Ticket to Ride First Journey Kids Train Game, 2-4 Players, 15-30 Min

Product overview

Ticket to Ride: First Journey: What to Know

The win condition is the whole trick. In the adult Ticket to Ride you total route points and subtract penalties at the end, which means a child plays for 40 minutes and then needs an adult to tell them who won. First Journey replaces that with a race: finish six tickets and you take the Golden Ticket, and the game is over. A six-year-old can see themselves winning while it is happening, which is the difference between a game that gets requested again and one that goes in the cupboard.

Days of Wonder publishes it at ages 6 and up for 2 to 4 players in 15 to 30 minutes, and the simplifications are specific rather than cosmetic: routes are shorter than in the original, and train cards are drawn straight from the deck instead of from a face-up market, which removes a layer of decision-making that slows children down. The box contains a game board, 80 plastic trains, 72 train cards, 32 ticket cards, 4 bonus ticket cards, the Golden Ticket card and a rulesheet. Reading load is low, tickets show city names paired with pictures, so matching is visual.

Two caveats worth knowing before you buy. First, there are multiple First Journey editions on separate ASINs, a US map and a Europe map, and the listings do not always make the difference obvious in the title. Second, be realistic about the upgrade path: this is a genuine introduction to the series, but a child who loves it will outgrow it, and the full Ticket to Ride is published at ages 8 and up. That is an argument for buying this at 5 or 6 rather than at 8, where it may already feel thin.

Key Listed Features