My friend Donato Pompei has turned the 1937 Tour de France game (a promotional game by L'Auto) into a timeless Giro d'Italia game. What's better, this game is offered (here) as a free download.

Of course the game is quite simple, as was the original. Donato has added a couple of rules, but has not even bothered to clarify the poits that were obscure in the 1937 game. Why should he? After all, everybody knows the rules of the game of goose, and the game spacifies that the players may change the rules if they feel like it. Anyway, since the rules in the downloadable file are in italian, here is an English loose translation:

 

RULES:

The game is played with two dice. Each player has a counter representing a cycling ace. Players advance their counter according to the throw of the dice.

Before the game the players agree on the price of the ante to be payed in case of race incidents, and every player contributes to the pot with a fixed amount.

Whenever a player lands on an occupied square, both counters trade places and the player who was previously on that square pays an ante to the pot.

The first player to reach exactly square 63 (Duomo di Milano) wins the race and receives the pot. If a player throws a dice roll higher than needed to reach square 63, he bounces back out again.

When a player reaches a square with a number inscribed in a white circle (cycling aces - squares 9, 18...) he moves again the same number of squares (he doubles his throw). If a player throws 9 in his first throw with a 6 and a 3, he goes to square 26. (The rules do not specify what happens if he throws 9 with a 5 and a 4)

When a player reaches a square with a number inscribed in a black circle, he pays an ante to the pot (though it is not always specified explicitly) and suffers some drawback:

When a player lands on square 7 (level crossing) he goes to square 12.
When a player lands on square 19 (inn) he misses two turns while he rests.
When a player lands on square 23 (illegal push) he goes back to square 17
When a player lands on square 25 (fall) he goes back to the first square.
When a player lands on square 31 (cold water well) he stays there until another player lands on this field. In this case, of course, they trade places.
When a player lands on square 34 (puncture) he misses one turn.
When a player lands on square 42 (refreshment) he goes back to square 30
When a player lands on square 52 (sin of pride) he stays there until another player lands on this field. In this case, again, they trade places.
When a player lands on square 58 (fall) he goes back to the first square.

The rules specify that players may change the rules by agreement.

 

You can use any counters, of course, but what about this nice peloton of vintage "cicliste da biglie"?
(Yes, they are included in the free download!)

Click here to download the free print-and-play hi-res version of the game (zip file, 7MB)
 

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