Customer Reviews

Transamerica

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Is it better than settlers? Ehe. If I wrote this review 2 months ago, I would have sworn this was a great game. Light, fast paced, high player interaction, explained in 2 minutes, played in 20 minutes. However, after two months of play I have seen some glaring flaws. The luck element is just too high. I have played a game where the lucky winner went out in the first round - a five minute game with no strategy. I have then played a game that lasted an hour and a half and bored everyone to tears do only to bad luck in darwing the destinations.

Bottom Line: Is it fun? yes. Is it worth buying for a couple of months. Sure. Is it for kids? As long as they can read.

Transamerica distills the essence of a rail game. Players add tracks to a shared railroad network, competing to connect their 5 cities before anyone else does. The simple rules take less than 5 minutes to learn. The game plays quickly, too, finishing in around 30 minutes. Players with more time will be happy to play a few rematches.

The game plays well at different levels. Younger or inexperienced players can enjoy it as a fun game that teaches a bit about U.S. geography, while expert strategists will find a reasonable amount of depth and replayability relative to the simple mechanics.

A rare plus of this game is that it scales well from 2 to 6 players. It's balanced and lively with as few as 2, and it doesn't bog down with a full 6.

Transamerica is surely a fabulous game. For as simple and easy to explain as it is, it provides a ton of entertainment. The idea is that you get 5 cities to connect in the USA-- one in each region: East, South, Midwest, Heartland, and West coast. The first person to connect all five of her cities wins the round, and other players lose points equal to the number of tracks needed to complete their network. You may employ others' rails once connected, so the trick is to anticipate where others are going to build and let them lay the tracks closer to your out of the way cities. Knowing when and where to connect is what separates good from great players here, along with a healthy dose of luck since some cities are painfully out of the way (Boston!). The game is great with 4+ but is acceptable with 3 and unique yet not as exciting as a 2-player feud. All in all, no hesitations in picking up this gem.

This game is a load of fun with the added benefit that it's easy to explain and plays in about a half an hour or less. The components are top notch. The board shows a map of the US with key cities. Each player is secretly dealth 5 cards showing 5 of those cities which are spread out over the board (a color-coding system insures that they are spread out). The cities on the board are connected by lines, and each turn, a player can place one or two track pieces on the board. The goal is to be the first player to connect all 5 cities with track. Players can hook onto other players' track, too, to make things go faster. The strategy lies in the timing. You must try to allow your opponents to build segments of track for you, without their noticing, and then hook onto theirs to link your cities the fastest. Since no one knows what cities the other players have drawn, there is a lot of tension as you race to connect your own, wondering if any minute someone will announce that they have beat you to the finish line. Not super deep, but a crowd-pleaser.

It should be noted, TransAmerica is one of my longstanding favorites. It is quick playing, fun, and it handles 6 as well as it handles 2. The last review is very detailed so I will not duplicate - but this is not a 6 hour super strategy game, this is a fun 30 minute filler game that can be played over and over.

Transamerica if not an intense strategy board game. It is a fun quick game that does have a strong element of luck. However, strategy does play an important part which one would not realize unless they play the game several times. In short if you are looking for an easily explained game to play with freinds and family. This is a great game for you. If you are someone who buys games based on complexity only, than go buy something else.

The year is 1863, industry is exploding, and efforts are underway to construct a vast network of railways, the greatest technological achievement known to man! You are a wealthy entrepreneur who strives to link major industrial hubs across the United States, and you hope to be the first to complete it. But you are not alone: others are also in the business to get rich, and they can benefit from the rails you build. Will you be able to strategically utilize new and existing railways to be the first to complete your railway network?

TransAmerica is played in a series of rounds, in which the players each draw five (of 32) city cards, one from each of the five colored regions of the United States. The players then secretly determine the best route to connect all of their cities by rail, and take turns placing rails on the board. As soon as two players' rail networks touch, they can use both networks to further their development, which adds an interesting twist to the game. The first person to connect all five of their cities wins the round, and the other players collect negative points in proportion to how many railway sections they are lacking. These short rounds continue until one player's score triggers the game end, which is usually after two to four rounds.

I found TransAmerica while rummaging through a pile of undesirable games at a local thrift shop--and undesirable is an understatement! My mother spotted a small orange box that read, "TransAmerica Eine Spur schneller, $2.99." It looked interesting, but the entire game was in German, including the directions. We called up my husband, and he was able to find the directions online and in English. We were very excited to learn that the English version of the game is published by Rio Grande Games, one of our favorite game publishers. After reading through the rules, and carefully tallying up all the pieces to ensure that the set was complete, we decided that TransAmerica was worth a shot. And what a bargain find it was! TransAmerica has frequented many of our community game days and has been a hit with our friends due to its simplicity and fast pace. Not only is it one of the easiest German board games to learn (even young children can enjoy this one), it is also a really quick game, which makes it very convenient to play.

One thing I love about TransAmerica is that it can accommodate any number from 2 up to 6 people. Many of the games I love to play cap out at 4 or 5 players, so it is nice to have a 6-player game on hand. Although its strategy is of only mild intensity, particularly with more players, it can be a great bridge to introduce people to more strategic German games.

I recommend TransAmerica as a fast-paced track laying game with a great group charm. It's simplicity and length make it a wonderful pick for many settings, and it can be played by the whole family. If you are looking for a complex strategy game, TransAmerica may not be for you. But, if you are looking for a crowd-pleasing game with mild depth, TransAmerica is certainly a great pick. Good luck in your railroad ambitions!

*To read other game reviews I have written, please visit my blog, "Advantage Games." You can find the link on my Amazon profile page.

My family loves this game!!! My 7 and 5 year old boys are constantly asking to play. It is great for small and larger groups.

This is a wonderful game for the entire family. It teaches school-aged children about strategy, but it is also fun for adults. When playing with our adult friends it still allows us carrying on a conversation without having to pay attention to every step of the game. A good lead into other strategy games like Settlers of Catan.

I played this train board game this Christmas with my big bro and we loved it It was not frustrating, boring, or slow. The game took 15 minutes to learn, but a good 3-4 hours to master. This game requires a lot of strategy, mostly involving being on your toes. This is excellent because it means that the smartest person in the room doesn't win all the time. I would say this game needs a 20/80 mix of intelligence and fortune, similar to the game of Hearts. And also like Hearts, a really bad game 4 is worse than the a single bogey on each of games 1 through 4.

Even with a lot of pieces, it wasn't overwhelming, due to most of the pieces belonging to the house. This meant there was little real estate taken up by the kitchen table. Buying the add-on expansion to this product made the rules too complicated for my taste, but the expansion went over well with my big bro's gang of geeky coworkers. So if you really liked Ticket to Ride as a board game, pick this up as the next best thing.