Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 6 – France & Old West includes a double-sided game board that features France on one side and the western half of the United States on the other.
34.90€
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Bombadillo
This is a real double-sided expansion as it comes with two different maps but they aren’t equally enjoyable either: the titular France map is one of the worst Ticket to Ride maps I’ve ever played whilst the less celebrated Far West map is one of the most challenging and fun of the lot. [b]France[/b] map’s premise looks very attractive at first but as soon as you realize that you have both to plan accurately your routes and to deal with a shortage of coaches, which turns any mistake or detour into a suicide, you make up your mind fast. I like that you have to choose and put down the tracks you need the turn before you’re allowed to claim them, thus leaving them available for the other players to steal, but it also makes the game way too thinky and complex. It’s such a pity that in the homeland of champagne you cannot play «champagne-ily»! On the contrary, the [b]Far West[/b] map is pretty nasty and makes for very direct clashes with your opponents: it’s easy - and it occurs even unwittingly more often than one might realize - to cut a player out of a destination or force him to an expensive detour by just placing a single coach. Its only downside is, this map is a little anticlimatic, as it’s pretty obvious who’ll be the likely winner as soon as the game ends (before adding points for completed tickets) since you have to advance the point markers for completing tracks during the game and not at the end as usual, because of the way tracks leading to cities with an opponent’s building are calculated. All in all, I rate the Far West map a good 8 and France’s a scant 6.
Chris Babcock
I am only giving this a 5 based on I have only ever played these maps two player. I KNOW they would be a lot more fun with more players. The rule on the Old West map of being able to claim "spoke cities" and then charging a "tax" with point as your opponents go through them is interesting. Since you are only allowed to build segments that touch what you've already built, and the fact that the board is HUGE, a two player game can get really boring really quick if your focus areas are on opposite sides of the board. The plot twist for the France map: being required to create the track (and dictate what color it is) before actually placing trains on it is very interesting. Just like the West side of this board though, I feel this will be a lot more enjoyable in a game with more players than two.
Castanza
The France Edition is really great! Love the way you decide which color you can choose after picking the cards. In some ways this makes it easier for yourself but sometimes it's also harder to get to the point you need to end because the other player just grabbed your color and you have to wait till it gets back. Highly recommend the Ticket to Ride fans to play this version!