Lacorsa: Grand Prix Game

Gameplay

Lacorsa is a racing game inspired by the Grand Prix. Players race their cars up a gameboard by challenging other players, striving to be the leading driver. Strategically play your hand of cards to beat out other players for higher spots on the leaderboard and earn the most points by the end of the seven-round Championship to win!

The game comes with a racing gameboard, six racecars, a die, a deck of cards, 20 Maker Cards, and a Championship Scorepad. If you’re playing with two or three players, each player gets two cars, and if you’re playing with four to six players, each player gets one car. Next, you must build the correct deck size, using one suit of cards for each racecar in the game. After you have your deck, shuffle and deal an equal number of cards to each player.

There are six different types of cards:

• Extend (1) – you can move one space forward; is worth one point in a challenge
• Extend (2) – you can move one space forward; is worth two points in a challenge
• Drafting Extend (3) – you can move one space forward; is worth three points in a challenge. The leading car cannot play this card to extend
• Standard (4-11) – worth face value in a challenge
• Champion (12) – worth 12 points in a challenge (this is the highest card that can be played!)
• Redline card (R) – worthless on its own (zero points in a challenge), but can be played with any other card to add two points

To begin the game, players sort through their cards and decide which card(s) they want to use to compete for a spot on the board. The player with the highest card gets to be in front, and the player with the lowest card at the back. Cards are worth face value, but a Redline card can be played with another card to increase your point value by two points. If there’s a tie for highest card(s), roll the die to decide who wins.

After discarding the cards played during the qualifying round, challenges can begin. The race starts with the last place car challenging the car directly in front of them. A challenge is simple: each player plays a card (or two with a Redline card) and the highest card(s) win. If the car behind wins, the cars switch positions. If the car in front wins or there is a tie, the positions remain the same. If you lose the challenge you initiated, your turn is over, however, if you win the challenge, you may challenge the next car in front of you as well, but you may only pass up to two racecars per turn.

If you win a challenge and there is an open space directly in front of your racecar, you can play an Extend card and move up one space. You can only extend one space regardless of if you play a 1, 2, or 3 Extend card. Also, the leading car cannot use the Drafting Extend card to extend, but can use the 1 or 2 Extend card. If you can’t extend, you must discard to end your turn.

Play continues, with the racecar in last beginning again after the leading car’s turn. The race ends when a player runs out of cards but play continues with the next car ahead and the final lap is completed.

After the last lap is completed, add up your points, which is based on finishing position:

• 1^st place = 9 points
• 2^nd place = 6 points
• 3^rd place = 4 points
• 4^th place = 3 points
• 5^th place = 2 points
• 6^th place = 1 point

Whoever has the most points at the end of the seven-round Championship wins!

History

Lacorsa was created by Mark Haskins. He writes that his inspiration for the game came from his love for racing and racing video games as a child. A few years after graduating from the ArtCenter College of Design with a degree in Transportation Design in 1991, he joined Vans, eventually becoming Vice President of Global Product Design in Footwear and Apparel. All the while, he was designing Lacorsa, which came out in 2018 after being funded on Kickstarter in 2016.

“This game came about by simplifying the essence of racing down to its core. Cars battling for position,” Mark writes.

Variations

To add on to your Lacorsa game, you can purchase expansion bundles. There are different expansion bundles available for purchase that are based off of different seasons of the Grand Prix (e.g. the 1968 racecar set in Papaya Orange or the 1966 racecar set in Yamura Green).