There is this game called Dino Run that mirrors what you played if you grew up in the 70’s and 80’s like me. The graphics are lame, but the game play is phenomenal. The goal is to save super eggs, which are cleverly hidden all over the game. As you accumulate DNA, you improve your skills. Eating runners, birds, eggs, etc. earn you points and DNA, and the above contribute to the earning of trophies.

Yes, it’s true. I am still a guy who likes to earn a trophy ever since the day that my brother’s soccer team was always better than mine. He always got a trophy and I didn’t. (Nowadays, everybody gets a trophy. I don’t see the point in working harder as a team when everybody gets one).

Oh, and did I mention that if you don’t act fast you will get consumed by the impending wall of doom?

Dino Run Run for your life and escape the oncoming wall of doom!

My sister gave us this game. I am not a huge game player, mostly because I suck at games like Balderdash, Nerts, and Scattergories. But this game is really fun for an evening after the kids are in bed. Strategy is required, but not so much that your head hurts. The pacing is just right — the game is completed in 30 minutes to an hour. Longer if chatty women are playing and not paying attention to the game flow. It is really embarrassing to lose to such women when you are trying your hardest to win.

The goal is to connect cities together on predetermined routes you draw from a pile of route cards. Points are awarded for connecting distant cities by connecting routes of adjacent cities, and lost when you fail to complete the route. Train track connections between cities can be used by only one individual (except for double track connections), which creates an interesting strategy when you think your opponent is trying to connect two distant cities and you can disrupt the flow by claiming a connection along their route. Stations allow use of your opponent’s tracks at a point cost. Points are also awarded based on the length of each segment connected and the longest overall route.

We started with Ticket to Ride: Europe, which is the base game with some fun variations, including tunnels and ferries. Other variations include Switzerland (2-3 player game) and a number of United States variations.

Ticket to Ride Website

(I have given up on trying to get the margins right on the picture)