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I apologize up front, but I'm going to start with a quick personal detour, a detour very much made possible by the BGG community. You see, back in February 2018 I was lucky enough to go full time into game design, something that just three years ago I wouldn't have thought possible. Even after the initial release of Flamme Rouge, I still didn't really dare to dream of it, and if friends or family asked I would deflect by simply saying it was a hobby that could earn some nice pocket change. Two years after that release, we have now released the second expansion, and the base game has snuck into the top 250 here on BGG! It's even in the top 30 family games!
The road here had its bumps along the way, and in some ways it is still an uphill struggle. Sports games just aren't easy sells in our market — not to gamers, not to publishing partners, and not to retailers. However, here on BGG a community of gamers formed and embraced the game. I had put out a few variant "expansions" of the base game, available here in the files section, but today those are drowned out by variant stages, alternate rider types, and many, many more things created by gamers from this community. A fan in France even made (and still updates!) a free app that can be used to track the Grand Tour campaign style which Flamme Rouge can be played with!
It is my sincere belief that those gamers here, and the lasting attention they've given to Flamme Rouge, is what has pushed publishing partners to give it an extra look because it hasn't been an easy sell, with a fast sprint for the game to be available everywhere. But such partners are still coming on-board, and as they localize it, the game also starts to appear in retail across the world, and I give a huge part of that credit to this very community. In the glut of releases, this title could easily have disappeared.
Since 2016, I have had about ten games released, and several of those have already slipped into the back of the pack, unlikely to recover. That is the name of the game, but it is also why I think it is important to thank you all because the success of Flamme Rouge is the single item that has allowed me to make that jump into full-time game design. I am loving every minute of it and hoping to bring you many more laughs and joy in the years to come!
Why Weather?
"Meteo" means weather in France, and for this second expansion to the base game, that is exactly what we are covering. If you know anything about cycling, or simply if you have played the base game of Flamme Rouge, you will know that the sport is basically about air. Air is hard to move. This is why you will be exhausted if you're trying to push at it for too long, and why you can save your energy if you let someone else in front of you push it out of the way.
You do not need to know anything about cycling to know that air also moves. It is called wind. Unsurprisingly this fact is an important element of professional cycling. The direction of wind can really impact a race!
Headwind
A strong headwind means that while you are pushing forward into the air, it is also pushing against you. This makes the race harder for everyone. However, if you're riding in a big pack you can still take turns leading it and thus reduce its impact by sharing it. If you're riding on your own, there is no one to share it with. In real cycling races, this often means that breakaways get caught easier as their exhaustion will show sooner.
In Flamme Rouge: Meteo, a rider exposed to headwinds draws only three cards a turn as opposed to the customary four cards. This reduces your choices and increases the impact of each exhaustion card you have. This change shows most clearly if you have a sole breakaway rider with lots of exhaustion and 10-12 cards in their deck as opposed to a sprinter approaching the sprint with only 4-5 cards left. The impact of drawing one card less is much greater for the former than the later.
Tailwind
If you're experiencing a tailwind, then the air molecules are moving in the same direction you're already traveling, lessening the speed with which they impact your body. A breakaway with a tailwind can be very hard to catch, even for a large pack of riders.
In Meteo, this is represented by making riders in a tailwind draw five cards, making it more likely they will find that last bit of energy in their deck, keeping them ahead of any chasers.
Crosswind
When the wind is blowing strongly across the road, rather than along it as with head and tailwinds, the benefit of riding in a pack diminishes. You are not as protected by the rider in front of you as the wind is propelling air in between you from the side. In real life cycling, this often leads to even tiny gaps extending to become large gaps; the slipstream provided simply isn't strong enough. Often these provide opportune moments to attack.
In Meteo, this effect is represented by a straightforward rule with which players are already familiar: On a section with crosswind, slipstreaming does not apply. As a result, small gaps open up, and attacks become more likely. Just take a look at these before/after photos of a large peloton entering crosswinds.
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Wet conditions
The final piece of weather included in Meteo isn't related to wind, but rather to the surface condition of the roads. Heavy rains, loose gravel, or even snow and ice can pose a real threat to any cyclist. If you are in such conditions, and you try to brake, you may crash. If a big pack is moving quickly, then one cyclist crashing may cause several others to do the same.
In Flamme Rouge, you often end up braking because it's what happens when you get blocked. You went forward with a certain amount of energy and speed, but since the road was too congested you had to brake and stop behind those riders. In Meteo, if the conditions are wet and you are blocked and thus forced to slam the brakes, then you crash — which again may cause others to crash.
But WHY Weather? Really?
Weather in cycling is part of what keeps any given race fresh. As an example, we can look at Paris-Roubaix. This grueling cobblestone spring classic, which was first raced more than 120 years ago(!), obviously hasn't retained the exact same course throughout history. In fact, small changes are made almost every year. However, those changes do not matter nearly as much to the spectacle as the weather does. A race day with fine weather and calm winds is a very different experience than one with pouring rain and strong crosswinds. (I can't post the best images demonstrating this, but you can search for them yourself by typing "Paris Roubaix Mud" into Google images — or just click here.)
And this is why I wanted weather to be the second expansion for Flamme Rouge. It is a small expansion, but it ensures you can ride the same stages over and over again and get a slightly new experience each time you play because the weather on that particular day changed.
The game comes with premade stages, but the interlocking pieces also allow you to build your own tracks. However, I know that a lot of gamers do not want to invest the time to build their own tracks. It isn't easy doing so, and if you lay them out at random, you might get something close to unplayable. With this expansion, you can easily play the twelve official stages — six from the base game, six from the Peloton expansion — forever.
A small personal note is how the weather also affects the Grand Tours. In my own gaming group, six of us run a full 21-stage Grand Tour every year. Stages are presented ahead of time so that you can study them and plan your strategy to ensure that riders are ready for the stage in which you expect them to pounce. Weather throws a curveball at you, though, and no matter how well you plan, you cannot predict exactly how it will act out on race day.
Component Choices
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When testing the initial expansion, I tried a couple of different solutions to depict the weather, and one element shared by all of them was that they were easy to forget. Either a token was lying on the table, or a card was showing it, but whatever the case people forgot it — even I did during testing because Flamme Rouge is such a fast flowing game. A token across the room in bad lighting just wouldn't cut it. This is when we decided to create standees: to help draw attention to the weather, to summarize its rules, to minimize people forgetting about it, and to look great, of course!
Testing, Testing, Testing
All four types of weather started out being tested with alternative rules. Of course I had "no slipstream" in mind for crosswind, but I wanted to test some of the variants suggested here on BGG. I especially remember trying to reverse the order in which to slipstream in a crosswind: front to back rather than the base back to front. Head and tailwinds both had movement increasing/decreasing alternatives put in, or an increase/decrease of exhaustion, or a change to the length of slipstream provided. Crashes were also hard to get just right, so as to not be too punishing (it is a game, after all), while still ensuring they created the tension a good crash risk should create.
What all the weather rules I ended up choosing have in common is that I thought they would create the right feel when playing, the feel of actual cycling — not necessarily in the rules being read out, but when the game was played. In the spirit of Flamme Rouge in general, I also wanted to create rules that were easy to understand with no barrier to entry. Overall, I am happy with how they turned out, and I think this addition creates that abstraction of real life, just enough for players to believe in it and fill out the gaps themselves.
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The weather forecast, or the randomization of the weather effects, is probably what ended up being tested the most. At least five different systems were tested, but shared by them all was that their "realism" didn't add to the experience. Rules can so easily become convoluted if you're not careful minding your objective with them. The final solution is as accessible as it gets and easily delineates where the effect starts and stops.
Looking Ahead
For the last year or so, I have been testing new rider powers/types and new track types. I am hoping we will release yet another expansion in 2019, making it four boxes in four years. Currently we are considering making this expansion based on a cityscape so that the tiles would show towns from that era, and of course some of the problems those conditions offer. I would love to share more, but as the decision to publish it isn't even final, I'll leave it at this tease.
You Made It to the Finish Line!
If you made it so far, thank you very much. If you have any unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I've tried to cover everything, but I am bound to have left something out. If you liked what you read and want to read more, consider reading my designer diaries about the Flamme Rouge base game and about the Peloton expansion.
Happy racing!
Asger Harding Granerud
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