KEIRIN
Anki Toner, 2006
This is a one-player non-strategy game. You just watch the race. Or maybe it's a betting game, who knows. It can also be considered just the set of rules for the final sprint in a bigger game. Why not? You can use it if you want.
Is it fun as a game on its own? You tell me!
It may be classified as a print-and-play game, though there is not much to print, except maybe the rules. You will need a track. You can use any that belongs to another game or make it one using the templates in the "make your own game" section. You will also need six riders in different colours (some available also in the "make your own game" section) and 21 dice in six different colours, so that one dice matches the colour of the first rider, two match the colour of the second rider, and so on, until the sixth rider, for which you will need six dice. I hope you have that many dice at home. I do.
It is nice (but not necessary) than the cyclists are bigger than the fields on the track. I like it when the riders occupy three fields each. That is just because the riders start in every third field, and in that way they are in a line. As I said, this is not necessary for the game.
Equally, it is nice to have a derny figurine, but just for the ambiance.
KEIRINIntroduction:
Unlike the conventional track sprint discipline where riders seek to "draft" or "slipstream" each other, in the first few laps of the Keirin, cyclists are paced by a motorised vehicle called a derny, who leaves the track a few laps before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h. The first cyclist to finish the high-speed (sometimes at 70 km/h) race is the winner.
This game starts at the precise moment when the derny leaves the track.
Material:
Six cyclists in six different colors, a derny (just because it is nice to have it, not really needed), 21 dice in six colors. 1 die matches the color of rider 1, 2 dice match the color of rider 2... and 6 dice match the color of rider 6.
(Note: You can play with 6 dice, throwing 1 for the first rider, 2 for the second, etc... In this case the colour of the dice does not matter. You can even play with just one die, but you will have to throw it many times, which risks to make the game excruciatingly slow and unexciting).
The track is 60 squares long. (The squares themselves should bee quite short, so that each rider occupies three squares: this gives the game more realism, in my opinion, but it is not really necessary).
Preparation:
The riders start on squares 0,3,6,9,12 and15, forming a line. The derny starts at square 18, in front of the pack.
Movement of the riders:
The rider who starts ahead (let's call him rider 1) throws 1 die all through the race. The rider who starts second (you guessed, we'll call him rider 2) throws 2 dice all through the race. And so on. Rider 6 throws 6 dice all through the race.
All dice are thrown at the same time, to speed up the game and add some ambiance (unless you are playing with fewer dice).
For all purposes, 1s and 2s on the dice are assimilated to 3s (the dice can be regarded as D6 numbered 333456)
Only the highest number on each throw is taken into account. Exception, if the throw has more than one 6, each additional six counts as an extra pip.
Example:
Rider 1 throws 2. He advances 3 squares.
Rider 2 throws 15. He advances 5 squares.
Rider 3 throws 366. He advances 7 squares.
Rider 4 throws 1112. He advances 3 squares.
Rider 5 throws 45556. He advances 6 squares.
Rider 6 throws 111233. He advances 3 squares.The highest possible throw, of course, is 6 sixes by rider 6. He would advance eleven squares.
Exception:
Only in the first throw, add two squares to the movement of rider one (as he is draft by the -virtual- derny acceleration).
Winner of the race:
The race is won by the rider who goes further past the finishing line in the throw when the first rider(s) cross the line. (The turn is completed). In the case of a tie, the dice are thrown again between the tied riders for a "photo-finish".
Lotsa dice!
Click here to see a complete example race.
Starting position:
After the first throw (the keirin's gone):
White still ahead and we already see the finish line. Will he make it?
Close sprint (Molteni wins):
Probabilities (In case you like them)
R1 advances an average of 4.000 squares per turn
(3+3+3+4+5+6) / 6 = 4R2 advances an average of 4.638 squares per turn
(9*3 + 7*4 + +9*5 + 10*6 + 1*7) / 36 =4.638R3 advances an average of 5.079 squares per turn
(27*3 + 37*4 + 61*5 + 75*6 + 15*7 +1*8) / 216 = 5.079R4 advances an average of 5.407 squares per turn
(81*3 + 175*4 * 369*5 + 500*6 + 150*7 + 20*8 + 1*9) / 1296 = 5.407R5 advances an average of 5.670 squares per turn
(243*3 + 781*4 + 2101*5 + 3125*6 + 1250*7 + 250*8 - 25*9 + 1*10) / 7776 = 5.670R6 advances an average of 5.897 squares per turn
(729*3 + 3367*4 + 11529*5 + 18750*6 + 9375*7 + 2500*8 + 375*9 + 30*10 + 1*11) / 46656 = 5.897If we call "0" the square where R1 starts we have the following table (square where each rider finds himself at any given turn, rounded at the first decimal, which does not mean anything)
In pink, the theoretical leader after n turns.
Turn
R1 (4.000)
R2 (4.638)
R3 (5.079)
R4 (5.407)
R5 (5.670)
R6 (5.897)
0
0
-3
-6
-9
-12
-15
1
6
1.6
-0.9
2
10
6.3
4.2
3
14
10.9
9.2
4
18
15.6
14.3
5
22
20.2
19.4
18.0
16.2
14.5
6
26
24.8
24.5
23.4
22.0
20.4
7
30
28.5
29.6
28.8
27.7
26.3
8
34
34.1
34.6
34.3
33.6
32.2
9
38
38.7
39.7
39.7
39.1
38.1
10
42
43.4
44.8
45.1
44.7
44.0
11
46
48.0
49.9
50.5
50.4
49.9
12
50
52.7
54.9
55.9
56.0
55.8
13
54
57.5
60.0
60.3
61.7
61.7
14
58
62.0
65.1
65.7
67.4
67.6
15
62
66.6
70.2
72.1
73.0
73.5
18
74
80.5
85.4
88.3
90.1
91.1
20
82
89.8
95.6
99.1
101.4
102.9
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