Rolling to London

Both Sushi Roll and Ticket to Ride: London are new games extending an existing product. Where Sushi Roll takes the success of Sushi Go! and drives it into a new style of game, TtR London walks a tried and true path following its predecessors.

The TL;DR

• TtR London

  • new scoring for connecting regions

  • much the same game but misses the key moments

  • still takes as long to teach

• Sushi Roll

  • quicker to play and set up

  • the new mechanics add strategic depth

  • frustratingly, some items change effect

Ticket to Ride: London

TtR London is the second small box version of Ticket to Ride. It features the same core mechanics as most other versions of TtR; collecting transportation (train) cards, placing buses (trains) between stations and fulfilling tickets. New to this version, players gain points for connecting all the stations in a region.

The London theme appeals as that's my home town and having a version based there is a nice bonus (it's part of the reason I also have the United Kingdom expansion).

Not quite right for new or old players

I've heard this (and New York) touted as either; great as an introduction to TtR, or great for a quicker version of the game, unfortunately it fails on both counts.

For new players this version, as with the base US or Europe versions of TtR, takes about five minutes to teach. This is very respectable for a game that lasts about an hour with a teach-play ratio of 12-1, but less so for one that takes around fifteen minutes to play (3-1). Additionally given how short the game is, any experience or rules comprehension differences are exaggerated.

For experienced players you can't really get the TtR fix you're looking for as it's all over too soon. Usually around halfway through a game of TtR I'm able to sit back look at the board and maybe consider a change in strategy or get an understanding of what the other players are trying to achieve. With London the game is over so quickly that it becomes a flat out race to get any routes claimed as soon as possible and TtR has always been a more relaxed experience than that.

Sushi Roll

For a simple drafting game, strategic decisions really shine in Sushi Roll.

Each turn players roll the dice in front of them, may use special tokens and then select a die to add to their scoring pad, then the dice pools are passed around the table. By using dice everyone can see what's possible (the player boards are excellent in providing a scoring and distribution guide), even if it isn't currently available to take. Do you take the wasabi hoping the nigiri dice rolls squid when it gets to you? Or do the lack of nigiri on the table make that a dead dice and safe to ignore?

Chopsticks play a key part in the strategic depth allowing you to switch one of your dice with another player. Not only can this get you the dice you need for this turn, but it also means you can stack a particular hand of dice to your advantage or another player's disadvantage for future turns. You can also send a die to another player who has already selected a die to 'save' it for your next turn.

My one complaint is that the chopsticks, tempura, sashimi and dumplings use the same artwork as the previous versions, but work differently which leads to some mental dissonance as you try to re-evaluate their value using the new rules. I wish they'd used different items as the biggest fans of the original game are going to suffer most from this.

Sushi Go! was lightning fast to play, accessible to anyone and very much followed its theme. Party! gave the option to play with more players and added more complex sushi, but unfortunately it lost some of the speed and accessibility and added considerably to the set up time.

Sushi Roll manages to hit the high points of both, with a streamlined gameplay, easy access and quick pace, but with new mechanics that expand the strategies and a lightning fast set up.