One year ago he got Monopoli, and it was a great success: he plays that game with his friends every time they have some free hours (my kid do a LOT of sport, and have so many hours with friends is not so common).
We plays a lot Heroscape, we've played Space Hulk, Silent Death, and other boardgames i own.
But i've seen his friends a bit confused when he tried to play that games whit them: Heroscape apart, the others are a bit too much for a kid not used to think at strategies and lifepoints.
So, while i was thinking about Risiko (we all start from the classic, after all
) i was a bit worried about a game his friens may not like so much.Browsing the web i stumbled in Bolide.... we live at 60km from Maranello (where the Ferrari house is), we have the Ducati workhouse at 10 minutes of car, our region is the mother of a lot of pilots and car / bike builders.... in short, we have races and engines in our DNA
So, after a read to some positive reviews, i bought Bolide and the 1st track expansion.
Then, we played the game for a whole afternoon.
The Box
The box is beautiful, even if i think that the black "paint" will be scratched soon.
When you open it you see the track pieces, which are the 90% of the box weight.
They're made of a good cardboard, but i'm a bit worried about the printed surface: seems to me that is that kind of "paper" that will loose the color if dragged a bit too much. Since you have one track for each side, you may want to play on a soft surface (somewhat like the green baize to play poker).... we will see.
The graphic of the track is not bad, but sure you'll not say "oohhh, ahhhh" looking at it. They're functional, with the good amount of colours to see thing fast but whithout making you blind, and just some decoration here and there.
Under the track pieces there's a sort of cardboard holder, and inside you'll find a ziplock bag containing the 8 plastic "Formula X" cars. I won't call them "miniatures" as for the tanks in the classical Risiko: they are the same sort of things.
The cars comes in the 8 "basic" colours. I've a friend that is partially color-blind and i think he will have some difficult with some colors.
In short words, i'd liked some better pawns for the cars: a bit more detailed and/or a bit more painted. Anyway they do the job.
There's also 8 "vector" pawns, a d12, a sandtimer, a pencil ( ! ), a soft, semi-transparent plastic ruler, a block of car sheets and the rulebook written in three languages.
A thing i don't like so much is that i've to remove the cardboard holder to fit the expansion track in the box, and the sandtimer still "bulge" a bit. In a game with planned expansions i'd like to see some room available in the "main" box. If i'll buy the second track i'll have no room to store the pieces in the box... a shame.
Getting started
You need to read the rules before to play... with a jumping kid on your side impatient to play it may be a bit difficult
Anyway, Bolide is not a game you can learn while playing: it's a matter of planning/guessing, so you need to know what you can do and how.
Some part of the rules needs to be readed twice (even in the original language) and some will still reamains obscures and convoluted, even in the Basic ruleset.
So, with a new player, you'll need some time to show how the thing works, making examples on the track.
The Game
Well, i'm impressed: this game works.
While moving the vector pawn is somewhat counter-intuitive, i've found myself thinking at real F1 duels when my kid engaged me to gain the best curve line, and he was really exited, shouting "gggnnnnneeEEEEEOOOOooooowwww" each time he pass me.
You'll get hooked: the movement mechanic is somewhat you'll handle very soon, and then your main concern is to drive a curve at the fastest possible speed.
In our second race we want to test the advanced rules, whioh allow to setup the car in different manners, and which implements weather also.
I think that this part (the Setup explanation and the block of the car sheets) is the worst explained. It is not a matter of words: it is just bad written.
I suddenly draw a "setup helper" prototype (i'll post it at BGG soon) that needs not pencil, and finally the kid got the setup options.
My daughter (11 years old) joined to the game and she also got the game mechanic in two turns.
Final Impression
Bolide is a good game. It shines in the main idea, and it stays in the average about game materials.
I don't think that my gaming friends will like to play it more that twice (they like more "serious" themes), but i bought it for kid, and i think Bolide will become a star in his afternoons with his friends.
Don't get me wrong: it is not a game for kids. Anyone which like the theme will like Bolide. But Bolide works so smooth that even childs can play and like it.
The only real flaw is the lack of tracks: i can't think at a racing game with only 2 tracks. That's why i bought the 1st expansion immediatly: a kid (and an adult too
)used to Heroscape and other Minis / Modular boardgame WANT variations.----
I hope you can read and understand my poor english: I know that i'm terrible at it, but Bolide deserves my efforts for a very positive review.
If someone will like to correct this review, just PM me the right sentences and i will edit it
Posted Mon Oct 6,2008 10:35 am
