10 Days in the USA is one in a series of geographical games by Alan Moon & Aaron Weissblum
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Difficulty: 2 (of 10)
This review shares a lot of text in common with my review of 10 Days in Africa, since they both use the same core game system, but on different maps.
The Components
As with many Out of the Box games, 10 Days in the USA contains a number of components in a very densely packed box. They include:
- 1 map
- 66 tiles
- 4 sets of tile holders
- 1 rulebook
Map: The map is a simple geopolitical map of the United States, with the states each labeled and painted in one of five colors (orange, yellow, red, blue, and green), plus purple for Hawaii and Alaska.This isn't actually a game board, but rather a reference map for playing the game, needed to show the relationships of all 50 states.
Behind the United States is a shaded version of the United States flag, which I never thought quite fit with the style of the board because the colors are so much more subdued than the bright pastels in the foreground; nonetheless, it adds color to the board. (Later, when I saw the 10 Days in Africa map, I understood my minor aesthetic complaints with the USA map; Africa instead uses a bright black and white background which fits better with the product as a whole.) Not a big deal, but worth mentioning only as a contrast to Africa.
The map is 4-panel and printed on solid cardboard, with the slightly glossy, full-color map on the front and a nice texture on the back.
Tiles: These tiles are thick cardboard, printed full color front and back. 50 of them show states, each featuring the state's name and a colored depiction of the state's shape (matching the shape & color on the map). There's also a variety of information on each, including the state capitol, population, and size. The other 16 tiles show transportation: 6 automobiles, and 10 planes (two per base color).
Tile Holders: There are eight tile holders in all, two per player, one labeled days 1-5, the other 6-10. Each one is painted blue and has silver lettering inlaid into the wood. They're sturdy and high quality.
Rulebook: A 4-page book, printed on high-gloss cardstock. The rules inclue ample illustrations and examples and are easy to follow.
Overall, the components in 10 Days in the USA are all very high quality. However, they're also quite plain as well, which is a pity. On sum I've decided to give the game a high "3" out of "5" for Style: slightly above average.
The Gameplay
The object of 10 Days in the USA is to arrange a group of 10 tiles depicting states and modes of transportation in order, from day 1-10 on your rack.
Forming a Trip: In order to win 10 Days in the USA, you have to create a 10-day trip, which is to say you have to put together a coherent set of 10 tiles. Here's the general rules for a legal trip:
- It must start with a state and end with a state.
- If a state is next to a state on your rack, they must be adjacent to each other on the map.
- A car may be substituted for any state; it's essentially a wild card.
- An airplane may be placed in between two states, if they and the plane are all the same color (e.g., Maine is Yellow and Oregon is Yellow, so you could play Maine-yellow plane-Oregon).
They give an example of a 10-day trip in the rules, which goes like this: yellow Oregon; car substituting for California (or Nevada); orange Arizona; orange plane; orange Ohio; yellow West Virginia; blue Pennsylvania; blue plane; blue Georgia; green Florida. If you take a look at your favorite Atlas, you'll see that all the adjacent states are indeed adjacent.
Special Rules for the USA: This game is part of a series of "10 Day" games, and thus far each of the games has had a few variant rules. This has one: non-contiguous locales.
Each of Alaska and Hawaii is a special purple color, not used anyway else; in order to arrive or depart from these states, you must use an airplane. To reach these states you must play an airplane of the same color as the state you are departing and to leave these states you must play an airplane of the same color as the state you are arriving in; in addition any colored plane may be used to fly between the two. (Essentially, this means that Alaska and Hawaii are wild-color states for the purpose of airplanes; anything works.)
Setup: A draw pile of tiles is initially placed to the side of the map. Each player grabs a pair of racks, then fills it with tiles, in any order, one at a time. Each new tile must be placed in an empty slot; there's no moving things around. Once each player has placed their first 10 tiles, the top three cards from the draw pile are then placed face up to create three discard piles. Play then begins.
Order of Play: Each turn a player takes two actions during their turn:
- Draw a Tile
- Place the Tile
Draw a Tile: The player draws a tile either from the draw pile or from one of the three discard piles.
Place a Tile: The player then either discards the tile he drew or else places it on his rack. In order to place it on his rack he must replace a tile already there, discarding the previous tile.
A discard may be played to any of the three discard piles.
Note that there is no opportunity to rearrange tiles once you've put them on the rack (except for discarding, and then picking up in a future round, a very dangerous activity). You only get to replace old tiles with new ones, and thus you need to have made a good set of initial placements, then slowly improve them.
Winning the Game: When a player completes a full 10-day trip, he then pushes over his racks, proudly displaying his trip to his competitors, and wins the game.
Relationships to Other Games
Rack-O (1956) is the oldest game that I'm aware of in this particular genre. There, you try and organize 10 cards in an ascending order in your rack, with very similar gameplay. I'm not aware of other games that use racks, until Moon & Weissblum's games.
You could probably also call these games close relatives to Rummy games, since 10 Days' trips aren't too distant from Rummy sequences.
Moon & Weissblum originally published this game as Europa Tour, which was based on a European map, and only published in Germany; they quickly followed up with 10 Days in the USA and 10 Days in Africa, both published in the US by Out of the Box. More 10 Day games appear to be planned, if the Internet rumor mill is any good.
The Game Design
10 Days in the USA is a very simple game.
On the good side of the game design, I find the play fast, simple, and enjoyable. There's some real opportunity for strategy, particularly in the setup round where adroit placement can give you a good lead, and later on, when careful selection of good state with lots of adjacencies can help you out a lot. The strategy level is actually quite good for a game of this length and weight.
On the bad side there's a high random factor in the game, and the discard piles just aren't as useful as they appear (since there's little chance that you'll ever get back a discarded tile if you're playing against serious players).
On the whole, I've quite enjoyed every game of 10 Days in the USA I've played, about a half-dozen so far, and I think the balance of randomness, strategy, and length is top-notch, so I've given it an above average "4" out of "5" for Style.
Conclusion
10 Days in the USA is a filler game that balances a good amount of strategy with a light, fast-paced gameplay. It's quite recommended if you enjoy light fare for your fillers. I also think it'll be phenomenal for geography teachers. Every time I play it, I learn a bit more about the geography of the USA. Particularly cruel teachers could even insist that their students play without the map!
Review Summary