, and start.

Ages and group size

The box says 8 and up, and most 8-year-olds can play the turn structure without help. Ticket choice is the hard part for young players, so let them keep tickets face up the first time. Four or five players makes the board crowded and competitive, which is where the game shines. Two players is quick and friendly because double routes close and there is more room. Expect 45 minutes with three experienced players.

Check yourself

Questions about this game

Sources and edition notes

Days of Wonder 2025 North America Ticket to Ride base rulebook, not Europe, 1910 or other maps.

Rules re-checked against the publisher's rulebook October 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing. House rules above are labeled and are not part of the official game.

• Days of Wonder: Ticket to Ride rules

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