I funded this game when it first appeared on Kickstarter in 2020, only to find that the project was cancelled a few weeks later. In (or around) 2023 the project resumed, and a website was created for the game, with four different versions available (Junior, 2D, 3D, and 3DXL). Since I am not too fond of this kind of commercial strategy, I passed on the game for a while, but I kept it on the back of my mind (along with a few more games that form my private games-I-should-eventually-buy list). Sometime later I tried to contact the game creators, but I got no answer. It was probably wrong timing since I wrote a few months after the disastrous October 2024 floods without realising that these guys are based in L'Alcúdia, one of the most affected towns. I decided to wait further before contacting them again, which I haven't done yet. The game's website is still on (see link below); apparently the four versions of the game are available, but I am not sure if someone is answering the emails at the moment.

However, François Cardinet had not missed this game. The version he had picked is the one called "3D".

 

The contents of the box are amazing, but you have to do some tinkering to have the game ready to play. Three out of the six main board parts are flat and ready to use, but the other three, at least in this 3D version, have to be assembled. Roads are vinyl stickers that you have to carefully paste onto the 3D hills; then there are 17 cute little trees to place in the appropriate holes. You also have to put the start, finish, sprint, and KOM banners in their places, but that part is easier.

Unfortunately, you have to remove the trees at the end of the game; otherwise, it does not fit in the box, and that is not too good for them, as they tend to lose some "leaves" in the process.

 

Once assembled, the board looks really nice. (The starting tile is missing here, sorry about that).

 

In the picture above you see the riders on what looks like a second-category climb but actually is a first-category mountain pass; the banners are reversible and, if you look closely, you will notice the category of the climb "painted" on the road. If the riders had climbed the other slope of the mountain, then it would have been a second-category climb. Needless to say, this offers many configuration possibilities for different races or stages.

 

 

After the last bend, the riders finally face the first-category climb banner. By the way, on this close-up, you see that the riders are not factory-made but created with a 3D printer. To be fair, I had not noticed it until I saw these pictures. The camera sees what the eye does not. These figurines are 23 mm long, and they look fine. However, as far as I know, this is the first game with 3D-printed components.)

 

 

The peloton faces a mid-stage sprint under the shadow of two trees.

 

 

The group before the final climb.

 

Half of the bunch has been dropped.

 

And the brown rider takes the stage! By the way, I had to use a jeweller's magnifier to make sure that the banner stands were 3D-printed too.

 

 

Different dice for different terrains (red die for climbs, green die for flats, blue die for descents). These are not 3D-printed.

 

 

While the game looks really nice, it suffers, as many other self-produced games do, from weak, confusingly written, insufficiently playtested rules. I would not like to be unfair since there is a lot of effort put into this game, but after reading the 36-page booklet (Spanish only so far) I do not feel like I want to play the game. There are too many irrelevant rules, most of them optional, for what is basically a dice game. Almost everything that may happen in a cycling race is included in some way, but most of the elements do not add to the game. Sometimes (most of the times, in fact) simpler is better, and I am afraid this is the case here.

One can counterargue that the game can be played with simple rules and that it is up to the players to decide if they want to increase the level of complexity. That is correct, even desirable, as long as it does not look like a bunch of rules thrown randomly at the players to see which ones they take, which is the impression left here, as I get the impression that there are four versions of the game because they did not decide which one was best to release.

Game designers are not only expected to have ideas, but they are also supposed to make decisions about which of these ideas are worth carrying on and which are better left aside. And this is very hard to know without either a lot of experience or extensive playtesting. In the end, all comes down to playtesting. I will never insist enough on this.

 

 

Different race incidents, including mechanical doping.

 

 

Race vehicles take their part too.

 

 

Just in case there are not enough cards, we have 70 round tokens with more elements.

 

 

Time-trial stage help card.

 

(Optional) pre-designed stages.

 

These bigger (30 mm) riders are not really needed; they do not take part in the race but are the trophies (gold, silver, and bronze) instead. There is a cup as well.
 

 

 

Classifications' score sheet. As in every "long" stage race game, you can also play one-day races, of course.

 

 

As much as I like some of the features of this game, I cannot include it in my favourite games list. Nevertheless, it sure enters the different games list, which is, in fact, my second favourite games list. Anyway, you can read more about the game on its website, as long as you (or your online translator) can read some Spanish. It would be better to have the complete rules booklet for download, but there is an explanation of the game (here) with which you can get a taste. Feel free to disagree with my opinion.

 

 

 

Back of the box, with a list of the components of the different versions of the game.

 

 

 

Check the game's official website

Thanks, Mathilde, for gifting me your father's collection of cycling games.
 

Description written in July 2026.