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UM REIFENBREITE

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Author: Rob Bontenbal

Publisher: Jumbo 1992

Awards:
Spiel des Jahres
1992

G@mebox Star
Star

EVALUATION

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Honestly, I never liked sports games. But I must confess that "Um Reifenbreite" became quite an exception and in my opinion this game really deserved the title of "Spiel des Jahres".

The game is about a cycling-race, and each of the 2 to 4 players takes the position of the manager of a cycling-team. Each of the teams in turn consists of 4 drivers, from whom one is the champion of the team since he is stronger than the others. Before the game ist started, the players have to decide on the route they will drive. The game includes only one gameboard, but there are some possibilities to chose different routes. So the players can decide whether the track should run over mountains, whether there will be bad roads and whether there will be sprints included. After each player has placed his drivers during a starting procedure, the race begins.

The game is played in turns, and in each turn each driver is moved, beginning with the driver in front. Movement is decided by rolling two dices which determine the number of fields a driver may move. For each driver also exists power cards which allow to replace one or two dices by a value of "5" or "6". The more stronger the driver is, the more power cards he can spend. According to the positions in finish, each driver gets points and it becomes the aim of the game to score most points with the whole team.

That all sounds easy enough, but there are many twists in the game which allow a very interesting and involving game to take place. Most important is the choice of the track before the race starts. The drivers will be slowed down at hills or bad roads, and there will always be the chance of a crash which might make the drivers loose precious time. Drivers also have the possibility to cheat and allow the assistance car to drag them, but there always will be the possibility that this might be seen on a photo and this leads to disqualification. Known from the "Tour de France", the yellow shirt is used in the game too. The driver which gets most points from sprints wears it and it will bring additional victory points each round.

To my mind, the game is absolutely fascinating. The rules are easy but very detailed, and not a question is left open. The players have many choices during the race, and quite a good feeling for all the player arrises. Competition and fighting between the players are kept high, and the game offers a good mix of luck (Dices and event cards) and strategy. Itīs an absolute "must" for every cycling fan !


Looking for this game? Visit Funagain Games!


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Copyright © 2006 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany