Rules
The goal of Winner's Circle is to amass the most money after three races. Player's win (and sometimes lose) money by betting on horses. Their finish in each race and the number of bets on them will determine how much money is awarded.
Now that you know how the game works, lets look a little closer at the rules. To start the game, give each player (up to 6 according to the rules, but it could probably be expanded) their 0, 1, 1, and 2 betting chips and their matching color marker. Shuffle the Horse cards and place them on the 7 spaces along the edge of the board. Place the 7 Horse on their respective start spaces. Each horse has a different color which will correspond to one of the Horse cards placed earlier.
Photo by Elijah
Horses have 4 different stats which show an icon and a number beside it. This tells you how far a horse can move when each icon is rolled on the die. Some horses will have mostly low numbers and one high number. Others will have fairly even number. These horses are usually referred to as sprinters and trotters respectively.
Once the field is set, its time for player's to make bets. Player's may place a 1 or 2 token on any horse they want. They may only have 1 token on any one horse. Multiple players can bet on the same horse. One important note when placing bets is to see where each horse starts. Some people feel that horses starting in the back have a distinct disadvantage so this is something to consider when placing your bets.
After all bets have been placed, the race starts. The player who placed the first bet rolls the die. According to the icon shown, that player may move any one horse the number of spaces shown on its card next to that icon. For example, if the die roll is a horseshoe, the player may move any horse a number of spaces equal to the number shown on its card next to the horseshoe icon. Each space on the track may only ever contain one horse so the decision is an important one. Once the horse has been moved, that horse's card is flipped face down. It may not move again until all the other horses have moved.
There is a bonus for the first horse to reach space 18. The Pace Bonus is $100 and is paid at the end of the race to anyone who bet on that horse.
When the first horse crosses the finish line, take it off the track and place it in the middle on the 1st Place position. Repeat for the 2nd and 3rd Place horses. When the 3rd place horse crosses the line, the race is over. Take the horse that is in last place and put it on the Last Place space.
To pay out money, look at the total number of bets on the horse that finished 1st. Its important to count bets, not tokens. A token with 2 on it is 2 bets. Look at the chart next to the 1st Place space and determine the payout. Repeat this for the 2nd and 3rd place ponies. Any players who bet on the horse that finished last have to pay the bank $100. All other bets have no consequence.
Discard the Horse Cards, and give each player their betting tokens. The game continues for 2 more races. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the 3 races.
The rules are really quite easy to understand. Unlike most Knizia games, the rules to this one fit on two pages.
Components
The game comes in a decent sized box with a beautiful horse on the cover. The rest of the box is a grassy-green color and is sturdy enough to take some abuse.
The board is focused around the racetrack which dominates the play area. Each space is numbered which is handy in figuring out how far a horse can move. The starting spaces are color-coded to match their respective horses making setup a breeze. There is ample room along the one side for the Horse cards and for the betting tokens. I really appreciate the bet payout chart being in the middle of the board so that players don't need to constantly reference the rulebook to figure out their winnings.
JP LaChance
The Horse cards are made of a thick cardboard, similar in thickness to Carcassonne tiles. They don't really do much and they are handled at a minimum, but I do appreciate the sturdiness. The presentation of these tiles leaves a bit to be desired because the fronts are drab green. The icons and numbers are easy to read but the colors are a bit ugly. I wish the graphic designers would have put some horse pictures on the top of the cards. They could probably be redesigned to have a nice picture right at the top with the horse's name under it and still have plenty of room for the stats. It would certainly add some personality to each horse. You might really feel like you're racing a famous horse instead of the "tan" horse or the "white" horse.
The actual horse pieces are a nice size. They are made of plastic but feel pretty sturdy. These pieces see the most action of any part of this game because they are constantly being handled and moved. The sculpts are all identical which is somewhat of a disappointment. Again, if they were even slightly different, they would have a lot more personality and flavor. I'm fairly torn on the color choice for the horses. They are done in mostly earthtones. I feel pretty certain that this was done to avoid having blue and purple horses which would certainly look odd, but sometimes its hard to tell the horses apart. A few of the colors look pretty similar and can cause some confusion. I suppose this could be remedied by a simple paint job.
The betting tokens and money are both make of a cardboard which is just slightly thinner than the Horse cards. The betting tokens are color coded so as to make it easy to see which player has bet on which horse. These tokens are fairly small and have a nice glossy coating. The money tokens are slightly bigger and have a rougher finish similar again to Carcassonne tiles.
Photo by dipdragon
One of my favorite parts of this game is the die. I love dice and this one is no exception. This particular die is made of wood and has 6 sides: 3 horsehead, 1 horseshoe, 1 saddlebag, and 1 jockey hat. Plus the die is wood so it makes neat sounds when it rolls and feels nice in your hands. I love wood dice.
Gameplay
In Winner's circle you roll the die and move a horse. Sounds simple right? While the actual roll-and-move mechanic is the essence of the game, its a much better version that takes away a lot of the luck. When the die is rolled, you have the choice of which horse to move. You don't just have to move one you wagered on, you can move ANY horse you want. This is where the strategy of the game comes into play. The obvious choice is to move a horse you have bet on, but often this is not the best choice. Most horses have a variety of numbers next to their icons, so if you roll an icon that is bad for a horse other players have bet on, you can use that horse to minimize the amount of spaces it can move. Since only one horse can be in a space at a time, this will often result in small movements or none at all.
The additional penalty for finishing last means you also need to pay attention to horses in the back of the pack. Its a viable strategy to pin an opponent's horse in the back of the field which will not only keep them out of the winnings, but also cost them a $100 penalty at the end of the race.
There are a number of variants for Winner's Circle that add a lot of flavor to the game. My personal favorite is the variant that uses hidden bets. When placing betting tokens, they are placed face down. Players have a 0 token that they can place as a bluff. This adds a wonderful dimension to the complexity of choosing which horse to move. You need to carefully study your opponent's movements to determine what they're trying to accomplish so you can try to outsmart them. I feel that the game should be played this way as a standard rule because it adds so much depth and flavor to the game. With visible bets, the game becomes a bit more of a standard roll-and-move affair.
Another popular variant is the group start. Instead of starting on individual spaces, all the horses start at the Start/Finish Line. This takes away any inherent disadvantages to starting from the back of the pack. I personally believe that the disadvantage to starting from the back can be mitigated by smart play, but I can agree to the fact that you are generally more likely to win from the front. Still, its the stats for the rear horse that determine if I'm likely to bet on it or not. If the horse is a sprinter, I'm usually inclined to throw a 1 chip on it because it can jump ahead of the pack pretty quickly with a bit of luck.
There is yet one more popular variant that allows horses to share spaces on the track. I don't like the idea of this one because I believe it removes a lot of the strategy from the game. A large part of the strategy is minimizing the distance an opponent's horse can go. Every space counts so giving up that advantage takes a lot of the strategy out of the game. It may make it a bit friendlier, but thats not really the point of the game.
Winner's Circle plays quick and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes per race for a 6-player game. With less players it goes even faster. While the rules state you should play 3 races, you could play 1 or 2 if time was short and still have a lot of fun.
Compare it to....
I don't have any other games that work the way Winner's Circle does. I find the way the die affects the game to be similar in some ways to Settlers of Catan. Whenever the die is rolled, something will happen which will benefit at least one player. In Settlers, the die gives you resources. Sometimes it helps you directly, by giving you what you need and sometimes it helps you indirectly by not giving resources to your opponents. In Winner's Circle, sometimes the die will let you move a horse only you have bet on. Other times it lets you move an opponent's horse a minimal number of spaces. The comparison isn't the strongest one, but there is some relativity.
Overall
I love this game. Thats the simplest way I can put it. I really appreciate games in which dice offer options instead of results and this is exactly what Winner's Circle does. All players are subject to the luck of the roll, but the player who does the best job of maximizing their opportunities and minimizing their opponent's will usually win. Smart play beats out luck almost every time. There will be the odd game in which one player continually rolls exactly what is needed, but thats part of the fun and big reason why the game lasts 3 races instead of just one.
This game could certainly be used as a gateway game. Its about the same complexity as Ticket to Ride and moves a lot faster. The rules are simple but the decisions are important. There is a die to offer a bit of familiarity to people used to "traditional" boardgames. The fact that it plays up to 6 is a real bonus to families looking for an activity to do together.
Most people point to Tigris and Euphrates or Taj Mahal as being amongst the most original Knizia offerings. Winner's Circle is no slouch in the BGG ratings, but it doesn't get the kudos it deserves. Knizia has created a fun game with a bit of luck and lot of strategy and tactics. While some of his other games may be more "gamer games", Winner's Circle has a lot to offer to anyone looking for a good light-medium weight gateway game.
I rate this game 8.5/10. The points lost are for cosmetic reasons. As stated previously, the Horse cards and horse figures could use some pizzazz but other than that, there's almost nothing wrong with this game. I can't recommend this one highly enough for new gamers or as a 6-player light-medium weight game.
Pros:
Simple rules
Fast gameplay
Plays up to 6
Die offers possibilites, not results
Stategy and tactics outweigh luck
Good solid components
Cons:
Horse cards could be prettier
Horse sculpts could be prettier
Horses lack personality and identity
Posted Fri Oct 12,2007 02:28 pm
