Formula D with a 1935 Twist

Formula D is a fun easy racing game with gears and dice and cars. Possibly the best racing game ever made. But the cars are generic and there isn’t anything special about the drivers, in fact, there aren’t any drivers. Also it’s a game designed to play once and put back on the shelf. Very much a beer and pretzels game. Two things I really like. But I also like games that immerse you in history and create strong bonds between players and the game.

So I took the basic Formula D game and made a 1935 version complete with awesome classic race cars like Auto Unions, Delage, Bugatti, Alfa Romero, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and others. I also researched and created profiles for the top drivers of the time like Rudolf Caracciola, Tazio Nuvolari, Louis Chiron and others, 40 drivers in all. To make the game complete I got monopoly cars, painted them team colors and each player is a manager of a racing team with a set of drivers and cars. Depending on your performance, and thus your income, you choose which car and driver combo to race each week. We will race 11 races and since the monopoly cars are bigger than the cars that come with the basic Formula D game I re-drew and in some instances, created from scratch, historic race tracks from the 1930s.

The is much more to the game too, like an economic system based on racer performance and “feats” accomplished mid race like performing a slipstream maneuver. There is a reward system for earning trophies (which are lapel pins) for driving this or that car and earning “sponsorship”, and there is set of special event cards that players get and can play during the race for small in game bonuses. But the real star of the weekly race are the tracks.

Participation in the campaign is limited but it is open to any available and willing players. We've got a few spots open if you want to check it out, see the post on the upcoming practice races.