Catan vs. Ticket to Ride for new players: which one actually gets people hooked?

I've introduced about 8 friends to board games over the last year, and I swear Ticket to Ride always works better because the rules take 5 minutes to explain. Catan always has that one guy who gets stuck with no resources and checks out halfway through. Anyone else find that one game just clicks faster for beginners?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancy3512mo ago

Ticket to Ride every time, lost three Catan games in a row and the newbies just quit.

morgan_butler2mo ago

Oh man, I just read this article that said Catan has a 40% quit rate for new players because of the dice randomness and resource blocking. Ticket to Ride keeps everyone in the game since you're always doing something on your turn, even if you're losing. Makes total sense when you think about it, nobody wants to sit there watching other people trade wheat while you're stuck with nothing.

harper_wright16d ago

it's funny you mention that @morgan_butler because I've noticed the same pattern showing up in a lot of other stuff outside board games. like think about how some people are always trying to get the "perfect" setup for something and they just freeze up if things don't go their way, same as getting stuck with no resources in Catan. Ticket to Ride has that steady progress thing where even if you're behind you can still grab a route or collect cards, it keeps your brain busy. it's basically the difference between a game that punishes you for bad luck and one that just lets you keep playing your own game no matter what. I've seen it with video games too, the ones where you can fall behind but still have a path forward always keep more people around. guess it's just human nature to want to feel like you're doing something even when you're losing.