You collect train cards and use them to claim routes across a map of the USA. Each ticket asks you to link two cities, and you win by finishing six. It has the feel of the full game with a much simpler turn.
What age is Ticket to Ride: First Journey for?
Box says 6+
We suggest 5+ with an adult helping, 6+ on their own.
Each turn is one choice: draw two train cards or claim a route. Tickets name two cities, so a 5 year old needs help finding them on the map, while a 6 year old can play alone. Other players can take the route you wanted.
Checked against the Ticket to Ride: First Journey English rules of play from Days of Wonder (USA map), copyright 2004 to 2018. The rules are a two-page sheet, and page numbers count the first page as page 1. This guide is written from that sheet, not from the Ticket to Ride guide, because the rules are different.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey in five steps
Scroll down and tap things to try them. The map follows along. This map is our own made-up one, because the real board is printed on the box. The rules are the real First Journey rules.
Step 1 of 5: The goal
1
The goal: finish 6 tickets
You build train lines between cities. Each ticket names two cities. Join them with your trains. The first player to finish 6 tickets wins.
Tap the ticket.
DrawTake two train cards.
ClaimUse cards to claim a route.
WinBe first to finish 6 tickets.
This map is our own made-up one. The real board is different. The rules are the real First Journey rules.
The 4 Coast-to-Coast Bonus Tickets are left out. The rulebook says you do not need them for now.
2
Draw train cards
On your turn, you do one thing. One choice is to draw two train cards. You always draw from the top of the deck. A locomotive is a wild card. It counts as any colour.
Tap the button to draw.
3
Claim a route
Your other choice is to claim a route. Tap a route on the map. Pay with cards in its colour, one for each space. Then put your trains on it. A locomotive can stand in for any colour.
Tap a route. Gold routes are ones you can pay for.
TryA yellow route. Then a blue route: one blue card and a locomotive.
RefusedTap the red route from Honey to Ivy. You do not have the cards.
Double routeApple and Duck have two lines. You own the red one. You can't take the black one too. Your friend could.
One routeYou claim one route a turn. It can be anywhere on the map.
4
Finish a ticket
Your trains make one line from Apple to Bear. Your ticket is Apple to Elm. Claim the white route from Bear to Elm. Then the two cities are joined. Flip the ticket, and draw a new one.
Tap the white route from Bear to Elm.
StuckIf your tickets are blocked, you can skip a turn to swap both for two new ones.
5
The end: 6 tickets wins
The game ends the moment someone finishes their 6th ticket. That player wins and takes the Golden Ticket. It also ends if a player places their last train. Then the most finished tickets wins. A tie? You win together.
Race a friend to 6 tickets. Tap the deck to draw two cards, or tap a route to claim it. Stuck? Tap Show me a route. This map is our own made-up one. The friend is not smart: it takes the lowest route that helps its ticket, or it draws. A game usually takes about 14 turns each.
Your cards
Your tickets
Swap both tickets for two new ones? This uses your turn.
Routes you can pay for
How do you teach Ticket to Ride: First Journey to kids?
The box says 6 and up. We suggest 5 and up with an adult helping, and 6 and up on their own. Finding the cities on the map is the hardest part for younger kids, because the tickets name two cities. When kids are around 8, the Ticket to Ride guide is the next step. We suggest the full game from 7 with an adult helping.
Say this
We are building train lines between cities. The first player to finish 6 tickets wins.
Each ticket names two cities. Your goal is to link those two cities with your trains in one unbroken line.
On your turn do one of two things: draw two train cards, or use cards to claim a route.
To claim a route, play cards in the same color as the route, as many as it has spaces. Locomotives can be any color. Then put a train of yours on each space.
When your trains link the two cities on a ticket, flip it face up and take a new ticket.
You can claim any route nobody has taken yet, anywhere on the board, and some cities have two routes side by side. You can not claim both.
The rulebook has no beginner variant, and it sets the Coast-to-Coast Bonus Tickets aside "for now" (page 1), so they can be added later. Every simplification below is a house rule.
First-game simplifications
House rule Lay your tickets face up on the table in the first game, so a grown-up can help find the two cities. The rulebook says to keep cards hidden (page 1).
House rule Let a grown-up find city names on the map when a kid is stuck.
House rule Let each kid take back one mistaken move in the first game, as long as the next player has not gone yet.
Watch-outs for kids ages 5 to 6
On your turn do exactly one thing: draw two train cards, or claim a route (page 1).
You claim a route with cards in the route's color and as many cards as it has spaces. Locomotives can replace any color. You can claim only one route in a turn (page 2).
You can claim any unclaimed route, even one that is not joined to your other routes (page 2).
In a double route you can claim only one of the two lines (page 2).
When you finish a ticket, tell the others, flip it face up and draw a new ticket (page 2).
If your tickets are blocked, you may skip a turn to discard both and draw two new ones (page 2).
The game ends the moment someone finishes their sixth ticket. It also ends if a player places their last train. Then the most finished tickets wins (page 2).
Back for another game?
Setup: 20 trains each, 4 train cards each, 2 tickets each. The youngest player goes first (page 1).
Your turn: draw two train cards from the deck, or claim a route (page 1).
Claim a route: play cards in the route's color, as many as its spaces. Locomotives are wild. Put your trains on the spaces and discard the cards (page 2).
One route per turn. Any unclaimed route will do, even if it is not joined to yours. You can not claim both lines of a double route (page 2).
Tickets: when your trains join the two cities on a ticket, tell the others, flip it up and draw a new one. Skip a turn to discard both tickets and draw two new ones (page 2).
Coast-to-Coast: a line of your trains from Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles to New York, Washington or Miami earns a Bonus Ticket, which counts as a finished ticket (page 2).
Game end: when someone finishes their sixth ticket, they win and take the Golden Ticket. Or when someone places their last train, the most finished tickets wins, and ties win together (page 2).
Every turn, one thing
Each turn you do one of these. Then it is the next player's turn.
DrawTake two train cards from the top of the deck.
Or claimPay cards that match a route. Put your trains on it.
Finish ticketsDoes your line join the two cities on a ticket? Flip it and draw a new one.
CheckSix tickets finished, or a last train placed? The game is over.
How do you score Ticket to Ride: First Journey?
There are no points. The first player to finish 6 tickets wins at once and takes the Golden Ticket (page 2). If a player places their last train, the game ends and the player with the most finished tickets wins. Tied players all win together (page 2). Count each player's finished tickets, then press Who won?
Your pocket card
For the table. The front is your turn, the back is how it ends.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey, the short version
Firstto 6 tickets wins
Draw: two train cards from the deck.
Or claim: a route, with cards in its color and as many as its spaces. Locomotives are wild.