In 1490, Kaiser Maximilian I awarded Franz von Taxis the contract to deliver mail between the Kaiser's residences in Innsbruck and Brussels. He did such a good job, that postal services in the country continue to be connected with the name Thurn and Taxis. With the introduction of postal carriages in the middle of the 17th century, members of the family were raised to Count status and given the hereditary title of Postmaster General. The game begins at this point in history.

In Thurn and Taxis, the 2006 German Game of the Year, you attempt to emulate the achievements of this family and build a successful postal network. Thurn and Taxis is a game of building routes, and racing to expand your carriage and establish routes to every city in a region before your opponents do the same. A game of route planning and logistics management with simple rules, but surprising depth of strategy.

Thurn und Taxis: The mail's here!

Tournament Format

This year's tournament will have two preliminary heats. You may play in either or both. All games will be the original Thurn and Taxis (Brown box) on the original map. We will play 4-player games where possible, though each heat may have to include some 3-player games when multiples of four are unobtainable. The semi-finals will be 16 players, unless fewer than 16 appear (very unlikely if the game is as popular as last year), in which case the semi-finals will be 12 players. All semi-final winners will advance to the Final.

Tiebreakers for advancement to the semi-finals will be:
1. Most wins
2. Win in first heat entered
3. Ratio of your winning score to the second-place score.
4. Random die roll
5. Average finish in all heats entered