Game Overview
When I bought this game I didn't know exactly what to expect. I just wanted something easy to learn and easy to explain so I could play with people that aren't used to play boardgames. Did Trans Europa meet my expectations?
The theme of the game is very simple. Railways across Europe. Each player's goal is to connect his 5 cities with rails. Upon achieving this, the game ends.
Each player chooses a color, places his starting marker in front of him and his locomotive as a scoring marker at the top of the scoring track (in the trainhouse). The city cards are sorted by color (5 different colours: red, green, blue, orange and yellow) and each color is shuffled separately and placed face down near the board. Each player draws 1 card from each color and looks at them secretly. The cities represented by these cards are the cities the player must connect. The first player is chosen and he puts the starting player card in front of him. The game is ready to begin. Beginning with the first player and taking turns in clockwise order each player places his start marker in any vacant intersection (even a city) on the board. This is going to be the starting point for his railway system. After all players have placed their starting markers, the expansion of the railways begins. Each player must do one of the following actions:
· Put 1 or 2 rails on unoccupied single lines
· Put 1 rail on an unoccupied double line
But be careful! Rails can only be placed on the railway network defined by the starting marker of each player, that is, adjacent to the starting marker or to another track that is connected through other tracks to his starting marker.
An important note is that a player may connect his railway system with another's and continue as if it was his own. And this is why the game, even though it may seem simple and without depth at first, in reality has a lot a strategy and every decision counts. You have to expand cleverly your own railway without helping the others and at the same time take advantage of the other railway networks to achieve your goal. As soon as a player connects all 5 cities, the round ends immediately. All other players determine how many pieces of track they needed to place, to connect their 5 cities. When counting the missing tracks, each player counts: 1 point for each missing track over flat land (with a single line) and 2 points for each track over river, mountain, or sea (with a double line). These are negative points. For each point counted, the player moves his locomotive downward one space in the direction of the red space at the bottom of the scoring track. Now the next round begins. As soon as a player's locomotive moves to 0 or beyond (red space at the bottom of the scoring track) the game ends and the player with the highest score wins the game.
First Impressions
Opening the box you come across: one small 2-page rulebook, a game board, a lot of wooden pieces (representing the rails (all in black colour) plus the starting marker and locomotive for each player) and 36 city cards in 5 colour groups. It takes you no more than 5 minutes to familiarize with the rules and 2 more minutes to explain it to the rest of the players. Now you are ready for your first game. So, is it really worth it or is it too simple and boring? For me Trans Europa is just fine!
A very fun, easy to learn and play, game. It can be played as a filler between heavy weighted games and it's also useful for new gamers in order to get introduced to this kind of games. If you like route / network building board games like Ticket To Ride, Thurn And Taxis etc and you are looking for something even easier, Trans Europa is strongly recommended.
Components
Small box, big board (map), a lot of wooden pieces (the rails, locomotives and starting markers) and 36 colour cards representing the cities of Europe. Nothing special but does the job for this kind of game. 6/10
Gameplay
A network building game following the path of Ticket to Ride and Thurn and Taxis. It looks simple in the beginning but has in fact more depth than you can imagine. There is enough challenge and it can be very addictive. 7/10
Learning Curve
Very easy to learn and play. Suitable for any group of players. In 10' minutes at most you'll be ready to play your first game. 9/10
Theme
The theme of the game is nothing special but it sufficiently supports the gameplay. A map of Europe and a railway system across Europe. What more could we ask from a simple game like this? 6/10
Replayability
Once you start it's difficult to stop. It can be played even for hours, one game after another. Replayability is guaranteed because every game is different. Very addictive, will always find its way through your sessions. 8/10
Fun
This is what matters most in games like this one. To have fun. There is no reason to burn your brain by thinking too much. Just sit and enjoy. 7/10
Pros:
· Fun, simple and easy to learn
· Can be played by different kind of gamers
· Nice board and components despite the size of its box
· Enough Replayability
Cons:
· May be too easy for some people but in fact...that's its purpose.
Overall: 7.2 / 10
Like this game? Find more about it in:
http://www.boardgamemaniac.com/Games/By-Genre/Strategy-Games/Kreta-l105.html
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