In Ride – Play or Die, 1 to 5 players are asked to play Riders who are experts in extreme sports and in particular in Downhill, a cycling discipline in which you descend at full speed along impervious routes; they are involved in a deadly competition by the secret association Black Babylon. It is the idea behind the film Ride, which gave life to a real “Ride Universe” complete with comics (distributed with the Gazzetta dello Sport) and a book published by Mondadori. Each new media develops a story parallel to the film, as does the card game, which recreates the atmosphere of the film by putting the players in the “guide”, also revealing some mysteries left unsolved.
«The Ride movie lends itself perfectly to also being a game to be experienced firsthand», declared Fabio Guaglione, creator of the “Ride Universe”, «and I am happy that the world of Ride has also been able to expand to the public of boardgamers» .
Players must reach the end of the path by scoring as many points as possible and above all without dying, trying to avoid dangers and using their physical abilities as best as possible. They must also beware of the Dark Rider, a mysterious figure who hunts them down to kill them: is he a crazed rider or part of the macabre game?
The 4 Levels of the card game can be tackled individually or in Campaign mode and players will have to choose whether to clash with each other or create alliances to face the terrible Dark Rider together.
Ride – Play or Die is in “pocket” format (10x19cm) and offers a very high quality design (the art director is Mathias Mazzetti) which was also able to exploit the photos and creativity of film production. It is positioned in the “Card Game” category, but it is not just a card game as the package contains “stand ups” (tokens) portraying the Riders and the Dark Rider, a special die, character cards, score cards, and 4 unique decks of cards. One of these will form the Path, which is different in each game, another will allow players to choose which Action to perform, the Objects will offer bonuses to players and finally, in the Events, pitfalls that are really difficult to overcome can be hidden.
«We tried to expand the “Ride Universe” with a simple game but also capable of tickling the most expert players», explained Luca Maragno, author of the game. «We also included some “goodies” to better link the game to the film and to offer something new in the sector».
There is in fact a “hidden” game mode (it is written backwards on a page in the manual): it is suggested to unlock it only if you manage to finish all 4 levels in a row.
BOARD GAMES, A GROWING SECTOR
The board game market is experiencing a “golden age” with markets around the world experiencing double-digit growth and thousands of titles released every year. For the first time in Italy, a card game based on an Italian film has been produced: the publisher specializing in the board game market, Pendragon Game Studio, has taken care of it and is offering it at the same time as the home video release of the film.
Ride – Play or Die joins other brands from the world of cinema and series that Pendragon Game Studio already has in its catalog such as Breaking Bad and Expanse.
«The world of board games is experiencing an excellent moment and we are convinced that attractive brands help to bring even more audiences together», declared Silvio Negri-Clementi, CEO of Pendragon Game Studio. «We are proud to work together with partners of the caliber of Lucky Red (producer of the film) and Koch Media (home video distributor of the film) for a 100% Italian product».
Ride – Play or Die is the first card game based on an Italian movie and for the occasion DAM Things! has created launch teaser videos and ad hoc promotional photos and is using the Dark Rider stage costume for promotional activities at fairs throughout Italy.
Finally, a video tutorial has also been created to learn how to play in just a few minutes. «The instruction manual is often a stumbling block for players, who want to have fun without wasting time reading», concluded Silvio Negri-Clementi. «We are convinced that video tutorials are an essential tool for growing the entire sector».
Genre: adventure, race
Players: 1-4
Time: 30′
Age: 12+
Contents
1 Ride Dice
4 Rider cards
1 Dark Rider card
4 Rider pawns
1 Dark Rider pawn
1 scorecard
43 path cards
25 event cards
12 object cards
2 level cards
1 Black Babylon card
1 Doom token
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https://youtu.be/w2OXr-stw_c
