Mille Bornes

Mille Bornes is a French designer card game created in 1954 by Edmond Dujardin, whose title translates as A Thousand Milestones and reflects its theme of a long distance road race across France. Players race to be the first to cover an imaginary one thousand kilometer journey by playing distance cards while using hazard cards such as accidents, flat tires, running out of fuel and speed limits to slow their opponents, and remedy or safety cards to protect themselves or recover from those setbacks. The game is typically played with four players divided into two teams of partners, though the rules can be adapted for two, three or six players. Parker Brothers acquired the American license in 1962 and began publishing its own version, and the game became very popular in the United States, at one point reportedly outselling Monopoly, before later passing to other publishers including Winning Moves, which manufactures the current edition. Its blend of simple card play with a light racing theme and direct player interaction through hazard cards has kept it a familiar family card game across multiple generations since its introduction in mid twentieth century France.