Replayability Review
10 Days in the USA asks players to create a connected journey across the United States using state and transportation cards. We picked up the 2024 English Edition a few months back when looking for something that might help teach geography without feeling like homework.
After about a dozen plays with different family members, I’ve found myself reaching for this one more than I initially expected, especially when mixing ages around the table.
Board Game Scores & Ranks:
- BGG Weight: 1.73
- Play time: 20-30 Mins
- Player Count: 2-4 players
- Year Published: 2024 (English Edition)
- Game Designer: Aaron Weissblum, Alan R. Moon
Game Mechanisms:
- Hand Management
- Route Building
- Set Collection
- Card Drafting
First Impressions
Our first game was frankly a bit underwhelming. Everyone just seemed to be randomly swapping cards with no clear strategy. Matthias particularly struggled with figuring out why certain states wouldn’t connect. The map reference helped, but those first few games lacked any real tension.
By our third game, though, we started to get it. The transportation cards aren’t just filler – they’re actually the core of making any decent route work. Once we figured that out, the game opened up considerably.
How to Play
The gameplay concept is straightforward:
- Setup: Each player gets a wooden rack with 10 slots numbered 1-10, representing travel days.
- Initial Draw: Draw 10 random tiles and place them in order on your rack without rearranging them.
- Objective: Create a connected 10-day route where each day connects to the next through:
- Adjacent states (sharing a border)
- Transportation cards (cars connect adjacent states, planes connect same-colored states)
- Identical states (a state connects to itself)
- On Your Turn:
- Draw one tile from the face-down deck OR any of the three face-up discard piles
- Replace one tile in your rack
- Discard your removed tile face-up
- Winning: First player to complete their entire connected 10-day journey wins.
We found the critical strategy involves deciding when to grab transportation cards versus state cards, and which positions to modify as your route evolves.
Review
The game’s accessibility is its strength. I’ve taught it to family members young & old and to friends who rarely play games, and everyone picked it up within minutes. The luck factor is high enough that newer players still have a chance, but there’s definitely skill in optimizing your rack. It’s important to do a very quick walkthrough and explain the importance of connecting travel cards, just to keep everyone on the same page
Replayability
Variability Factor (1.5/2) – The random draw of states and transportation cards ensures each game presents a different puzzle. We’ve had games where west coast states were rare and others where they dominated the draw pile.
Strategic Depth (1/2) – Initially I thought this was mostly luck, but after multiple plays, I’ve found meaningful decisions in what to discard, when to pivot your route strategy, and how to optimize transportation cards. Not deep, but definitely more than appears on the surface. It’s also important in more ‘competitive games’ to pay attention to your discard stack, as you have the ability to cover up previously discarded cards, effectively removing them from the game until a reshuffle
Content Volume (1/1.5) – With all the states and transportation options, there’s enough variety for 15-20 plays before it starts feeling samey. We’ve played about 12 times and haven’t hit that wall yet.
Decision Space Evolution (1/1.5) – Our first few games were clunky, but we’ve definitely improved. Matthias now carefully considers his initial rack before making any moves, and I’ve learned to value flexibility over pure efficiency.
Depth of Mastery (0.5/1) – There’s a skill curve here, but it plateaus after 5-6 plays. You won’t discover radically new strategies after the basics click.
Play Experience Variety (0.5/1) – Games tend to follow similar patterns, though player interaction through the discard piles keeps things interesting enough.
Ease of Getting it Back to the Table (1/1) – Super simple rules and easy to remember. We could go years between sessions and be able to jump right back into the game.
Total Replayability Score
GOOD – This family-weight game provides solid replayability with some strategic options that keep it interesting across multiple plays.
Who is this game for?
It sits on our shelf alongside Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne as games that work well for introducing new players to the hobby.
We’ve found it plays smoothly at all player counts. Two players works fine (though with less competition for specific cards), while four players creates more tension around the discard piles.
If you’re a heavy gamer looking for deep strategy, this probably won’t satisfy. But for a 30-minute game that combines light strategy with educational value, it hits a sweet spot. Particularly if you have school-age kids who need geography practice without realizing they’re learning.