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Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries is a standalone Ticket to Ride game for either 2 or 3 players.
Players: 2-3
Playing Time: 30-45 minutes
Nordic Countries is a close variant of the original Ticket to Ride game system, so I'll refer you to my original review for the generalities of the Ticket to Ride game system (and its components). Nonetheless, Nordic Countries is both standalone and a viable introductory game, as I'll cover herein.
The Components
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries comes with a fairly typical set of components for a Ticket To Ride game, which includes a linen-textured gameboard, two full-sized decks of linen-textured cards--one for trains and one for destination--and plastic trains for all the players.
The board depicts Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and includes tunnels and ferries, two innovations from Ticket to Ride Europe. It's an impressively large 6-panel board.
The 120 train cards each show snow-covered trains, which is a cute variation. There are 46 destination cards.
There are only three sets of trains, since this is a 3-player max game. They come in some unique colors: purple, white, and black. There are only 40 of each train, due to the smaller size of this board.
As with all the games in this series, this one has good quality components, great ease of use, and attractive components. As such, it earns a "5" out of "5" for Style.
The Gameplay
As with all the Ticket to Ride games, the object of Nordic Countries is to gain the most points through laying track and completing destination tickets.
Everything works the same as in the original Ticket to Ride with a few exceptions. The map has its own distinct differences and also features tunnels and ferries (both of which originated in Ticket to Ride Europe) as well as a special 9-length route. There are also a few differences in how locomotives work and a few special card replacement rules.
The Map: Nordic Countries has an interesting map. It's got two main points of interest. First, there's a glut of connectivity in the south, a place that features many big cities with lots of destination tickets related to them. The south can get very crowded. Second, there's a bit of a north-south corridor. If you get out of the mess in the south, then you're likely to be doing long routes that will have higher value tickets related to them.
The 9-length route. There's a special 9-length gray route which runs along the north-south axis. It earns 27 points if you score it. There are also some special ways that you can lay cards on this route, which I'll get to in a bit.
Ferries. These are a carry-over from Europe. They're routes which require a certain number of locomotives, though there's a way to get around that, as I'll mention shortly.
Tunnels. Another carry-over from Europe. When you claim ones of these routes, you flip up three new cards, and if any of the match the color played (or is a locomotive), then you must play that number of additional cards (or else take your cards back into your hand and forfeit your turn).
Double Routes. Since this is a 2 to 3 player game, the double routes can be used in 3-player games, but not in 2-player games. Nordic Countries also has an entirely unique element here: some double routes have alternatives which aren't quite the same. For example, when building from Moirana to Trondheim, you can either build a 6-red ferry (with two required locomotives) or a 5-green tunnel.
Special Locomotive Rules: In Nordic Countries you can only use locomotives as wild cards on tunnel and ferry routes. They may not be used on regular routes.
As a result of this limitation, locomotives can be drawn just like normal cards: you can pick up two face-up locomotives on a turn if you want.
Card Replacements: There are two ways to replace required cards in Nordic Countries. On the 9-length route, you can replace any single required card with four cards of your choice. On the ferries, you can replace any required locomotive with three cards of your choice.
Relationships to Other Games
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries is one of four standalone Ticket to Ride games, the others being the USA original, Ticket to Ride Europe, and Ticket to Ride Marklin.
Nordic Countries is a really nice complement to Ticket to Ride: Switzerland, a 2-to-3 player Ticket to Ride expansion that requires any base game to play. Since they both support the same player numbers and because they both use the same rules regarding locomotives and tunnels, they're very natural to play alternatively, and if you regularly only have two or three players, these might be the two to get.
Nordic Countries can also be played with the recent Dice Expansion, but as I say there, I don't recommend it.
The Game Design
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries enjoys all of the advantages of the Ticket to Ride games in general. They're tense games that constantly require you to decide when to draw cards and when to lay your routes, with that balanced against what other players might be doing. This tactical play meshes well with long-term strategy resulting in an enjoyable game, that nonetheless is simple and fun to play.
This particular iteration of Ticket to Ride continues the series' high standards. The map shows off a lot of the new play. Between its congested southern lands and its more open northern routes, the play is quite original. One of the nice things about the fact that the game only runs three players is the fact that the game stays congested no matter which player number you have.
The other big change in the game is the fact that the locomotives are no longer true wilds. This really changes the game too. It allows the map to have short (colored) routes that are meaningful. It also requires players to think on their feet more, as they consider rerouting their trains if specific colors aren't available.
Overall, this is a great Ticket to Ride variant, and one of my favorite maps. As such, I highly recommend it for anyone who regularly plays with two or three players. Even if you've never played Ticket to Ride before, this is a fine starting place if you've got the right number of players.
I've given Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries a "5" out of "5" for Substance.
Conclusion
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries is an excellent variant of the Ticket to Ride game system. It's got a fun map that feels quite different from what came before. If you regularly play with 2 or 3 players and like Ticket to Ride, this is an excellent standalone game to try out.
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