If you've ever stood in front of our board game wall wondering why there are so many different Ticket to Ride boxes, you're not alone. Ticket to Ride is one of the most successful gateway games ever made — simple enough to teach in five minutes, deep enough that we still pull it off the shelf for game night a decade later. Alan R. Moon's original design has spawned close to a dozen standalone maps and expansions, each one tweaking the formula just enough to feel like a genuinely different game. We've played most of them behind the counter, so here's our honest ranking of the five worth owning.
1. Ticket to Ride: Europe
If you're buying your very first Ticket to Ride, buy Ticket to Ride: Europe. Europe takes everything great about the original and sharpens it — train stations let you steal a route out from under someone in a pinch, tunnels add a little risk to your claims, and ferries force you to burn locomotive cards at the worst possible moment. The map is denser than the US board too, so routes tangle and cross in ways that make every game feel tighter and more tactical. It's the version we recommend most, full stop.
Players: 2–5 · Time: 45–60 min · Best for: first-time buyers · In stock — $85.95
2. Ticket to Ride (Original / US Map)
There's a reason the original is still on shelves everywhere twenty-plus years later. Three actions, a five-minute teach, and a wide-open map with long transcontinental runs that reward big, ambitious plays. It's less fiddly than Europe and honestly the easier of the two to teach a total beginner — grandparents, kids, first dates, whoever's at the table. If Europe is the sharpened version, the original is the one that proves you don't need bells and whistles to make a genuinely great game.
Players: 2–5 · Time: 30–60 min · Best for: teaching new players fast · In stock — $74.99
3. Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries
This is the one for your more competitive table. Nordic Countries strips the player count right down to 2–3 and shrinks the map, which sounds like less game but plays like more tension — routes are short, contested, and a toll mechanic punishes you for building over someone else's tracks. It's the most cutthroat version in the range, and if your group finds the base game a bit too polite, this is the fix.
Players: 2–3 · Time: 30–60 min · Best for: small, sharp-elbowed groups
4. Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails
The big one. Rails & Sails adds ships to the mix alongside trains, and ships play differently — longer routes, different scoring, whole new decisions to weigh. You get two maps in the box: the Great Lakes for a shorter, more approachable game, and a genuinely massive World map for when you want to turn game night into a full session. It's a bigger commitment than anything else on this list, but if you already love Ticket to Ride and want more of it, this is where the series goes next-level.
Players: 2–5 · Time: 90–120 min · Best for: TTR veterans wanting more depth
5. Ticket to Ride: Germany
Germany is the quiet favourite — the map a lot of our regulars reach for once they've played everything else. It introduces the Passengers mechanic, layering a light pickup-and-deliver puzzle on top of the usual route-building, which gives you another way to score points and another thing to think about on every turn. It plays a touch tighter than the original too, which keeps games from dragging in the back half.
Players: 2–5 · Time: 45–60 min · Best for: players who want one more layer of strategy
Honourable mention: Ticket to Ride: First Journey
If the games above are for the grown-ups, First Journey is for the kids — a simplified, shorter version built for ages 6+ that still teaches real route-building and forward planning. It doesn't crack our top five because it's designed to be outgrown, but it's the best on-ramp we know for turning a seven-year-old into a future Ticket to Ride nut.
So which one do you actually buy?
New to Ticket to Ride? Start with Europe.
Teaching someone who's never played a board game in their life? Grab the original. Already own one and wondering where to go next? Come chat to us in-store — we've got most of these on the shelf, we've played them all, and we're always happy to talk through which map suits your group before you spend a cent.
Both in stock now
- Ticket to Ride — $74.99. The original US map.
- Ticket to Ride: Europe — $85.95. Tunnels, ferries and stations.
Free click & collect from DFO Jindalee, or we'll post it anywhere in Australia.
We believe the best moments happen around a table — and honestly, half of ours have had a little cardboard train on them.
Photo by David Ballew on Unsplash