Over $50,000 worth of prizes to be awarded, including the Grand Prize - a trip for two on the legendary Orient-Express luxury train from London to Venice.

Los Altos, CA; Paris, France - September 22, 2009. To celebrate the 5^th anniversary of the game's release, today Days of Wonder announced the first Ticket to Ride World Championships. A series of Qualifying tournaments and National Championships in Europe and North America will determine the 8 best Ticket to Ride players in the world, who will meet in Paris in June 2010 to decide the World Champion.

Over $50,000 in prizes will be awarded throughout the championship series, including travel and accommodations for the National Champions to Paris for the World Championship finals; and the grand prize - the trip of a lifetime for 2 aboard the Orient-Express train, including 2 nights in London and 2 nights in Venice, plus travel expenses from the World Champion's home town to London and back.

Now through early 2010, regional Qualifying tournaments are being held in participating countries to determine the top national Ticket to Ride players. The winners of these Qualifiers will earn a coveted Gold-plated Ticket to Ride Scoring Marker to show off their expertise to family and friends, and will be invited to play in their National Championship events in North America (both US and Canada), France, Germany, UK, Spain, Benelux countries and Poland. Those National Championship events will all be held next spring and qualifiers will be reimbursed a portion of their travel costs. National Champions will win a trip to Paris for the World Championships as well as his or her very own National Championship trophy, and a boxed-set of 45 Gold-plated Ticket to Ride trains, with Silver and Bronze-plated train sets also going to the 2^nd and 3^rd place runners-up, who will serve as alternates if the National Champion is unable to attend the World Championships.

"Even with the award of the prestigious Spiel des Jahres 5 years ago, Ticket to Ride could never have achieved its status as a 'true classic', nor gone on to sell over a million copies without the devotion and enthusiasm of Ticket to Ride fans worldwide", said Days of Wonder CEO, Eric Hautemont. "This World Championship, and the exciting prizes that we're offering, is a chance for us to express our most sincere thanks for that support and begin to give something back to the community."

Players can learn more about their National Championship, find Qualifying tournament listings, and read the official Championship rules by visiting the Days of Wonder Championship website at: http://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/world-championship/. In addition to the tournaments already listed, additional qualifiers will be added to the listings over the next weeks and months.

About Days of Wonder

Days of Wonder publishes top-quality, family-oriented board and online games that are easy to learn and fun to play. Founded in 2002, Days of Wonder has a global presence, with offices in the US and Europe, and distribution in 25 countries. To date, the company has sold over 1.7 million board games and hosted over 17 million games online. In June 2004, Days of Wonder became the youngest publisher ever to win Germany's prestigious Spiel des Jahres, the world's most coveted game prize.