Teach the Game
A table-ready introduction to Flamme Rouge.
How you win
Two riders, one team: pace the Rouleur, shelter the Sprinteur, and choose when to spend your strongest cards. Reach the finish first with either rider. If several cross in the same round, the rider who gets furthest beyond the line wins; a tie goes to the rider in the right lane.
Players command a steady and a bursty . Each rider has a separate deck. Pick one card for each rider every round, move the whole field from front to back, then use the pack to draft or make a breakaway.
The boards
The route is made from track tiles joined between a Start and Finish tile. Each space has two lanes. Terrain is printed on the spaces; road bends alone do not change movement.
The team board is a reminder and player aid. Keep the two rider decks separate so each rider’s spent Energy and added remain attached to that rider.
A round
- Energy: For one rider, draw four cards, keep one face down, and put the other three face up beneath that deck. Finish choosing for that rider before looking at the other rider’s hand. Repeat for the second rider.
- Movement: Reveal all chosen cards. Move the frontmost rider first, then continue toward the back. Move the printed value, modified by terrain. Riders cannot pass through occupied spaces; stop in the nearest open lane behind the blockage.
- End: Remove played Energy cards from the game. Resolve from the back of the field toward the front, then give a value-2 Exhaustion card to each rider with an entirely empty square immediately ahead.
See Racing and Terrain for the full procedure.
How the game ends
When any rider crosses the finish line, finish moving every rider whose card was already selected for that round. Compare how far each finisher went beyond the line; the farthest wins. If tied, the right-hand lane wins. The game ends after that round; riders that have not crossed do not take another turn.
Ways to score
The base game has no points track. The race result is the score: the winning team is the team of the first rider across under the finish-order rules.
| Result source | How it decides the winner |
|---|---|
| First rider over the line | Ends the race that round |
| Distance beyond the line | Breaks ties between riders crossing in the same round |
| Right lane | Breaks a remaining distance tie |
What each resource is for
| Piece or resource | Why it matters | How you get or use it |
|---|---|---|
| Rouleur deck | Reliable pace | Choose one Energy card per round |
| Sprinteur deck | Strong final options | Choose one Energy card per round |
| Exhaustion cards | Weaken a rider’s future choices | Add after an empty square remains ahead; they stay in that rider’s deck |
| Track spaces | Limit movement and create traffic | Build the route from a stage card |
Teaching tips
- Start on Avenue Corso Paseo; leave all optional terrain and expansions out.
- Teach the three phases in order and physically separate played cards from recycled cards.
- Demonstrate that lanes do not cost movement, but a blocked square stops a rider.
- Explain drafting and Exhaustion only after the first card-selection example.