Review: Thurn and Taxis

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Introduction & Overview

In 1490, Emperor Maximilian I commissioned Franz von Taxis to establish a courier service between his residences in Innsbruck and Brussels. It was so successful that, in the following period, all other postal services remained linked to the Thurn and Taxis family name, eventually leading to them being elevated to the rank of counts. Will you be able to continue the family’s success and build a significant stagecoach network? Do you have the talent to connect the right cities with one another, as well as establish post offices and, at the same time, keep your sights on purchasing new carriages?

This is the premise behind Thurn and Taxis, designed by Karen Seyfarth and Andreas Seyfarth (the latter responsible for hits like Puerto Rico, San Juan, or Manhattan). The game was first published in 2006 by Hans im Glück in a German edition, winning that year’s Spiel des Jahres. The artwork is illustrated by Michael Menzel (Agra, Santiago de Cuba, Legends of Andor).

It is not available locally, so you will have to resort to importing to get a copy (the game is completely language-independent). It plays from 2 to 4 players, with a recommended minimum age of 10 years and an approximate playing time of about 60 minutes. The MSRP is €34.95. For this review, a copy of the French edition by Hans im Glück was used (review copy).

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 31.5×22.5×9 cm (standard large rectangular box like Agricola), we find the following components:

Game board (cardboard)
80 Post Offices (20 in each color) (wooden)
90 Cards (43×68 mm):
4 Company Cards
20 Stagecoach Cards
66 City Cards
30 Bonus Tiles
4 Reference Tiles
Rulebook

How to Play

In Thurn and Taxis, players must deploy a network of post offices across the region of Bavaria and surrounding areas. On their turn, a player must take a card from the display, place a card into a route (connecting adjacent cities in order and without duplicates), and, optionally, score/close the route by placing post offices in cities and claiming a new stagecoach card if the route was long enough. The map groups cities into regions, so that when scoring a route, players can only place houses in all cities of a single region or in one city from each region the route passes through. When scoring, players will claim various bonus point tiles depending on how quickly they achieve each goal. Finally, during the game, players can enlist the help of postal officials to enhance their actions. The game ends when a player claims the highest-value stagecoach card or places all of their post offices.

Key Concepts

Let’s begin with the Board. It depicts a map of Bavaria and adjacent territories. We find a series of cities interconnected by roads. Additionally, the cities are grouped into regions, each with a distinct background color. In the upper-left area, there is a space for the card display, and the top row features spaces to place the stagecoach cards. Furthermore, each region includes spaces for bonus tiles.

The primary goal for players is to establish Post Offices. Each player has a set of houses (representing these offices) that can be placed in different cities. Placing all of one’s houses is one way to trigger the end of the game, as any post offices remaining in a player’s supply will count as negative points.

To place these offices, players need to build routes using City Cards. There are three cards per city, which can be acquired from the face-up display or drawn from the deck. When building a route, the core concept is that a player forms a line of connected cities, meaning they can only extend the route from either end of the row, with no repeated cities allowed.

When a player closes a route (minimum of three cards), they can claim Stagecoach Cards. These cards range from values 3 to 7, each associated with victory points. When a player completes a route that meets or exceeds the required length, they may claim their next stagecoach card. The only restriction is that players must claim stagecoach cards in ascending numerical order.

Finally, there are various Bonuses on the board that players can claim. On one hand, there are Bonuses for Route Length (between lengths of 5 and 7) and for having a presence in all regions (with at least one office).

On the other hand, Region Bonuses are earned when a player places a post office in every single city of the corresponding region or combination of regions.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Place the board in the center of the table.
Place one stagecoach card of each value per player in the game onto the corresponding spaces on the board.
Shuffle the deck of city cards and place it face down beside the board. Then, reveal 6 cards to form the display.
Place the bonus tiles on each space in ascending order (the lowest value at the bottom of the stack and the highest value on top).
Each player chooses a color and receives a company card, 20 post offices, and a reference tile.
Finally, randomly select a starting player.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Thurn and Taxis is played over an indeterminate number of rounds. In each round, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each player takes a turn.

On their turn, the active player must carry out the following steps in order:

Draw a City Card: The player takes a card into their hand from the six face-up cards on the board (replacing it immediately) or draws a blind card from the top of the deck.
Start/Extend a Route: The player must play a city card from their hand into their current route. If no cards have been played in their area, they start a new route by playing any card from their hand. If a route has already been started, the card must be placed at one of the ends of the line (left or right), provided the city shown on the card is directly connected by a road to the city at that end of the row. A city card cannot be played more than once in the same route. If a player cannot legally extend their route because none of the cards in their hand meet the requirements, they must discard the entire current route and start a new one.
Score/Close Route: The player may choose to complete their route if it consists of at least 3 cards. They proceed as follows:
- First, they may place post offices in cities along the route where they do not yet have one. They have two options:
  - Place Post Offices in One Region: The player places post offices in all cities along their route that belong to the same single region.
  - Place Post Offices in Different Regions: For each region the route passes through, the player may place one, and only one, post office. If the route passes through multiple cities in the same region, the player must choose which one of those cities receives the office.
- Claim a Stagecoach Card: The player may claim their next stagecoach card if their route length is at least equal to the value of the next card they need (only one card of each stagecoach value can be claimed per player). Thus, the first stagecoach claimed is value 3 (requiring a route of at least length 3). To claim a value 4 stagecoach, the route must contain at least 4 cities. Even if a player completes a route of greater length than required, stagecoach cards must still be acquired in numerical order.
- Claim Bonus Tiles: The player may receive various bonuses:
  - Route Length Bonus: If the route contains 5, 6, 7 or more cities, the player takes the highest-value bonus tile available for that length.
  - Region Bonus: If the player has placed a post office in every city of a region (or region group), they take the highest-value bonus tile available for that region.
  - All Regions Bonus: If the player has placed at least one post office in every region on the map, they take the highest-value bonus tile available for this achievement.
  - Game End Bonus: The player takes the game end bonus tile if they placed their last post office or claimed the value 7 stagecoach card.
- Finally, if the player holds more than 3 city cards in their hand, they must discard down to 3.

After this, the turn passes to the player on the left.

On each turn, the active player may enlist the help of one postal official (and only one):

Postmaster (when drawing a card): The player may draw a second card in the same manner as the first (from the display or from the deck).
Postal Administrator (when drawing a card): Before choosing a card, the player may discard all six face-up cards and immediately refill the display with six new cards.
Postillion (when starting/extending a route): The player may play a second card into their route, either adjacent to the card just played or at the opposite end of the route.
Carriage Carrier (when scoring a route): The player may claim their next stagecoach card with a route that is one or two cards shorter than normally required (for example, claiming a value 7 stagecoach with a route of length 5).

Game End

The end of the game is triggered when a player claims the value 7 stagecoach card and/or places their final post office on the board. The round is completed so that all players have had an equal number of turns, and final scoring takes place. Each player scores:

The victory point value of the highest-value stagecoach card they claimed.
The value of all bonus tiles acquired during the game.
A penalty equal to the number of post offices remaining in their personal supply (1 point per remaining office).

The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, if the player who triggered the end of the game is among the tied players, they win. Otherwise, the tied player seated closest to that player in clockwise order wins.

Personal Opinion

Today we look at an absolute classic that, unlike many of its peers, seems to have fallen somewhat into obscurity on a publishing level. While it has seen several reprints and localizations over the years, the last print run is now quite a distant memory. Let’s try to find out why this happened. Today we analyze Thurn and Taxis.

In Thurn and Taxis, we are tasked with building a network of post offices across Bavaria (Germany) and its surrounding areas, featuring interconnected cities organized into distinct regions. To achieve this, two core mechanics are implemented. First, the ubiquitous card drafting, which allows players to pick cards representing different cities from the board to add to their hand. This display offers six face-up cards to choose from, or players can opt to draw blindly from the deck.

With these cards, players must construct routes (the second key mechanic of the game), forming a line of connected city cards. The catch is that, on a standard turn, you may only extend the route by one card at either end of the row, provided that the newly played city connects directly by road to the city at that end of the line.

This route can be closed at the end of the turn if it consists of at least three cards. Doing so allows the player to place post offices in the cities along their route where they do not already have one. But there is a crucial decision to make: the player must choose between placing a post office in one city per region traversed by the route, or placing post offices in every city of a single region (even if the route spans multiple regions).

Upon closing a route, in addition to placing offices, players can claim a new stagecoach card if their route meets the length requirement (with each successive card requiring a longer route). They may also claim bonuses for route length (at least five cities), for having presence in every region on the board, and/or for filling every city in a single region.

Thus, turns flow smoothly through this simple cycle of drawing a card, playing a card, and closing a route. Strategic flexibility comes from the four postal officials available each turn, allowing players to boost one of their actions. The Postmaster lets you draw two cards (expanding your hand), the Postal Administrator clears the display (great when nothing on offer fits your plan and you do not want to rely solely on luck), the Postillion allows placing two cards into the route, and the Carriage Carrier lets you claim a stagecoach card with a route up to two cards shorter than required.

As you can see, it is a medium-light weight game with a very distinct flow that was frequently compared to another classic, Ticket to Ride (here is the tocho-review of its Märklin edition), due to sharing the same core mechanics and target audience. However, even though today’s subject won the Spiel des Jahres, competing against the sheer powerhouse of the franchise created by Alan R. Moon was always going to be an uphill battle. This is the primary reason why Thurn and Taxis has slipped somewhat into obscurity. A similar dynamic unfolded between Alhambra (here is its tocho-review) and Carcassonne (here is its tocho-review).

The main advantage Thurn and Taxis held over Ticket to Ride was a reduced reliance on luck. Here, objectives are shared and players race for them openly, whereas in Ticket to Ride, destination tickets can heavily swing a game and create asymmetric difficulty from the start. Additionally, the card display in Thurn and Taxis offers much higher turnover and control. Because of this, many considered Andreas and Karen’s design to be the true Eurogame alternative to the train classic.

In that sense, I find it highly rewarding. While mechanically just as accessible as Ticket to Ride, it offers an extra layer of depth and long-term planning when constructing routes, balancing stagecoach progression, targeting bonus tiles, and racing for higher-value rewards.

On the other hand, player interaction in Thurn and Taxis is lower. There are no hard blocks on the board; the race for diminishing bonus tiles and the push to clear negative points by placing post offices before someone triggers the game end are the primary competitive elements. This game-end trigger is another trait shared with Ticket to Ride (triggered in one when a player has two or fewer trains left, and here when someone places all their post offices or claims the top stagecoach).

This is perhaps the fundamental distinction: Thurn and Taxis is a slightly more thinky, analytical game with less “take that” cutthroat interaction. In Ticket to Ride, it is deliciously tense to watch an opponent’s reaction when you claim a route that cuts off their major ticket. Here, the biggest disruption you can cause is snatching a bonus tile one turn earlier, netting you a single extra victory point compared to the next player who completes it.

Another minor drawback of Thurn and Taxis is that matches can feel somewhat repetitive over time. Players generally understand what needs to be done, often leaning into one of two main strategies: going for the all-regions bonus or sweeping through the large Bavarian region. Success comes down to adapting to the display and tracking which cards have already come out (accounting for the slight uncertainty when opponents draw from the deck).

All in all, it remains a very solid design that delivers great experiences when brought to the table from time to time. Given the vast sea of modern releases, it might not see constant, back-to-back plays, but it is an undeniably rewarding title that consistently leaves a pleasant aftertaste. Ideally, you want to get your hands on the first expansion, which introduces a larger, more demanding map with split regions, providing a much richer puzzle. That said, in direct commercial comparison with Ticket to Ride, it inevitably lost out—explaining why one receives yearly expansions and new editions while the other has sat dormant.

In terms of scaling, because the game lacks cutthroat blocking, it plays smoothly at all player counts (another slight edge over Ticket to Ride, which relies heavily on tailored maps to scale properly), though it shines brightest at four players due to the heightened race dynamic and rapid display churn.

Regarding production quality, as expected from Hans im Glück, the cardboard components are thick and punch out cleanly. The cards are smooth, have good weight and decent snap (sleeving is recommended given how frequently cards are handled). The wooden post office houses have a distinct silhouette and good density, and the rulebook is clearly structured and unambiguous.

Visually, the great Michael Menzel delivers a vibrant, character-packed cover that contrasts somewhat with the board itself, where the cities can appear a bit muted and understated. On the table, the visual presence is more subdued than one might hope. Even the cards have a relatively uniform look, with only the banner indicating the city’s name and color standing out.

And let’s wrap this up. Thurn and Taxis is a game driven by drafting and route-building mechanics that is inevitably compared to Ticket to Ride. It offers a more distinctly Eurogame experience, with lower interaction, greater long-term planning, and a rewarding race to claim the best bonuses. Its primary limitation is that the lower interaction and reduced randomness can make plays feel a bit similar if played too frequently (which is why the expansion is so beneficial). Even so, it consistently leaves a great impression. For all these reasons, I give it a…