Pfft. I hope they are planning on a new, non-TtR, non-BattleLore release in the U.S. sometime soon.  TtR:Switzerland is nice, and so are the BattleLore expansions, but I want more from DOW!  Where is my DOW wild, wild west game?  Where is my DOW space opera game?  I hope Colosseum isn’t the last of the non BattleLore/TtR/Memoir releases from Days of Wonder.

I’m pretty sure Colosseum won’t be the last one, but I have no idea what they have up their sleeve.

Hmm. It ought to be interesting to see how many copies of this leak outside of Scandinavia before Days of Wonder does a general (World-wide) release…

Maybe the NSA can track copies as they cross U.S. borders. Oh, wait, they can’t track a muffin in a toaster oven.  Never mind…

So, anyone know of a good online Nordic retailer?

When is this being released?  In time for Christmas or in the new year?

pk
-Who has a good friend currently living and studying in Denmark…

Patrick, your good friend could be a friend for all of us if he’s willing to make dozens of trips to the post office.

Unlike all of us goobers, Days of Wonder is actually taking the day off for Labor Day. I’ll update this post when I receive a release date.

Eric

Oh come on.  This actually looks cool.  I love the north.  I would buy both Switzerland and The Nordic Countries.  Can’t believe we can even get a limited release in the US?

I’m really surprised that they won’t even allow it to be ordered from their own website.  To me that would be the ideal way to allow US sales without having to go to the expense of US distribution channels.  After all, they already have their own store set up and working!

I would buy a copy of this as well…

Excellent! I have just introduced TtR to my kids and they really like it. And as my wife travels a lot around in Scandinavia, we all use to talk about the different countries.

This edition is targeted for me!

http://www.worldofboardgames.com
http://www.unispel.com

are possible sources

You could also try the Finnish publisher, Lautapelit.fi (which is, surprisingly, located at http://www.lautapelit.fi/ ).

Voila!

http://www.lautapelit.fi/lautapelit/index.php?p=1300

I’m looking forward to the edition and finally becoming a part of the T2R world :-)

Here’s a couple of really good stores in Norway:

http://www.brettspill.no/default.aspx
http://www.spillskrinet.no/

Apparently, they won’t be happy until they’ve out-milked the Carcassonne series.

Eric Clark wrote: “Apparently, they won’t be happy until they’ve out-milked the Carcassonne series.”

I’m always amazed by comments like this. Eric, no one is forcing you to buy additional TICKET TO RIDE or CARCASSONNE products. No one is even forcing you to read the news about these products. But there are a lot of people who are both interested in reading about them and buying them. So why should they be deprived because you don’t approve? What you describe as “milking” is in fact simply good business sense by Days Of Wonder and Hans im Glueck, since producing games that will sell is their number one objective as game companies. Asking them to stop bringing out new products in these lines is the same as asking Honda or Toyota to stop making new models of their cars. Ask any game company if they would like to have CARCASSONNE and TICKET TO RIDE in their line and they’ll all give you the same answer.

Alan R. Moon

Eric,

I think the fact that many of us are interested in getting this game (and are a bit irritated that it is not going to be available outside of Scandinavia) should be enough information for you regarding demand. There is a market and Days of Wonder is responding to it.

Alan,

you know that we gamers want more games, new games, a wider variation of games and of course free games!

But I will still pay for it. Even if I know I could be waiting for it as a Christmas gift.

BTW, is it Karlskrona in the Souteast part of Sweden? In that case I think that game won’t be playable.

If this does get released in the US, is there any chance of it being an expansion, a la TTR:Switzerland?

Sequels and expansions are interesting elements in gaming.  Some people love them, some hate them.  I fall in the former category.

Even for those who love expansions there is a saturation point.  I was speaking to a friend recently about Killer Bunnies expansions.  He told me that after expansion four they were just releasing expansions as a money grab.  I found that statement insightful.  Evidently he really enjoyed expansions 1-4 but hit a saturation point.  He didn’t specifically think that the expansions after 4 were poorly produced he just thought they were too much.  “It adds too many cards to the game,” he said.  I expect the next guy I speak to that enjoys the game will have a different saturation point.  Evidently there are plenty of people still interested in expansions for this game.

One thing I think is clear is that neither Carcassonne nor Ticket to Ride are milking their audience or core game.  In both instances they are still putting out well developed, quality products for those of use who want them.  I encourage this behavior with my pocketbook.

I am curious as to why this newest Ticket to Ride game isn’t being released in English nor distributed in the US. As far as I can see it is mostly a timing issue since Switzerland, another 2-3 player version, is being released at the same time here.

I optimistically hold out hope for a Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries expansion sometime next year.

Alan,
Clearly you have invested some time in ensuring that this new version of the game is appropriately balanced and tested.
I’m curious as to how you decide on which region to use to create these newer versions? (i.e. Switzerland and Nordic versions).
Personally I’d love to see a version that covers the UK…
Keep up the good work,
Mark

Just to clear up a few things…
Currently there are no plans to release the Nordic Countries version worldwide. While we understand that some would like to have access to every possible T2R version, the similarities between this version and the Swiss Map (2-3 players, 40 vs 45 trains) would cause a lot of confusion in the marketplace. Plus we don’t want to be accused of “milking” the product line. :-)

Also the Nordic Countries version will not include English language rules - there are Finnish and Swedish versions. This won’t preclude those who want to find copies from one of the countries where it is being sold from playing it. The rules are not particularly complex, with the main differences already provided in the original post. However that would make it problematic for us to sell it, even directly from our website.

The release date BTW, is expected to be in October.

Mark

Thanks you for taking the time to give us an official word on availability. I’m guessing that those people (myself included) who desire to obtain the version will certainly do so - but that they only wish it was a little easier to obtain.
Would DoW consider some form of pre-ordering to help defray the costs of ordering games from Europe? (speaking for those living here in the colonies, that is :-)

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson wrote:

“Would DoW consider some form of pre-ordering to help defray the costs of ordering games from Europe? (speaking for those living here in the colonies, that is :-)”

This is not really possible. Our distributors in those countries have purchased the entire manufacturing run, so the only copies we will have are reference copies. I’ll have to beg just to get a copy or two for Alan!

Mark

That’s unfortunate but certainly understandable.
No doubt some enterprising US-based online retailer will snag some.

"Clearly you have invested some time in ensuring that this new version of the game is appropriately balanced and tested.
I’m curious as to how you decide on which region to use to create these newer versions? (i.e. Switzerland and Nordic versions).
Personally I’d love to see a version that covers the UK…”

I chose SWITZERLAND because I liked that it was small country and because I thought that would work best for the first small game for 2-3 players. I also liked the geography of the country, with mountains in the north and south, and a central plain between them. I wanted to focus on the main cities, and here again the Swiss map worked well with Zurich, Bern, Basel, Geneva, and St. Gallen all in one half of the map. That left the whole south and southeast part of the map as a separate part of the map that a player could use to follow a strategy of building longer routes to the other cities. Finally, the map generated the idea of having Country Cards since Switzerland is completely surrounded by other countries.

Sales of TICKET TO RIDE have been very strong in Scandinavia and several people at Days Of Wonder suggested I create a Scandinavia map. Which is how this one came about.

A UK map is certainly a possibility in the future.

Alan R. Moon

"BTW, is it Karlskrona in the Souteast part of Sweden? In that case I think that game won’t be playable.”

Karlskrona is in the southeast part of Sweden on the map? But I have no ide what your second sentence means. Care to explain?

Alan

Alan:

I really do understand the out-milking Carcassonne comment. Most of us would rather play a new game from you and DoW.

Or at least a sequel to Andromeda… (I’m probably utterly alone on that one, though. )

Of course the reality is that sequels to WILDLY successful games are at least automatically moderately successful, and many companies have obviously worked that out.

I wish Hans-im-Gluck would milk the hell out of Thurn & Taxis like DoW does with TtR!!  I want more T&T maps!!!

Mark,
What are the chances that Nordic Countries will be added to TtR online? And while we’re at it, how about Marklin?

John

"I wish Hans-im-Gluck would milk the hell out of Thurn & Taxis like DoW does with TtR!!  I want more T&T maps!!!”

I like THURN & TAXIS a lot too and have enjoyed the new POWER & GLORY board, so I’ll definitely be buying any and all future expansions.

But what I’m really waiting for is the new DESCENT: JOURNEYS IN THE DARK Expansion: ROAD TO LEGEND. I’ve played every Quest in the basic game and the two Expansions now, most of them multiple times. I desperately want more. I wish Fantasy Flight would put out a book of additional Quests.

Alan R. Moon

Mark:

Couldn’t help noticing that the TTR:Nordic Countries box art is in English on the DofW website, as it is in the boardgamenews.com post, whereas the art on the Finnish publisher Lautapelit’s website is not. Is the English box art a tease, or will it actually exist in some quantity. And if it does exist, where will those be sold?

Bob

Branham comment “Or at least a sequel to Andromeda… (I’m probably utterly alone on that one, though. )”

Hear hear! Andromeda is huge success amongst the females in our gaming group. And they need more incouragement :-)

Apart from that I believe people in general are very fond of sequels in most forms (films, tv series, books, etc), mostly due to the familiarity. Less new stuff to learn, understand and what not.

Let the designers and publishers decide what they want to release. We decide what we want by our wallets.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a T2R game from my own part of the world! Familiarity to the region makes it a must.

John Carlton wrote: “What are the chances that Nordic Countries will be added to TtR online? And while we’re at it, how about Marklin?”

You will not see either of these in online versions in the near future. At some point it would be nice to get them online, but they are not currently on the schedule.

Bob Scherer-Hoock wrote: “Couldn’t help noticing that the TTR:Nordic Countries box art is in English on the DofW website, as it is in the boardgamenews.com post, whereas the art on the Finnish publisher Lautapelit’s website is not. Is the English box art a tease, or will it actually exist in some quantity. And if it does exist, where will those be sold?”

Good eyes! I was wondering when someone would mention that. It is not a tease and as I posted earlier, we currently have no plans to sell an English language version. Normally all of our artwork is done in English as a reference language. Since our art director doesn’t speak Swedish or Finnish, I suspect he reverted to English (even though he is French!) until the translation could be done.

Mark

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Days of Wonder… for coming on line and talking to us.  I think your fans have been yearning for a connection with you and it is great to see both Mark and Alan come out to give us information and just converse about your product line.

BTW, I played TTR: Switzerland...the real life version in December of last year.  I made the Zurich to Zermatt connection for 15 points and ski passes! (LOL) So if you ever go...visit Winklemattan.  ABSOLUTELY Heaven on Earth.

Anyway, great to see DOW engage a bit right here on BGN.  That is VERY nice to see.

Ryan B.

PS:  To Alan M.: from our last conversation waaaay back… you were right.  I was wrong.  I admit it. Do you remember what we discussed?(LOL) Cheers!

So we get an announcement about a game we can’t get, and no word about the Memoir ‘44 Air Pack? :)

The Air Pack post is going up tomorrow morning, Matt. There’s only so much excitement I can take in a day…

"BTW, is it Karlskrona in the Souteast part of Sweden? In that case I think that game won’t be playable.”

Well, it was a kind of internal Swedish joke. The people in Karlskrona is known for the expression “It won’t work” or in Swedish “Det går inte”.

And as they have a very special dialect they use to say “De gaur ente” in Swedish, which might could be something like “Eit woun’t wourk”.

So that’s why I just had to post it.

I think the game looks great and I am glad to hear that sales in Scandinavia is a good one. I happened to buy Zug um Zug and ZuZ Europa from Germany, before they were published in Sweden. But on the other hand I have compensated by telling people what they should buy for Christmas.

Thoughts on the esteemed Mr. Moon’s response to my post:

“I’m always amazed by comments like this. Eric, no one is forcing you to buy additional TICKET TO RIDE or CARCASSONNE products. No one is even forcing you to read the news about these products.  But there are a lot of people who are both interested in reading about them and buying them. So why should they be deprived because you don’t approve?”

They shouldn’t be, but there’s a flip side to that coin.  Why should people like me be deprived of any number of other games that never get released because the game companies would rather just keep producing new versions of old titles instead?  Days of Wonder has a limit on how many games they’re willing to produce, and the brick and mortar game stores have a limit on how many games they’re willing to carry.  Now, this particular TTR incarnation is a really bad example since it’s only being released in a select few countries, but that doesn’t affect my basic point.  DoW used to have a statement on their website (I don’t know if it’s still there) which emphasized their desire to focus on a small number of quality games instead of turning out as much product as they could handle.  That makes sense to me.  But, it logically follows that every new Ticket to Ride or BattleLore release consumes energy and resources that could have been used on some other game which will now never see the light of day.  It is this, not the simple repetition of a successful formula, which causes my annoyance.

“What you describe as “milking” is in fact simply good business sense by Days Of Wonder and Hans im Glueck, since producing games that will sell is their number one objective as game companies.”

Naturally.  But, I think there should be some concern about too much material being released too quickly, no matter how popular the products are.

“Asking them to stop bringing out new products in these lines is the same as asking Honda or Toyota to stop making new models of their cars.”

I beg to differ.  Most people who drive cars own one.  Most people who play board games own many.

“Ask any game company if they would like to have CARCASSONNE and TICKET TO RIDE in their line and they’ll all give you the same answer.”

I’m sure they would.  And I wouldn’t argue with them.  We all know that people don’t get rich and famous through board game design and production, and that if a chance for financial stability via those endeavors comes along, it ought to be seized.  My original post, brief as it was, didn’t make this clear, but I don’t begrudge you your success, or Days of Wonder theirs.  I merely wish that you would sustain it in a different way.

I agree that the new car reference doesn’t make sense.

People buy a new car when their old one needs to be replaced. I can only hope that people buy new games to have more variety, not because their old one has worn out.

The first thing I thought when I saw that cover was, oh, cool.  A Christmas edition!

Let me add my howls of protest to the crowd of disappointed non-Scandinavians.  I want it, even it that’s not Santa Claus and the Polar Express on the box!

There is always the TtR Orient Express Edition for Nuremberg 2008.

To: Days of Wonder:  At 43 separate responses, I believe this is one of the most responded to threads in BGN history....

Hint:  You may have a good thing going with this edition.  Seems very popular and *Christmasy*. Just something to think about.  Cheers! 
: )

Well let me add to the list of US gamers hoping for the game to reach US soil (Okay, how about just my house then <G>)

Don’t see how a Purple box with snow and a Green box could be confused for the other unless one cannot read.

Add another to that list. Even with the Swiss map coming to the states, I’d be keen on the Nordic Countries as well.

Many thanks to Alan Moon and Days of Wonder (Mark and Eric) for the many Ticket to Ride maps. I love them all and am especially happy to see the Switzerland map come out. Now I just have to find a friend to order the Nordic for me!

Is anyone from that area coming to the US anytime that could bring some copies?

Important note!
Lautapelit is only doing Finland, while it is actually Enigma Distribution http://enigmadistribution.com/
which doing Norway, Sweden and Denmark (or Scandinavia, if you prefer).