Sechs-Tage-Rennen

A deceptively simple racing game with the possibility of high levels of meanness and co-operation during each brief race. Players sequentially play one of their cards to move. The opening hand is 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 3x3, 2x5, 1x7, which is enough to get you only halfway around the circuit. If the space you move to is occupied by other cyclists, you gain a jump move of the card you played multiplied by the number of other cyclists in the space. You only get a bonus move from the first space you move to.

And that’s it! There are 2 sprint lines at one and two thirds distances, and 2 special spaces (miss your next turn, exchange your hand for a set from the replacement deck, which can re-energise a cyclist who’s burnt his best cards) but the beauty of the game is in the movement mechanism. Because of the necessity to get bonus moves every turn you have to stay with the pack while using mid-value cards. Usually there’s a few turns of this, then there’s a slight increase in speed and suddenly someone is playing their 7 card to try to get back to the pack.