It’s been available for only four weeks, but buyers of Ticket to Ride on Xbox Live Arcade have already logged almost 115,000 hours of game play. Ticket to Ride is a railway strategy game based on the internationally renowned board game, which features simple rules and fast play. Since its launch on June 25th, 2008, almost a quarter of a million games have been played. Next week, the base game will get an update as publisher, Playful Entertainment, releases the Ticket to Ride: Europe expansion on July 30th.

From the craggy hillsides of Edinburgh to the sunlit docks of Constantinople, Ticket to Ride: Europe takes players on another exciting train adventure. In addition to the new map, it offers brand new strategic gameplay elements including tunnels, ferries and train stations.

For those who haven’t had a chance to try Ticket to Ride on XBLA, it challenges players to plan cross-country rail routes across North America and now Europe, visiting all the city stops in-between. Although the game can be learned in under five minutes, players face strategic and tactical decisions that vary with every turn. The game supports play with up to five people on Xbox Live or four people on the same console and supports the Xbox LIVE Arcade Vision Camera for hours of family-friendly fun.

Ticket to Ride is based on the board game by noted game designer Alan R. Moon. Days of Wonder released the game in early 2004, becoming the youngest game publisher to win the world’s most coveted game prize, the German Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year Award. With a following in over 30 countries and availability in 11 languages, the board game has an international following.

Ticket to Ride is the debut title for Playful Entertainment, BC’s first independent console video game publisher, and its next title is due out in early fall.