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Photo illustration by Dana Davis/NYT Wirecutter; source photos by Hannah Rimm for NYT Wirecutter

“It was completely by accident that my family fell in love with a train-themed game,” writes supervising editor Hannah Rimm. Her family was staying at an Airbnb for seven days, looking for a way to pass the time when they opened up a cupboard that happened to possess a 2004 board game: Ticket to Ride.

Thanks to the game’s simplicity, the Rimm family learned the rules swiftly, and the gameplay quickly went from civil to ruthless. They competed for strategic routes and the longest continuous path, “giggling and cursing” as they attempted to race their trains around the country. “We played round after round, discovering new strategies as we went,” she writes. “By the time we looked up, the sun had set.”

And since that fateful trip, the game has become a staple in the Rimm household—even functioning as a rite of passage for new partners joining the family. It gets the whole gang together around some friendly competition. And perhaps best of all? The rules are (blessedly) easy to understand.

An easy-to-love board game for the whole family→

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Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter

With Black Friday on the horizon, deals are starting to crop up left and right. Today we’re feeling cozy and eyeing some good discounts on tried-and-true Wirecutter picks from Brooklinen—maker of some of our longtime favorite sheets, blankets, and more. (Wirecutter readers can get early access to Brooklinen’s sitewide sale with promo code WCBFCM.)

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