Very light and entertaining, TransAmerica will please even the less experienced gamer. A map of the United States is arranged in a grid of triangles, with cities at some intersections. Each person picks one city card at random from each of five regions, and then places his starting marker at a chosen intersection. Players vie to be the first to connect all their cities by rails that are laid along the sides of the triangles. You can lay two rails on a turn unless you are crossing a mountain or river, in which case you can only lay one rail. To play several rounds, keep score by penalizing the losing players the number of rails by which they're short of their goal. You can connect two rail networks, but would that aid another player more than it would help you? It's a decision to chew-chew on.