Racing by centimeters and other Formula 1 thoughts

 I recently tried out a PnP racing game called Formula 1cm. And it pretty much is just what it says on the tin. A game about Formula 1 racing and measures. 

Here’s the core concept: you are playing a race as a dot-to-dot game where you supply the dots. You have an inventory of line segments of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 centimeters. You need to use each measure at least once but no more than three times.

Here’s where the actual game part is: you have to draw the lines freehand, not with a helpful ruler. And each player has three free challenges to accuse the other player of getting the measure wrong. They can accuse people after that but if they’re false accusations, the accuser has a penalty, being forced to use the shortest measure they have available.

And you can wear out your car by cutting corners and getting caught getting measures wrong. And you have to change lanes every move. There is some race car crunch mixed in.

The game comes with a lot of content. Twelve F1 tracks. Three kid-friendly tracks. Two more special tracks. A bunch of variant rules, including solitaire. Having so many tracks and variations is crucial to any kind of replay value because if you only had one or two maps, muscle memory would make them too easy.

I have tried it solitaire, which was perfectly pleasant. However, I am positive that the game sings at two-player. Having someone to mess with and who will mess with you will really add a lot to the gameplay.

I think there’s a very distinct dividing line for potential responses to Formula 1cm. If players don’t mind a no-frills pencil and paper game, I think they’ll enjoy it. If you need even a little bit of chrome, Formula 1cm is a hard no. 

Which is absolutely fine. We play games for fun and escapism and mental stimulation and social interaction. You shouldn’t be asked to play games that don’t work for you.

Of course, any Formula 1-themed game is going to be in the shadow of the Formula De/Formula D family of games. The gear dice system is both single and utterly brilliant. For me, that remains the gold standard. 

Sadly, for many reasons, I haven’t played Formula D in many years. (For one thing, the guy I know who has a bunch of tracks lives in another state lol) Almost every version of the game takes up some decent table space (Formula De Mini being the exception) and is a serious evening’s play. Is it worth the time and the space? Yes. But you have to have that time and space.

I think it’s a crying shame that it’s out of

print.

And Formula 1cm also brought me back to Rallytaire, a PnP that clearly was inspired by Formula D and is an absolute example of a shoestring game. It does a really good job giving me a ten-minute Formula D fix and I’m glad Formula 1cm made me go back to it.

I think the need for budget gaming, which has always been out there, has only become more important. And I think Formula 1cm is a valuable potential addition to that library.