Losing Mille Bornes instructions can be harrowing if you've forgotten how to play the game. Luckily, you can find the instructions for this French card racing game below. It might be a good idea to print out or bookmark this page for future reference.
Mille Bornes Contents
There are 112 cards involved in the game. If you have an older set, you may even have a card tray. The type and number of cards are as follows:
- The distance cards include the mileages of 25, 50, 75, 100 and 200 miles. These distance cards are how you gauge if you've won the hand or game. Your goal is to reach 1,000 miles per hand and be the first person or team to score 5,000 points.
- Eighteen hazards cards are in the deck: three accident, three flat tire, three out of gas, four speed limits and five stops. These are meant to slow down your opponents.
- With the hazards, there are also remedies to the hazards. Make sure you have six spare tires, six repairs, six end of limit, six gasolines and 14 rolls in the deck for a total of 38 remedy cards.
- Safety cards are those which prevent a hazard from ever happening in a hand of the game. There are four of them: one extra tank, one driving ace, one puncture-proof and one right of way.
There are a few cards that are included in the game, but are not used. Two score cards in English, one score card in French, two card guides in English and one card guide in French are meant to aide scoring and understanding of the cards as you play.
Piles
You have four piles to play upon. You have a Speed Pile which holds your limits and End of Limit cards; a Distance pile, which has your distance cards and are arranged by number; your battle cards, which are hazards and anti-hazards, and you have a safety card area.
Basic Mille Bornes Instructions
The game is for two to six players. If you are playing four or six players, then there are two or three teams of two respectively. Two, three or five players has each participant on his or her own.
The initial step in the Milles Borne instructions is to first select a partner (if playing in teams) and then a dealer. Remove the cards not used in the game. The dealer gives each player six cards all face down. The rest of the cards go into a draw pile. Once all the cards are dealt, everyone can look at his or her cards. The player on the dealer's left goes first. Remember that you hold six cards in your hands at all times.
On your turn, you pick a card from the draw pile and place one card on the table. As the first player, you have four options to lay down a card.
- Roll cards start your battle pile. Your turn is finished, and the next player goes.
- You can play a safety card and take another turn.
- Speed limit cards can be placed on your first turn even though your opponent hasn't started a pile yet. When your opponent gets a Roll Card, he or she must stay at the limit until that person gets an End of Limit card.
- Unfortunately, if you can't play anything, then you simply discard something, and your turn ends.
As the second player, you have the same four options above, plus the following:
- Laying a hazard card on the first player if he or she laid down a Roll Card.
- Placing an End of Limit card if a Speed Limit card was played.
If you are playing partners, then you play cards on the table with your partner; you don't have any piles of your own at any time. If you are playing every man for himself or herself, then everyone should have a set of piles in front of him or her.
One special maneuver is called Coup Fourre. When a hazard card is played on your battle pile, you have the option of countering the attack with the corresponding safety card immediately. This not only gives you another turn, but also 300 points, instead of 100.
Points
Each team is allowed to score points. Miles are scored one point per mile.
You also get 100 points per each Safety card played. If all four safety cards are played by the same person or team, then there is a bonus of 300 points. For each Coup Fourre nets you an additional 300 points. The team who reaches 1,000 miles first gets a bonus of 400 points. If a team or person completes the 1,000 miles after all the draw cards are gone, 300 extra points are given. If you played a hand without using a 200 mile card, then you receive 300 points. There is also a shut out bonus of 500 points if you complete a hand before anyone plays any distance cards.
Mille Bornes instructions are hard to remember sometimes, especially with the unique pile configuration, but once you learn the rules and play them often, then Mille Bornes is a fun game for families and get-togethers with friends.
