GRANFONDO
Ralf Vanpey / Runner Games, Germany, 2025
This is one of the various cycling games that appeared almost simultaneously on crowdfunding platforms at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. Being quite disappointed with crowdfunding schemes (as I have written elsewhere) and not having the time to keep track of all these games, I passed on that one for the moment. Let's admit that I was not too fond of the AI-generated graphics either. Some months later, with the game having been successfully released, I was contacted again by the game makers. Now the game is sold on their website, where you know what you buy, how much it will cost, what the shipping costs will be, and that you will receive what you eventually buy in a few days. That changes everything.
Of course the game still has some of the crowdfunding-scheme characteristics I complained about: expensive optional neoprene mats (identical to those included in the game boxes, but harder to store) and an independent expansion which should probably have been included with the base game in the first place, since the contents of both boxes fit well in the first (slightly bigger) box.
Anyway, one box or two, I will speak of the game as a whole, including the contents of both boxes. If you only buy the base game, you will miss the second board (that is, two tracks) and a couple of teams (you will only be able to play with up to four players). Apart from that, you will be fine.
The first thing you notice about this game is that it is quite big (and heavy,
by the way). The boxes are not very large (30 x 30 cm) but, when stacked on top
of one another, they are 14 cm high. The six-fold boards measure 86 x 57 cm. You
will need a big table to play. All in all you have five different tracks (the
back of the board on the first box features two tracks, a shorter and a longer
one).
The next thing you find in the box(es) is a lot of cards. This is a deck-building game, where each rider has his own deck of cards with his specialist characteristics, from which he draws and plays. Of course, this will remind most readers of Flamme Rouge, but these game mechanics have been around for a while (check, for instance, this little-known and unjustly-forgotten French game, L'Échappée du Tour, which I confess I should properly review some time).
In Gran Fondo we have three riders per team, each with his 20-card deck (including two doping cards!), plus decks for robot teams in case there are not enough players. That makes a lot of cards indeed. Luckily we have three player boards for each player (one for each rider in the team: sprinter, climber, and all-rounder) on which we lay the decks to keep some kind of order in our playing area. Of course, these take some space on the table too.
So far, we have a "fair" game, with equal chances for every player. But that is not all.
The game adds optional "pro" rules in which each individual rider has his own individual board (displayed above) showing his/her particular features. This means that the players' strengths are not identical, as in real cycling, and everyone will have to make the most with what he has. In this sense, the rules of this game, at least its core mechanics, could be described as "Flamme Rouge on steroids" (remember there are even doping cards!).
By the way, as you can see, women take part in the game too. Times are changing. Given the name of the game, this should be no surprise since a Gran Fondo is an endurance cycling race open for men and women, amateurs and professionals alike. However, this game does not particularly represent such a race, whatever the game creators say. As far as I am concerned, the game represents a one-day cycling race like any other, or even one more competitive than most. And it is certainly a game that will please hardcore gamers.
These wooden riders are 3.5 cm long.
I am not going to say much more about the game rules. You can find them on the game's website (as well as some videos) and get an idea. Just let me add that there are rules for drafting, collaboration between different riders (even from different teams), crashes, and, as said above, automated riders in case you do not have enough players.
Let me instead show some pictures.
Six teams (including those of the expansion) of three riders.
The type of rider is indicated with the (white, grey, or black) background colour, and also on the rider's base.
The mountains representing climbers are quite obvious. The dashed lines that represent all-rounders, not so much.
Finally, the sprinters are represented by arrows.
The game includes rules in seven different languages, by the way, including Polish and Portuguese, apart from the more usual English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.
Check/buy the
game on Runner Games' website
Description written in April
2026.
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