Flamme Rouge

Flamme Rouge is a tense race to the finish set in the early 20th century world of bicycle racing. Commanding a team of two racers, players launch themselves around tight custom tracks, jostling for position and riding the slipstream of others to propel themselves to glory or crushing defeat.

Aesthetically the game is very thematic with painted artwork that is evocative of the period. The board is made up of modular sections, building many possible variations. The rulebook has a selection for different game lengths and due to its nature it allows players to design their own. The tracks are predominantly two squares wide, which bunch the bicycles close together.

A large part of Flamme Rouge is based around the notion of slip streaming, tucking in behind other racers and the benefit this brings. If you are leading the pack or not close enough to be slip-streaming, each turn that player receives a fatigue card to that team member. Hills also feature leading to a change in tactics at different parts of the race.

Each team comes with two plastic miniatures in one of four different colours. The racers are split into a Rouler and a Sprinteur. Each comes with its own deck of custom numbered cards. These dictate how far the racer can move on its turn. The Rouler is overall slower than the Sprinteur who excels with a couple of high numbered cards for pushing away from the competition. The fatigue cards clog
up the deck and have lower move numbers than the regular cards. The tense interplay of working out when to play your higher cards and break away from the pack to command a lead, or catapulting your Sprinteur out from behind another rider to cross the line at the last minute brings real excitement to the game.

As a more strategic alternative to a roll and move game, Flamme Rouge is all about pacing your team and knowing when to gamble on a big card play.

Player Count: 2-4
Time: 30-45 Minutes
Age: 8+