The game ends at the end of the round where at least one rider had crossed the finish line. The owner of the rider that is farthest over the line is the winner. In the end everyone who has played this game has enjoyed it. Flamme Rouge is a game I hope to get to the table often as its very fun and easy to teach with added depth that can be included if needed. I would say this sits in between the games I mentioned above and has a place in my collection. Mountain Ascents– If you start on, enter, or move through and ascent square (marked in red) movement is capped at five.

Flamme Rouge was released in 2016, so it is a slightly older game. The question now is how well does it hold up to the designer’s most recent racing game, Heat: Pedal to the Metal. So in this review, I’ll tell you what I think of Flamme Rouge in its own right, and also, compare it to Heat. How To Play Flamme Rouge is a cycling game for 2-4 players, and is not to be confused with Flan Rogue, a game where an egg and cheese-filled pastry crawls through a dungeon fighting other evil pastries such as croissants, Gregg’s sausage rolls, and the 70s favourite hors d’ouvre, vol-au-vents. Place all the Sprinter and Rouleur “exhaustion” cards in their two separate piles in the middle of the table. I have been told there is an expansion coming out soon and I would very much like to see what that adds to an already great game. Adding to this is the fact that you want your sprinteur to at least get some slipstreaming action from your rouleur so generally you want your sprinteur to have a value one less than your rouleur. But yet again, you may not get the cards you need.

Flamme Rouge

Finally, any rider who has an empty square in front of them gets a bit tired and takes an exhaustion card, essentially a card with a value of 2. The only other rules are for climbing hills which limit your speed to 5, and descending hills where the card you play will at least be worth 5. This a good way to get rid of exhaustion cards: play one as you go down a hill, and the 2 is automatically turned into a 5. Is It Any Good I think Flamme Rouge and Heat both have a place in someone’s collection. Heat is a masterpiece. It plays well at all player counts and has a tonne of replayability. But it isn’t the simplest of games. It’s not that heavy, but I know which of these games I would teach to smaller children or to my in-laws. Flamme Rouge is a much simpler game and if you play without hills, it’s pretty much appropriate for anyone. Even with the addition of the hills, it’s not that complicated.

Each player chooses a colour and takes a pair of bike and rider miniatures, the player board, and the set of energy cards in that colour. Flamme Rouge is very thematic and definitely feels like a race. You want your rouleur to be out in front of your sprinteur to let them benefit from slipstreaming. Then you have to time your final sprint to crush your opponents. How Does It Compare To HeatMountain Descents – If you start on a descent square (marked in blue) then the rider will move a minimum of five, even if you play a lower number. TOP TIP: You will notice that the two riders in your team have different movement cards. The sprinter has lots of long and short distance cards, the rouleur as lots of medium distance cards. Use this to your advantage when you can.