Cycling Party (2014)

Cycling Party is a game for 2 to 6 players, which reflects the essential features of road cycling. Each player will select a cycling team and take responsibility for managing the movements of 5-6 riders in their team. The aim of each team will be to secure victory at the end of each stage or in the general classification.

The course is built from hexagonal tiles. Each hexagon tile is divided in turn into three spaces, with each space representing a kilometre of the race. Mountain sections, intermediate sprints and the finish line are shown using indicator tokens placed at the kilometre points agreed upon by the players at the beginning of the race.

This game comes in three versions: Junior, Senior and Master. Each version builds on the rules of previous versions. In the Junior version each rider is moved by rolling two six-sided dice. Riders in a peloton (at least five riders in the same space) may choose not to roll and instead move five spaces. A rider in the peloton may choose to roll in the hope of raising its pace or of breaking away (roll of 10-12). The difficulty of the mountain sections is represented by rolling just one dice. Each team has five water bottles that can be spent to move a rider an extra space (cost of one bottle on the flat, 2 bottles in mountains). The rider furthest across the finish line at the end of a turn is the winner.

The Senior version introduces different categories of climb and gives each team member a role (climber, sprinter, rouleur, domestique (flat or mountain), and lantern rouge). Each role has particular abilities. Each team may launch one attack by rolling four dice instead of the normal two. Falls, fast descents and falling back to join a team-mate are also represented.

The Master version makes use of software accessed through the publisher’s website to enable whole tours to be run.