CYCLO THE GAME
Dirk Donvil / Koers Tegen Kanker, Belgium, 2025
This is a game with a long story (part of which is explained in the MAKING CYCLING GAMES section). The game originated in the 1960s in the Donvil family, was further developed by Dirk Donvil, and was finally published as a promotional item for Daikin in 1999 and then for Lotto in 2002. Back then, the game was called "Cyclo: The Game For Winners". Check it here. Unfortunately, budget restrictions caused a series of problems that left Dirk unsatisfied, and some quarter of a century later he has released a new version of the game, which should be the final one.
Before sending the game, Dirk told me (or warned me?) that it is basically the same game with some reworking to be closer to the original idea. However, after seeing the finished game, I would rather say that everything that could have been bettered has been bettered. The game is visually nicer, the components are sturdier (one of the big problems of the original versions), and a few strategic rules have been added.What has not changed is the size of the game. The box measures 32 x 32 x 5.5 cm (slightly bigger and thinner than the old ones), while the board panels are 30 x 30 cm, the exact same size as the former ones. You still need a big table to play this game. (The new riders, by the way, are 24 mm long).
A possible race configuration (and a spare board segment, top left), with the race ending in a velodrome.
A different configuration; same start, everything else different.
In the new version we have one extra board for more variation. Though races will use between three and five boards, now we can choose between 12 different sides. Of course we need a start and a finish, but there are many options in between. Furthermore, some road segments have different rules depending on the type of race. For instance, we have different cobblestone rules depending on if it is a French classic or a Belgian classic.
On the other hand, the peloton has been slightly downsized compared to the former Cyclo editions. There are only four riders per team now (a climber, a sprinter, and two domestiques) with different wheel colours to tell them apart. The missing rider is the team leader, though of course you can use one of the domestiques as "team leader" and apply the old team leader rules to him if you wish to. However, there is no need to do so, since one of the problems of the former versions of the game was that there were too many riders on the board.
The game still features two playing modes, "Cyclo-Starter" and "Cyclo-Pro", though most players will skip the former and play directly in Pro mode. The game is still a dice game, but an energy rule based on energy tokens has been added (only to the Pro mode), which gives the game a strategic touch.
With or without energy tokens, Cyclo game mechanics have always been flexible enough to play both one-day races and stage races. This remains so, and in this new version the classifications are kept on a plastified board (an erasable marker is included too).
As in most games that represent stage races, riders with leader's jerseys are included. These are big enough to be clearly seen in the peloton.
On the other hand, one-day classic races have been enriched with event tokens which are distributed to the players (one each) at the beginning of the game and kept secret until they are needed. Each one has a different use, from the simple flat tire ("miss a turn", to be played on a rival), to some that may not be the best example for the young ("bidon collé", two extra squares forward; "on the wake of the TV motorcycle", four extra squares forward).
A nice feature of the new edition are the colourful cardboard riders. As you can see, one of the four teams is a women's team.
Another nice feature is the TV motorbike, which has no use for the game (except for the Keirin rule, see below, and, well, the "TV motorcycle" event mentioned above). Mostly it is there just for ambience, but it gives a nice touch to the game.
Smile, you're on TV!
A final addition to the game is track cycling rules: since we have a track on one of the board panels (it has always been there, by the way), and since the game mechanics are flexible enough to encompass most aspects of cycling races, Dirk has added specific rules for track events. One of these events is the Keirin race, which uses the TV motorcycle to pace the riders. Well, it does not exactly look like a track cycling derny, but it does the job.
When I first reviewed the game, I wrote that "it is just a dice game, but it could have been the definitive cycling dice game". That was true back then. "Just a dice game" meant that the game did not have energy tokens. "The definitive dice game" meant that it had features that were ahead of other dice games. While probably none of these affirmations is true twenty years later, Cyclo remains a dice game that is as good as a dice game can be.
The three versions of the game, side by side.
Last but not least, it is important to say that the proceeds from the game will go entirely to a non-profit organisation in Flanders that supports the battle against cancer (an illness of which Dirk Donvil, unfortunately, knows more than he would have wished). They have a website where you can find more about the game, including Dutch rules (do not tell me you do not have an online translator). If you want to buy the game, this is the link.
Thanks, Dirk, for sending this game.
Description written in October 2025.
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