Formula De is one of those rare board games that attempts to take on the sporting world. In this case the designers have gone for a realistic simulation of the real thing and the result is remarkably good.
The base game comes with 2 tracks, Monaco and Zandvoort (Holland). It should be highlighted that the tracks are absolutely huge and will take up most of the average sized dinner table. The track looks great and the artwork around the edge and in the middle of the track offers a comical summation of the country the track is located in. All in all the game is a visual treat to look at and just makes you want to play the game.
The game itself is not very difficult to learn and I have only given it a Moderate rating due to the time it takes to play. Each player takes a car, a car chart and a race sheet. The car chart shows the 6 gears of each car and icons for tyres, brakes, fuel, body, engine and suspension. In the advanced game each player can choose to create their own car set-up using a limited number of points. This is a great inclusion but beginners can use a basic set-up as they learn the game. The set-up is completed by placing a gear stick marker on gear 1.
The main mechanic of Formula De is the gear system, which is cleverly thought through. Each gear uses a different sized dice. Gear 1 uses a D4 with a number range of 1-2. Gear 4 is a D12 with numbers ranging from 7-12. Whilst gear 6 is a D30 with numbers ranging from 21-30. This is a clever mechanic as it not only simulates the top speed of the car in each gear, it also simulates the difficulty in slowing down when in certain gears. This then makes for the 2nd major consideration. Each corner in the game will have a designated stop zone bordered in red. To simulate the fact that F1 cars in real life must drop down to a certain speed to take corners safely, each player must make their car end its turn at some point in each corner. To simulate each track accurately, corners are designated as 1 stop, 2 stop or 3 stop turns. For every space that a car overshoots a corner they will take damage and this can be split between different parts of the car, for example brakes and tyres. By incorporating the corner stop system the designers can make each track vastly different and make them fairly accurate to the real thing, something that will appeal to the F1 nuts out there.
The final consideration for the driver of a Formula De car is that only 1 gear can be shifted up or down safely per turn. If a greater gear change is desired in the one turn it will cause damage. Races can be of any length decided on by the players and this makes the game's length highly flexible. Yet another plus!

Despite my dislike of F1 in real life I have to say that Formula De is a great game. There are many more elements to the game that I don't have room to discuss like weather conditions and time trials to determine pole position. In all it feels like the designers just haven't missed a trick with this game. Allowing up to 10 players, it makes for a great beer and pretzels game with a party of friends. To make this a truly 5 star game, you can also buy all of the real life F1 tracks. That should really keep the F1 enthusiasts happy. 3, 2, 1 Go, Go, GO!