In Denver at GenghisCon, the Western US Qualifier was won by Thomas Vilfroy of Greeley, Colorado. 2nd Place went to Jason Gorski of Colorado Springs, while 3rd place went to Cheryl Orosz who traveled from Ypsilanti, Michigan to compete.

And the Pacific Qualifier at OrcCon in Southern California, 1st Place went to Mychael Bueno, Gerald Delker took 2nd and Ephraim Silverman placed 3rd.

Congratulations to all and especially to Erik, Thomas and Mychael! They have each qualified for the North American Championship in Columbus, Ohio in April and will compete for a chance to go to Paris for the Ticket to Ride World Championships.

(Spoiler Alert: Hayden likes it!)

The Pirate’s Cove board game, which had been unavailable for some time in North America, is now back in stock. You’ll find it at better game stores and from the Days of Wonder Webstore.

Seasons Greetings & Happy New Year
from all of us at Days of Wonder!

In the US, Games Magazine named Small World their 2010 Game of the Year. You can read about Small World and the rest of their Games 100 list in the December 2009 issue of Games Magazine.

Earlier this month, the Community members of Tric Trac - the leading French gaming website - awarded Small World the prestigious Tric Trac d’Or, their annual award for the best board game of the year. You can read all about it (en français) on the TricTrac website.

Congratulations to Small World author, Philippe Keyaerts on these well-deserved accolades!

Designed by Michael Ormesher of the UK as his entry in the Small World Design Contest, this special mini-expansion gives players a new game play option when picking a Race/Special Action Combo. The Leaders expansion was originally only available at Essen (and given as a thank you to all who submitted an entry in the Small World Design Contest).

Leaders of Small World Overview

The Leaders expansion features Leader tokens for all Small World Races, including those in the new Cursed and Grand Dames of Small World expansions. They are neither a Race nor a Special Power. Instead, they are a new option for players: whenever you pick a new Race and Special Power combo, you may opt to also immediately spend 2 Victory coins to attach the services of this leader to your Race.

You then take the corresponding Leader token and add it to the stack of Race tokens you receive. As long as your Race is active, your Leader will act like an additional Race token, with the following exceptions:

• Your Leader is brave and refuses to stay in any Region that is immune (because of the presence of a Dragon, Hero, Hole-in-the-Ground, etc…), at the end of your turn;
• If your Leader is in a Region that is conquered by an opponent, this opponent immediately captures him! You can then pay your opponent a ransom of 1 Victory coin from your own personal stash to get your Hero back. The capture (and eventual ransom) of your Leader occurs in lieu of the normal 1 token loss that happens when a Region is conquered (if any; Elves can still get their Leader captured and ransomed).

At the end of the game, any opponents’ Leader still in the personal Victory stash of a player is worth 2 Victory coins for the player who still holds him captive.
The Leaders of Small World are available worldwide from the BoardGameGeek Store and only while supplies last.

At EuroQuest, sixty-eight players set an all-time record for a tournament held there. The tournament winner was Josh Githens from Piedmont, South Carolina.  Josh went through the tournament undefeated, winning in both of the first two heats, and continuing his streak through to the final game win.  Second place went to Steve Shambeda, third was Tom Dunning, and James Freeman rounded out the final four.

A very happy Josh Githens (right) receives his winner’s plaque
from Ticket to Ride GM Virginia Colin at EuroQuest

In Dallas at BGG.COM, 50 players competed over 2 days with Michael Vandehey of Wichita Falls, TX emerging as the winner. Remarkably, Michael won both his games during Friday’s preliminary rounds, and then won all 4 games he played in the semi and final rounds on Saturday. Brick Amundsen of Round Rock, TX was the Runner-up in the tournament. Congratulations to both Michael and Brick who qualify for the North American Championships in April. Stephen Smith and Amy Garrett who finished 3rd and 4th will serve as alternates.

Congratulations to the winners and all who competed.

It’s Ticket to Ride’s 5th anniversary, and to celebrate Days of Wonder is throwing a year long party and you are invited! Announcing the Ticket to Ride World Championship - a series of tournaments to find out who is the best Ticket to Ride player and crown the first World Champion!

At this party, we’re the ones bringing all the gifts. In total over $50,000 worth of prizes will be awarded, including… the World Championship Grand Prize - an unforgettable trip for two on the legendary Orient-Express luxury train from London to Venice.

Through early 2010, regional Qualifying tournaments are being held in participating countries to determine the top Ticket to Ride players. Those tournament winners will earn a coveted, Gold-plated Ticket to Ride Scoring Marker and be invited to play in their National Championship events in North America (both US and Canada), France, Germany, UK, Spain, Benelux countries and Poland. Qualifiers who attend the National Championship will be reimbursed a portion of their travel costs.

Win your National Championship and your prizes include:

• Travel and hotel accommodations for your trip to Paris in June of 2010 to compete for the World Championship.
• A boxed set of 45 Gold-plated Ticket to Ride Trains (only available for National Champions!)
• An impressive National Championship Trophy

Once in Paris, you’ll compete against 7 other champions for the right to wear the crown of Ticket to Ride World Champion, to proudly show off your World Championship Trophy and take that amazing Grand Prize trip on the Orient-Express!

To enter, you must reside in, or be a citizen of, the country where the qualifying tournament is being held. (Unfortunately we are unable to hold Championships in every country or region. We hope to add addition countries to the Championships in future years.) You must also be registered with Days of Wonder Online. You can visit the New Player Signup Page to create a new account if you don’t already have one.

Take the first step on your way to Ticket to Ride fame and the chance to win the trip of a lifetime. Sign-up now for a local Qualifying Tournament. Visit the Ticket to Ride World Championship Page to learn more. Click on the National Championship link for your country or region to view the tournament listings that you may want to enter and read a description of the tournament format. We will continue to post additional Qualifying tournament over the next weeks and months, so if there is currently not a tournament near  you, check back frequently to see if one has been added.

For the official Championship rules and a complete listing of the prizes, download the Official Ticket to Ride World Championship Rules.