How to Play Ticket to Ride: Switzerland

Objective of the Game

In Ticket to Ride: Switzerland, players are trying to build train routes across the Swiss map. The goal is to connect cities to other cities or to neighboring countries, completing Destination Tickets and earning points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Preparation (Setup)

• The Swiss map is designed for 2 or 3 players.
• Each player takes a set of 40 Train Cars and a matching Scoring Marker.
• Scoring Markers are placed on the Start space of the track around the board.
• Shuffle the Train cards and deal 4 cards to each player.
• Place the Train card deck by the board and turn 5 cards faceup, laying them out in a row.
• Place the Longest Continuous Path Bonus card faceup next to the board.
• Shuffle the Destination Tickets, deal 5 to each player, and place the remainder in a facedown deck.
• Each player must keep at least 2 of their Destination Tickets, but may keep all 5 if they choose. Any returned cards are removed from the game.
• The player who is the most experienced traveler goes first. Play proceeds clockwise.

Flow of the Game

On a player's turn, they must perform one only of the following actions:

• Draw Train Cards
• Claim a Route
• Draw Destination Tickets

Actions and How to Play

Draw Train Cards

Draw 2 Train cards. You may take any of the faceup cards or draw from the deck. Locomotive cards can be selected just like standard cards. If you draw a faceup card, you immediately turn a replacement card faceup from the deck. You then draw a second card from the faceup cards or the deck.

• The colors of Train cards match the routes between cities on the board.
• A player may have any number of Train cards in their hand at any time.
• When the deck is exhausted, the discards are thoroughly reshuffled to form a new deck.
• Locomotives are multi-colored and act as wild cards that can be part of any set when claiming a route.
• Unlike other versions of Ticket to Ride, Locomotive cards can be selected like standard train car cards.
• Locomotive cards can only be played on tunnel routes. They can complement or replace the cards used to claim a tunnel route, but can never be used to help claim a regular route.
• If at any time, 3 of the faceup cards are Locomotives, all 5 cards are immediately discarded and 5 new ones drawn to replace them.

Claim a Route

Claim a route by playing a set of Train cards matching the color and quantity of the route spaces and then placing one train on each space of the route. Discard the cards and record the appropriate score for that route’s length by moving the Scoring Marker.

• A player may claim any route on the board, but only one route per turn.
• A route must be claimed in its entirety during a single turn.
• Gray Routes: Gray colored routes can be claimed using a set of cards of any one color.
• Double Routes: Some cities are connected by Double Routes (two tracks parallel along the entire route). One player cannot claim both routes. In a 3 player game, players can use both tracks of the double routes. In a 2 player game, only one of the Double Routes can be used.
• Tunnels: When attempting to claim a Tunnel route, a player first lays down the number of cards required by the route’s length. Then turn the top 3 cards from the Train deck. For each card revealed that matches the color used to claim the route (including Locomotives), an additional card of the same color (or a Locomotive) must be played to successfully claim the tunnel route.
• If a player does not have enough additional matching cards, or does not wish to play them, he takes all his cards back and his turn ends. The 3 cards revealed for the tunnel are discarded.
• Any Locomotive card drawn automatically matches the color of the cards played on the route, and forces the player to add a card of matching color, or a Locomotive.
• If a player attempts a tunnel by playing only Locomotive cards, he will only have to play additional Locomotives if they show up among the 3 cards drawn for the tunnel.

Draw Destination Tickets

Draw 3 Destination Tickets from the top of the Tickets deck. You must keep at least one. Returned cards are removed from the game.

• Destination Tickets are kept secret until the end of the game and final scoring.
• A player may have any number of Tickets at any time.
• If there are less than 3 Tickets left, the player draws only what is available.
• Once kept, Tickets must be kept until the end of the game and cannot be discarded during a later Ticket draw.
• A Ticket is successfully completed if the player creates a continuous path of his trains between the 2 cities named on the Ticket.
• To complete a city-to-country Destination Ticket, you must connect from the city name to one of the countries listed.
• To complete a country-to-country Destination Ticket, you must connect the primary country to one of the other countries listed. The points earned are those of the highest scoring connection from among the possible destinations on the ticket. If none of the possible connections was made, the points lost are those corresponding to the lowest value on the ticket.

Game End and Scoring

When one player’s stock of Trains is down to 2 or less at the end of his turn, each player, including that player, gets one final turn. The game then ends and final scores are calculated.

1. Reveal Destination Tickets. The value of successfully completed Tickets is added to a player’s score and the value of incomplete Tickets is subtracted from his score.
2. Add 10 bonus points to the player who has the Longest Continuous Path of routes. A given Train can never be used twice in the same continuous path. If several players are tied they each receive the bonus.
3. The player with the most points wins.
4. If there is a tie, the player who completed the most Destination Tickets wins.
5. If still tied, the player with the Longest Continuous Path bonus card wins.

Tips for Winning

• When drawing Destination Tickets, remember you must keep at least one, and once kept, they cannot be discarded later. Choose wisely to maximize your potential points.
• Be mindful of Locomotive cards. They are wild for tunnel routes but cannot be used for regular routes, making them a strategic resource for specific connections.
• In a 2-player game, only one of the Double Routes can be used, which can impact your route planning and blocking opportunities.