Thurn and Taxis

Customer Reviews

Great Game Review by Kenny

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This is a great game that uses a lot more strategy than you may think. You really have to think ahead before you start placing routes etc. It's nicely paced and doesn't stall near the end like a lot of board games. The scoring system makes the game fun and a good challenge to win.
The Design of the packaging, board and components excellent and adds to making the Thurn and Taxis a rather enjoyable game to play.
There are a few con's though, the cards are quite tiny and difficult to shuffle, they also seem a bit delicate and bend easily. The rules of play manual has a few critical typo's that can cause a bit of confusion. I am assuming this is a case of "lost in translation". Luckily though it doesn't detract from game play as simple logic will make the errors easy to decipher.

I really recommend this game to anyone who likes games like Ticket to Ride etc.



(Posted on 5/21/12)

Delivery the mail for victory! Review by B

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This is a good route building game. It is put together well. The basis of the game is to build routes through adjacent cites through card play, once the route is complete you place post offices down in the cities in order to get victory points. Being the first player to get the route the more points you get. An enjoyable game that isn’t based on stabbing the other in the back as you can’t block another’s route but you can make it hard for them to complete if you grab their cards first, it isn’t overly complex so you can pick it up easily. (Posted on 8/5/11)

Excellent Gateway Game Review by Matt

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In the game Thurn and Taxis, you are developing mail routes in Germany. Sounds exciting? Believe me when I say it is!

There are few games out there that scale well from 2 to 4 players that are a light weight and fast to play as Thurn and Taxis but still provide a satisfying depth of strategy.

This game is often equated to Ticket to Ride, but I personally prefer this over the other, the main reason being the art and cost.

Thurn and Taxis is a wonderfully crafted game with amazing artwork. At the end of the game, the board looks more like a piece of art than an actual game.

At its heart, Thurn and Taxis is a set collection game, think of Rummy with a Board. Each turn you select from one of 6 route cards (a city) that are available, and then play a card from your hand to extend your route. You can then choose to claim (or score) that route and lay your house markers out on the board. Points are scored by filling the board in with your own house markers (in various combinations), making the longest route etc. At the end of the game, the player with the most number of points wins.

This game is easy to approach and is quite enjoyable, with a low level of direct conflict, it is a very appealing family game as players never leave a game with a bad taste in their mouth.

This is a must buy gateway game!

(Posted on 7/9/10)

Infuriatingly Random Review by Jasmine

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Thurn and Taxis is an interesting game, but there is one key mechanic in the game that turns me away from the game.

In many ways, Thurn and Taxis is similar to Ticket to Ride. You collect location cards in an attempt to create routes. However, there are many ways to score points in the game, leading to lots of multi-front battles for different locations, cards, and victory point tokens.

The bothersome mechanic is the special abilities that you can use on your turn. You can either play two cards instead of one, grab two cards instead of one, play fewer cards to earn more points, or replace all the cards available to grab on the board.

While the first three powers are fine, it is the last one that will drive you crazy. Since any player can randomize the available cards at any time, you are unable to formulate any kind of long term strategy and must play with what you get at the start of your turn.

This, for me, removes all the fun in the game. In addition, because you cannot plan ahead typically, this means that each player must rethink their options at the start of their turn, which means there is a lot of downtime between turns that you cannot use yourself to plan ahead, making for a really empty experience.

I suppose with expansions or with fewer players this part of the game would not be so severe, but it will hinder your likelihood to bring it to the table. I would recommend Finca or even Portobello Market over this game.

(Posted on 12/8/09)

Great with 2 players...easy to teach and easy to learn Review by Austen

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Recently I had been looking for a game that played 2-4 players that played just as well with 2 as it did 4. I am a huge fan of Ticket to Ride, but find it is always more fun to play with 3 or more players. After doing some research one game kept on coming up over and over....Taxis and Thurn.

My wife and I have played it a few times now and out of all of the games we have find this to be one of the best 2 player board games we own. I like it a lot more than other dedicated 2 player games as it doesn't feel like a two player game.

The theme of the game can put some people off as the theme is the German Post Office, not really a good selling feature when trying to get your wife or girlfriend to try playing it for the first time...BUT once you get someone to trust you and try it they will be hooked.

It is a card laying, route claiming game that you win by collecting the most Victory Points. Unlike Ticket to Ride the routes never get closed so you don't need to worry about someone blocking you by stealing your route. There are a number of really cool game mechanics that allow you to pick one of 4 special powers that you can use on your turn to help you depending on what you are trying to accomplish. These special powers are what really makes the game for me as it adds another dimension to the game.

I would say this is a light strategy game that both beginner gamers and experienced games will enjoy. The only real knock on the game is the size of the cards. The cards are small and get a lot of use, so I suspect that they will show their wear quicker than other cards.

(Posted on 12/7/09)