Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Japan Board Game EXPANSION | Ages 8+ | For 2 to 5 players | Average Playtime 30-60 Minutes

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From the vast beauty of Mount Fuji to the bustling streets of Tokyo, Japan has captured the hearts and minds of millions. I love immersing myself in this small island nation’s rich culture and history, and I know I’m not alone in my enthusiasm for all things Japan. Another difference you should be aware of is that, on the map, you will see two regions – Kyushu Island and Tokyo subway – which are zoomed in. These can be claimed as per the regular rules.

Let’s first look at how the “Claim a route” action changes and then the Ferry cards will make a little more sense. On the reverse side of the board, you can play in Italy. There’s many coloured regions on this map. Players score ever-increasing bonus points if they build networks that connect multiple regions. There’s also plenty of ferry routes available (grey routes). All ferry routes have spaces that comprise of 1-4 ‘wave’ symbols. To complete a ferry route, you need to pay in Locomotive (wild) card for every wave symbol. Or, you can pay a ferry card, which you can draft separate to regular train cards. This can be confusing, but you must remember that a route leading to Kokura or Tokyo on the main board is connected to all routes going to the same city on the zoomed-in part of the board. Every gray, uncoloured route on the Italy map is a ferry route and features at least one wave symbol to represent this. Note the wave symbol on the gray routes that feature between one and four symbols per route. No matter how eager you are to build an impressive network of routes, you can only claim one per turn. This can be frustrating when you’re in a strong position and could claim multiple routes, but ultimately I think players should be encouraged to pace themselves.

Rule Variations – Claim a Route

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: “isn’t that a little boring? We’re supposed to be competing against one another!”

The cards you play when claiming a route must be the same type, and the number of cards should also equal the number of spaces in that route. Then, shuffle the train cards and give four to each player. The rest of the cards should be placed near the board, with the top five turned face-up. Taking a Turn If there is a tie, affected players earn points for their position; the next player earns points from the position as if there were no tie. How to Play If you run out of Bullet Train miniatures – it’s rare, but it happens – all unclaimed routes become standard gray routes. Tokyo Subway and Kyushu Island It’s important to note that players score region bonus points for each of their distinct networks (group of connected trains) so it can be beneficial for players to connect their routes into a single network to maximize the points they’ll score for this bonus. Red has two distinct networks (five different regions connected in each) that would score 1 point for each network. However, if they connected Pisa to Firenze then they would have one network with nine different regions and score 11 points instead.Don’t forget to move your scoring marker when you claim a new route (as if you need reminding)! Drawing Train Car Cards