Stats:
No. of players: 2-6
Amount of time to play: 30-45 min
Age requirements: 9+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Chaotic Connections Rules Description:

Chaotic Connections requires you to connect certain cities in the U.S. And although it is similar to Ticket to Ride there is a lot more player interaction, thus the chaos.

You begin Chaotic Connections by drawing 5 city cards. You must connect three of these. After seeing which cities everyone has selected you add one more city for the player on right from the two cards you have remaining.

Game play is very straight forward. You start the game with three chaos cards and each turn you’ll draw one and play one.

Chaos cards allow you to lay connections between your cities. It also lets you mess with the players. You can add detours to routes, remove an opponent’s connection markers and even close a road for the duration of the game.

There are also curve cards in the chaos deck. These cards must be played when drawn and crank the chaos up even more. Some curve cards remove or add a city that you need to connect or others move your connections across the map.

You can use another player’s routes to connect your cities. Once a player has connected all their cities they win.

Quick Chaotic Connections Review:

Chaotic Connections is pretty fast playing and easy to teach and learn. While not strategically too deep there is a ton of “take that” in this game. Even the game takes a swipe at you through many of the curve cards.

The board can change pretty quickly and players that look like they are about to win may find that change painful. Chaotic Connections is like Ticket to Ride without the set collection that is replaced by mechanics to hamper the other players.

Road closures and detours can be tough to overcome, but everyone has access to them. So think hard before you stop your fellow player dead in their tracks. Turnabout is fair play.

The components in this game are not amazing. But they are not horrible either. The rules are a simple B&W printout, but the board and other components are good quality.

Chaotic Connections is great for non-gamers and kids. It is great for families and even educational. You can pull this out and be playing it in five minutes. And it plays fast enough you could play a couple games back-to-back. If you enjoy games that are chaotic and have some “take that” you should try this one out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 2 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 3 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 3 out of 6
Overall 3 out of 6