Anyone making a trip from Fribourg to Lausanne?
Fans of Ticket to Ride have been able to purchase the European map on the iPad app, but the Pocket iPhone version (which has some differences from the iPad app) didn’t include that option. Days of Wonder announced today that Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket is now available in the iTunes store for all you iPhone train-builders.
The app (it’s a stand-alone app, not an in-app expansion) is similar to the original, but adds a new AI bot specifically for the European version, and will have the Switzerland map as an in-app purchase (with its own AI bot as well). For those of you achievement-seekers, there are 20 trophies in Solo mode, including 5 that are specific to the Europe map.
Some of the achievements are the same as the previous version, but there are a few new ones.
Other differences include ferries, tunnels, and train stations, which are in the Europe version of the board game. These add a bit of variation to the gameplay, and are the reason why I prefer Ticket to Ride Europe to the original. Ferries let you cross waterways, but at a price of at least one Locomotive card. Tunnels are harder to build — you have to flip the top three train cards, and if they match the color you’re trying to build, it costs you that many extra cards of the same color. Don’t have them? You have to stop and try again next time. Finally, the train stations let you borrow another player’s train tracks to help you finish your routes — but it costs you a few points to do so.
Game play modes are the same as before.
The gameplay modes are same as before: solo against the AI, and multiplayer with other nearby devices, online through Game Center, or pass and play on the same device.
I’m Poirbot. I can beat you with my one good eye.
If you’re a fan of Ticket to Ride and you haven’t tried the Europe map yet, it’s definitely worth a try, and the $1.99 app is certainly a lot cheaper than buying the full board game. (Although, if you’re like me, you’ll want the full board game anyway.)
