Overview

Flamme Rouge is a fast-paced, tactical bicycle racing game where each player controls a team of two riders: a Rouleur (steady rider) and a Sprinteur (sprinter). Players simultaneously draw and play numbered cards to move their riders, using slipstreaming and energy management to be the first team to cross the finish line.

Components

• 4 player boards (1 per color)
• 8 cyclist models (2 per color: 1 Rouleur, 1 Sprinteur)
• 21 double-sided track tiles (1 Start, 1 Finish, 7 Straight, 6 Soft turns, 6 Sharp turns)
• 190 cards: 120 Energy cards, 60 Exhaustion cards, Stage cards, Reference cards

Setup

1. Build the Track: Choose a stage card and lay out track tiles as depicted. For your first game, use the Avenue Corso Paseo stage card. Use the sides marked with lowercase letters as shown.
2. Pick a Color: Each player takes a Sprinteur and Rouleur model, matching energy cards, and a player board.
3. Form Rider Decks: Shuffle your Sprinteur energy cards into a face-down deck on your player board. Do the same for your Rouleur.
4. Form Exhaustion Decks: Place all Sprinteur and Rouleur exhaustion cards face-up within reach of all players.
5. Starting Positions: The player who most recently rode a bike (youngest if tied) places their two riders one at a time in any square with a free lane behind the Start line. Continue clockwise.

Turn Structure

Each round has three phases:

1. Energy Phase (Simultaneous)

• Choose one of your riders (Sprinteur or Rouleur).
• Draw 4 cards from that rider’s energy deck.
• Select 1 card and play it face down next to the rider’s deck. Recycle the other 3 face-down.
• Repeat for your second rider: draw 4, play 1, recycle 3.
• You cannot draw cards for your second rider before playing the card for your first.

Deck Management: If your energy deck runs out of face-down cards, shuffle the recycled cards and place them back face-down. If fewer than 4 cards total remain, draw all of them.

2. Movement Phase

• All played cards are revealed simultaneously.
• Starting with the frontmost rider, each rider moves forward a number of squares equal to their card value.
• A rider can move through other riders but cannot end on a fully occupied square (2 lanes per square). If blocked, stop in the first square with a free lane behind it.
• When entering an empty square, always use the right lane.

3. End Phase

1. Remove Played Cards: All played cards are removed from the game permanently. Cards can only be used once.
2. Apply Slipstreaming: Starting from the backmost pack, if exactly 1 empty square separates two packs, move the rear pack forward 1 square to merge. Repeat check for the new merged pack. Riders may gain slipstreaming multiple times per round.
3. Apply Exhaustion: Any rider with an empty square in front of them (the frontmost rider in a pack at the front) takes an exhaustion card matching their type (Sprinteur or Rouleur) and recycles it into their energy deck. Exhaustion cards have a value of 2.

Pack: One or more riders with no empty squares between them.

Actions

Players have no actions beyond card selection. The core decision each round is which card to play for each rider, balancing speed, deck management, and positioning.

Energy Card Values

Rider	Card Values
Sprinteur	2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9
Rouleur	3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7

• Exhaustion cards: Value 2 (added when a rider is exhausted).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Winning: The first rider to cross the Finish line wins for their team. If multiple riders cross in the same round, the rider who goes furthest past the Finish line wins.
• The race ends as soon as any rider crosses the Finish line.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Cards Used Once: Played energy cards are permanently removed from the game. Deck management is critical.
• Slipstreaming Chain: Slipstreaming is checked starting from the back. A pack that merges forward may then trigger another slipstream merge with the pack ahead. This can chain.
• Exhaustion Only at Front: Only the absolute frontmost rider(s) of a pack with empty space ahead get exhaustion cards. Riders behind other riders in a pack do not receive exhaustion.
• Lane Priority: The right lane is always used first when entering an empty square. The frontmost rider is the one closest to the Finish line in the right-hand lane.
• Blocked Movement: A rider who would end on a fully occupied square stops in the first available square behind it.
• Recycled vs. Removed: Cards played on your turn are removed from the game. Cards not chosen (3 of the 4 drawn) are recycled face-down and will be reshuffled into the deck.

Player Reference

Round Sequence

1. Energy Phase: Draw 4, play 1 (for each rider)
2. Movement Phase: Reveal and move (front to back)
3. End Phase: Remove cards, slipstream, exhaust

Key Rules

• 2 lanes per square
• Right lane first in empty squares
• Slipstream: exactly 1 empty square between packs
• Exhaustion: empty square in front of you = value-2 card added
• All played cards removed from game permanently