I like trains. Hundreds of hipsters and engineers out there also love trains but I’m not really a hipster or an engineer (at least not one who deals in locomotive engines) so my fascination mostly rides the rails of “ooh, pretty” and historical fiction. I don’t cosplay steampunk fantasies but I enjoy the visuals of old-fashioned gears and wheels and the puffing of steam. I don’t have a Lionel obsession but toy trains are ridiculously enjoyable to set up and watch as they run in circles. I appreciate the role of rail in the triumphant advancement of the world. I’d love to have the time to travel by train across the country rather than always being forced to hop on an airplane and take a shorter trip to my destination.
I also like games. So I’m naturally going to launch into a discussion of Ticket to Ride, which was my birthday present a few years ago. I obsessively play the online version and even the solo offline downloadable game. I’ve collected the European maps, the expansions, and the various bits of paraphernalia associated with it in both the computer game and the board game. I love constructing train routes across the maps, and possibly in the same way that Settlers is enjoyable, I find myself frequently smiling while playing TTR.
Imagine my dorkish glee when Wil Wheaton played Ticket to Ride with his wife Anne, Colin Ferguson (of Eureka, a show not nearly enough people like, if you ask me) and Amy Dallen on TableTop. I watched all 27 minutes with a trembling face, happy eyes, and the inability to stop myself from giggling every so often. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this video also.
Geek & Sundry TableTop – Ticket to Ride
I classify myself as a road geek, which is a hobby surprisingly few people on the internet seem to share. It means that I like road signs, mapping out routes and places I’ve been on physical and digital maps. I relish gaining knowledge of how roads and bridges are constructed and love seeing how different cities are interconnected. Being so aware of transportation geekery, the giver of Ticket to Ride clearly knew me very well. It’s been a lot of fun in recent weeks while I’ve had to unwind from the process of packing up boxes of books and such (for moving) and even when I’m merely fighting the computer players for paths to new cities I like the practice of card counting and train logistics. (Ha. I actually do count route numbers and cards but it’s mostly subconscious.) The replayability of the game is tremendously high, which makes it a worthy item for the $9 I paid for the online version.
If you want to play with other people online, please feel free to ask for my Days of Wonder user name.
Dumpster Jedi 