Recently, a couple of our friends celebrated birthdays very close to each other, and very close to a game night. I asked for requests, and got “peanut butter” snack requests from one, and “Ticket to Ride” from the other, so here you are! Peanut butter two different ways, and about a million different ways and places to train around.

At a Glance…

The Snacks

The Snickers PB cups from Vegan Richa were a little strange to put together, but turned out fantastically! First, you melt down some chocolate for a top and bottom layer. Then mix together the peanut butter and oat flour. Then layer up your little cups with chocolate, PB, half a date, a few peanuts, and more chocolate! I didn’t think this would work as well as it did, but they turned out delightful and did taste like snickers! I will say, I’m not sure if I did something wrong or not but the PB mixture was not nearly enough and I had to quickly whip up some more. Other than that, so easy!

The Salted PB Crunch Torte from Oh She Glows was one I don’t think I’d made before, surprisingly. The crust comes together quickly, and then that gooey filling! For the coconut whipped cream, I cheated and used frozen ‘so delicious’ coco whip. Much easier and fool proof! I topped it with peanuts since I’m not a big fan of walnuts, drizzled, or rather globbed, the chocolate on and voila! Both these desserts were huge hits and received many a compliment, even days later. They’ll definitely be going into a regular rotation!

The Strategy

What is there to say about Ticket to Ride that hasn’t already been said? Modern classic! You can interest gamers and non-gamers alike in this well-loved game. We currently own Europe, Asia, Africa, Pennsylvania / UK, and Legacy, and have played London, New York, Netherlands, Nordic, Switzerland, Great Lakes, & India. Still hoping to try France/ Old West, Rails & Sails, Japan, Korea, and other little city maps. In the game, you either do one of three things: 1) draw more train cards 2) play train cards 3) draw more tickets. You can either draw two face up or from the deck, or 1 wild face up. Then when you have enough, you play cards of the matching color and number to claim a route. You’re trying to complete all the segments of routes needed in order to get from one city to another to finish your tickets and get points! Super simple, surprisingly satisfying. Each map has small variations that you can pick based on the mechanisms or your favorite geographic place. If you haven’t tried Ticket to Ride yet, you definitely should!

Quadropolis is another hit from Days of Wonder with a classic theme of city building. I love the mechanism of having a worker with a number point to a row or column and get that thing (that was what made me super interested in Meadow when it first came out!). But then in Quadropolis, you also have to play it in that numbered section of your city. The buildings score for things like adjacency, completing rows or columns, and having people in your shopping malls. At the end of the game though it can be tricky…you might get stuck in a position where you only have very limited options and can’t get things you need, and you can’t end the game with too much or too little population or energy. It’s a puzzly one for sure! If you like city building, this does it well.

Want to buy these games? Check out your friendly local game store (FLGS), Amazon [here], or get a first-order discount at Board Game bliss [here].

Or get Ticket to Ride on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

More Ticket to Ride pics over the years