Sprint - a game of nip and tuck

A game for 2 players 5 to 8 turns

by Tony Reeves

This game has been in my head for some time now and I think it's worth a playtesting. It is very loosely based on Sprint Cycling. When I was young this always struck me as a daft name because they don't (sprint, that is) at least not until the final 200 metres or so. The bulk of the contest is taken up by an elaborate battle of wits in an attempt to hang behind the opposing cyclist until the last possible moment.

1.Each player has 6 cards, three 2's, two 4's and a 6.

2.One player starts on square 1, the other on square zero

3.Cards are revealed simultaneously and the players move the stated number of squares. Those cards are then lost with the exception described in Rule 4.

4. Any player who commences a turn exactly one square behind his opponent and plays exactly the same card as his opponent retains that card. The leading player can never retain a chosen card

5. The winner is the player who moves the furthest when all cards are discarded.

I'm really not sure that the game will work but would be grateful to anybody who can playtest it or is willing to sign up and give it a go. I would run 2 games between opponents simultaneously, swapping the positions on the starting grid.

If it does work, I'd like to extend the idea to cover more cyclists. There would be a real Prisoner's Dilemma element to the idea of mutual co-operation. We'll see.