Formula Dé
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| Formula Dé | |
|---|---|
 Circuit 1 - Circuit de Monaco |
|
| Players | 2–10 |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Setup time | 10 minutes |
| Playing time | 120 minutes |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skills required | Strategic thinking, Resource management |
Formula Dé is a board game that simulates formula racing (F1, CART, IRL). It is for two to ten players. It was designed by Eric Randall and Laurent Lavaur and was published by Ludodélire. The rights to the game passed to Euro Games/Descartes Editeur with the collapse of Ludodélire, who in turn were acquired by Asmodée Éditions. Although the game is currently out of print, Asmodée have announced their intention to republish the game by the end of 2006[1]
Contents |
[edit] Object of the Game
The game is about formula racing, with an emphasis on Formula 1. The object of the game is to win a race and cross the finish line. Races can be anywhere from one to three laps long. Formula Dé comes with a game board measuring 100 × 70 cm (39 × 28 inches), seven specialized dice, ten plastic race cars, ten gearshift and dashboard indicators, and record sheets for one, two, and three lap races.
The game has seven dice. There are six colored dice (d4, d6, d8, d12, d20, and d30) that are used to simulate specific gears, and a black d20 used for collisions, and other course events.
Each of the dice represent a gear shift. The d4 is used for 1st gear, the d6 for 2nd gear and so on. Each die has a series of numbers representing the number of spaces the F1 cars move.
The black die is a d20 and used for determining collisions, engine wear during fifth and sixth gears, pit stop speed, pole position, and whether or not at the beginning of the first lap you stalled, or had a flying start. If you are playing with the advanced rules, you can set up weather conditions with the black die.
[edit] Gameplay
Each player takes a race sheet for their car, which tracks damage to different parts of their car's systems. If any system is damaged too far, their car is eliminated from the race, and they are out of the game.
On any given player's turn, they are required to choose which gear they want their car to be in. The chosen gear may be only one higher than the previous turn's gear, or may be one lower with no penalty; they may also select a gear two, three, or four lower but this "gear crashing" causes damage to several car systems depending on how many gears were skipped. Having selected a gear, the player must roll the appropriate dice for that gear. The coloured dice vary not only in number of sides but also in the range of numbers represented (they are not traditionally numbered dice). The player must then move their car a number of spaces equal to the roll.
However, the squares making up each corner on the racetrack are coloured differently to other squares, marked with a flag indicating a number. If the number is 1, the player must arrange that they end a turn inside the coloured area. If the number is 2, the player must end 2 turns inside the coloured area, and so on. If a player fails to end the required number of turns inside the coloured area, they suffer a penalty, which may range from damage to the car's tires and brakes to immediate elimination of the car in the case where more than two turn endings were skipped.
Since the player is obliged to move the full distance rolled on the dice, the core aim of the game is to time and carefully manage gear changes to ensure that turns end at the required points while not requiring the player to set their gear too low and waste time speeding up again after the corner. Players may also wish to accept some damage to their tires in order to outpace rivals.
[edit] Spinoffs and expansions
[edit] Formula Dé: Mini
Formula Dé: Mini is a simplified version of the original game, that reduces the cars' statistics to one pool of “wear points” instead of the original games six. The two circuits are also half the size of the original ones, and are imaginary layouts as oppose to real world circuits. This version can also use the expansions from the original game.
[edit] Race Circuits
Along with the two circuits that come with the main game, additional boards with different circuits on them were available. The additional circuits are purely expansion sets; you need the original Formula Dé board game to use them. They were usually two circuits per package.
[edit] Ludodélire
Ludodélire produced 14 race circuits. The first 13 were color boards; the last was a black and white paper circuit included in a boxed expansion. Which one of the 13 color circuits was included in the boxed game depended on what country it was purchased in.
| Ludodélire circuits | |
|---|---|
| № 1 – Grand Prix de MONACO | № 8 – ESPAÑA – Circuit de Catalunya |
| № 2 – FRANCE – Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours | № 9 – CANADA – Gilles Villeneuve |
| № 3 – D’ITALIA – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | № 10 – BRASIL – Circuito do Interlagos |
| № 4 – DEUTSCHLAND – Hokenheim Runde | № 11 – JAPAN – Suzuka |
| № 5 – BELGIQUE – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | № 12 – SOUTH of AFRICA – Kyalami Circuit |
| № 6 – PORTUGAL – Estoril | № 13 – SAN MARINO – Imola |
| № 7 – BRITISH – Silverstone Circuit | World Championship – Grand Prix du MEXIQUE |
A Ludodélire approved tournament player group produce the sanctioned ASPIFD Championship Kit, which included ten (or eleven) black and white paper tracks.
[edit] EuroGames/Descartes
After the rights to the game passed to EuroGames/Descartes, the game was published with the same two circuits included in all boxed sets. EuroGames/Descartes reprinted the remaining 11 colour circuits and went on to print a further 22 new ones before their acquisition by Asmodée.
| Set | EuroGames/Descartes circuit | Set | EuroGames/Descartes circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic game | № 1 – Grand Prix de MONACO № 2 – NEDERLAND - Zandvoort № 1 |
FD- 9 | № 19 – SUZUKA - Japan № 20 – MELBOURNE - Australia |
| FD- 1 | № 3 – NEDERLAND - Zandvoort № 2 № 4 – BELGIQUE - Spa - Francorchamps |
FD-10 | № 21 – BUDAPEST - Hungary № 22 – NÜRBURGRING - Germany |
| FD- 2 | № 5 – SOUTH AFRICA - Kyalami Circuit № 6 – SAN MARINO - Autodromo Ferrari (Imola) |
FD-11 | № 23 – MONTEREY - California № 24 – PORTLAND - Oregon № 25 – ELKHART-LAKE - Wisconsin № 26 – INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana |
| FD- 3 | № 7 – FRANCE - Nevers Magny-Cours № 8 – ITALIA - Autodromo Nazionale di Monza |
||
| FD- 4 | № 9 – PORTUGAL - Estoril № 10 – BRASIL - Interlagos |
FD-12 | № 27 – DETROIT - Michigan № 28 – LEXINGTON - Ohio № 29 – ATLANTA - Georgia № 30 – DAYTONA BEACH - Florida |
| FD- 5 | № 11 – Watkìns Glen - New York № 12 – SILVERSTONE - England |
||
| FD- 6 | № 13 – MONTREAL - Canada № 14 – LONG BEACH - California |
FD-13 | № 31 – ZHUHAI - China № 32 – SEPANG - Malaysia |
| FD- 7 | № 15 – HOKENHEIM - Germany № 16 – ZELTWEG - Austria |
FD-14 | № 33 - 10th Anniversary An imaginary circuit, painted to look unfinished. |
| FD- 8 | № 17 – BUENOS-AIRES - Argentina № 18 – BARCELONA - España |
FD-15 | № 34 – Sakhir - BAHRAIN № 35 – SHANGHAI - China |
[edit] Variant rules
One criticism of the game is that a single square of movement rolled can make a significant difference. The standard case of this is that a roll that leaves the player ending a turn on the first square of a corner area is the best possible result, as they can then begin accelerating again immediately; whereas had the roll been one value lower, the car would have stopped just outside the corner area, which is the worst possible result as the player must ensure that their entire next move fits within the corner area. Some authors have proposed variant rules to correct this but they usually succeed only at moving the problem to a different roll value.
[edit] Redlining or slipping the clutch
The most common variant rule (and an official one at many company run tournaments, in response to the above criticism) is Redlining or Slipping the Clutch
- Once per turn, any driver may add one space to their roll by "slipping their clutch." To do this they must spend one engine point. When spending this point the car does not leave a debris counter.[2]
[edit] Doubled straights
The most popular house rule is doubled straights, where each space on a straight (ie, not within a coloured corner area) requires two squares of movement to pass rather than one. On some circuits especially, this encourages the use of high gears (which is otherwise relatively rare) and makes the tactical timing for dealing with the corners even more important.
[edit] References
- ^ The Return of Formula De. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
- ^ Formula Dé: 1999 League Schedule & Rules
[edit] External links
- Formula Dé and the many Formula Dé expansions at BoardGameGeek
- Unofficial extra tracks by Roberto Corbelli
- Formula PC, an online version of the game
- Formule Dé Online, a version of the game using the original gameboard lay-outs.
