The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Formula De is formula race simulation board game. Want to zoom around Indianapolis? Speed through the streets of Long Beach? Careen through the fan-packed streets of Monaco? Then this is the game for you.

This review is rather long and detailed, but don't let that fool you. The rules are simple and elegant, with basic and advanced versions. You can get playing in just a few minutes. See the rules section of this review.

Boards The boxed set comes with the Monaco and Zandvoort, Holland tracks. There are a total of 30 tracks available for Grand Prix raceways all over the world. Tracks are sold in two ($19.95) and four ($29.95) packs.

Each large, hard-card, folding, double-sided board depicts two real-world raceways (for example, INTERLAGOS , Brasil & ESTORIL, Portugal). The boards are high-quality, tough, neatly cut, and easily unfolded/refolded. They unfold out nice and flat, for both sides (no excessive bulges or "floating" edges). Each board is actually two pieces that are butted together. I have yet to find a board on which the track and artwork do not match exactly across the two pieces.

Each track is surrounded by fun artwork unique to the raceway's origin. You can easily waste some time looking at the art for little interesting bits. The same artistic style is used on all tracks, providing consistency (but making it a little hard to find the track you want from a pile of tracks).

The tracks themselves are made up of movement squares (each about .5" long) in which the cars are placed. All movement is done in these squares. Small numbers alongside the track help you count out movement. Corners are delineated by bold red lines and include path arrows indicating legitimate moves. Starting positions are also present.

Cars
The game comes with 10 plastic cars in five different colors, composed of a spoiler and a body. The spoilers and bodies can be switched as often as you like to create many combinations of two-toned vehicles. While these small .5" long plastic formula cars won't win any miniatures awards, they are perfectly adequate for the game.

A set of metal cars is available. However, these require painting before use, and really don't add much to the enjoyment of the game (unless you're a mini-painting maniac that can detail such a tiny car).

Dice
The game includes all the dice needed for play, 7 dice total. One of these is a standard 20-sided die (black). The other dice (gear dice) are non-standard, and don't include all the numbers you'd expect. For instance, the 4-sided die only has 1s and 2s on it, while the 30-sided die has numbers from 21-30. The gear dice are used to determine your movement for you turn. With each die representing a gear: 1st gear – yellow d4 2nd gear – orange d6 3rd gear – red d8 4th gear – green d12 5th gear – purple d20 6th gear – blue d30

Control panels The game comes with 10 thick-card control panels in five different colors. The panels are used to keep track of your current gear, and to mark of "damage" to your cars. A paper race sheet is placed on the panel.

Race Sheets A pad of double-sided paper race sheets is provided (also sold separately). There are sheets for 1-, 2-, and 3-lap races. Each sheet is used to record "damage" to various components of your car (tires, brakes, fuel, suspension, body).

Gear Shifts 10 wooden gear shifts in 5 different colors. These are used to keep track of your car's current gear. They can also be used to keep track of your position.

Pencil A nifty No. 2 pencil! Sharpened, even.

Rules And now the simple and elegant rules. The game comes with a 4-page basic rulebook, and an advanced rulebook.

Basic rules
Starting position is determined randomly. You roll a gear die based on your current gear, and move that number of spaces. Each turn, you can upshift your gear by +1, or downshift by up to –4. Downshifting by more than 1 gear requires the expenditure of car components (fuel, brakes, tires).

Players move in order of position, first place going first, second place going second, etc.

You can change lanes, but may not come back to the same lane in the same turn unless you are passing someone.

Straightaways are simple, just move the number of squares indicated by your gear die roll.

Corners are not so simple, Each corner has a rating between 1 and 3. The corner rating indicates how many times you must end a movement in the corner to avoid damage. For instance, a rating 2 corner means that you must end your move two-times in the corner. If you overshoot a corner (do not end your move as required) you will take tire damage. You can avoid tire damage by spending brake points to slow down. For instance, if you overshoot a corner by 3 spaces, you must mark off three tire points. Or, you could spend brake points to reduce your overshoot (such as spending 2 brake points to overshoot by only 1 and take 1 tire damage).

Whenever you end your move adjacent to another car you may take collision damage. Each player rolls the d20 and takes body damage if a 1 is rolled.

The Advanced rules utilize all the car components, adds weather, pit stop, car design, and more.

Conclusion
This is one board game that is definitely worth the price ($39.95)! The contents are all top-quality, the rules are simple and elegant, and the advanced rules provide meat for the more intense players.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Topics	Author	Date	Latest Reply
NOW I get it... (4) new	Evan Waters	10-20-2000 20:41	10-22-2000 18:08 new

Formula De
Category: board game Company/Publisher: Descartes/EuroGames Line: n/a Cost: $39.95 Playtest Review by Erik K on 09/26/00. Genre tags: Modern day	Formula De is formula race simulation board game. Want to zoom around Indianapolis? Speed through the streets of Long Beach? Careen through the fan-packed streets of Monaco? Then this is the game for you. This review is rather long and detailed, but don't let that fool you. The rules are simple and elegant, with basic and advanced versions. You can get playing in just a few minutes. See the rules section of this review. Boards The boxed set comes with the Monaco and Zandvoort, Holland tracks. There are a total of 30 tracks available for Grand Prix raceways all over the world. Tracks are sold in two ($19.95) and four ($29.95) packs. Each large, hard-card, folding, double-sided board depicts two real-world raceways (for example, INTERLAGOS , Brasil & ESTORIL, Portugal). The boards are high-quality, tough, neatly cut, and easily unfolded/refolded. They unfold out nice and flat, for both sides (no excessive bulges or "floating" edges). Each board is actually two pieces that are butted together. I have yet to find a board on which the track and artwork do not match exactly across the two pieces. Each track is surrounded by fun artwork unique to the raceway's origin. You can easily waste some time looking at the art for little interesting bits. The same artistic style is used on all tracks, providing consistency (but making it a little hard to find the track you want from a pile of tracks). The tracks themselves are made up of movement squares (each about .5" long) in which the cars are placed. All movement is done in these squares. Small numbers alongside the track help you count out movement. Corners are delineated by bold red lines and include path arrows indicating legitimate moves. Starting positions are also present. Cars The game comes with 10 plastic cars in five different colors, composed of a spoiler and a body. The spoilers and bodies can be switched as often as you like to create many combinations of two-toned vehicles. While these small .5" long plastic formula cars won't win any miniatures awards, they are perfectly adequate for the game. A set of metal cars is available. However, these require painting before use, and really don't add much to the enjoyment of the game (unless you're a mini-painting maniac that can detail such a tiny car). Dice The game includes all the dice needed for play, 7 dice total. One of these is a standard 20-sided die (black). The other dice (gear dice) are non-standard, and don't include all the numbers you'd expect. For instance, the 4-sided die only has 1s and 2s on it, while the 30-sided die has numbers from 21-30. The gear dice are used to determine your movement for you turn. With each die representing a gear: 1st gear – yellow d4 2nd gear – orange d6 3rd gear – red d8 4th gear – green d12 5th gear – purple d20 6th gear – blue d30 Control panels The game comes with 10 thick-card control panels in five different colors. The panels are used to keep track of your current gear, and to mark of "damage" to your cars. A paper race sheet is placed on the panel. Race Sheets A pad of double-sided paper race sheets is provided (also sold separately). There are sheets for 1-, 2-, and 3-lap races. Each sheet is used to record "damage" to various components of your car (tires, brakes, fuel, suspension, body). Gear Shifts 10 wooden gear shifts in 5 different colors. These are used to keep track of your car's current gear. They can also be used to keep track of your position. Pencil A nifty No. 2 pencil! Sharpened, even. Rules And now the simple and elegant rules. The game comes with a 4-page basic rulebook, and an advanced rulebook. Basic rules Starting position is determined randomly. You roll a gear die based on your current gear, and move that number of spaces. Each turn, you can upshift your gear by +1, or downshift by up to –4. Downshifting by more than 1 gear requires the expenditure of car components (fuel, brakes, tires). Players move in order of position, first place going first, second place going second, etc. You can change lanes, but may not come back to the same lane in the same turn unless you are passing someone. Straightaways are simple, just move the number of squares indicated by your gear die roll. Corners are not so simple, Each corner has a rating between 1 and 3. The corner rating indicates how many times you must end a movement in the corner to avoid damage. For instance, a rating 2 corner means that you must end your move two-times in the corner. If you overshoot a corner (do not end your move as required) you will take tire damage. You can avoid tire damage by spending brake points to slow down. For instance, if you overshoot a corner by 3 spaces, you must mark off three tire points. Or, you could spend brake points to reduce your overshoot (such as spending 2 brake points to overshoot by only 1 and take 1 tire damage). Whenever you end your move adjacent to another car you may take collision damage. Each player rolls the d20 and takes body damage if a 1 is rolled. The Advanced rules utilize all the car components, adds weather, pit stop, car design, and more. Conclusion This is one board game that is definitely worth the price ($39.95)! The contents are all top-quality, the rules are simple and elegant, and the advanced rules provide meat for the more intense players. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)