1911 · Racing

Manifesto

This horse racing game by John Jaques of London was a follow-up to its successful 1910 offering Minoru (named after the horse that made King Edward VII the first reigning monarch to win an Epsom Derby in 1909). Manifesto is the name of another famous horse that raced in the Aintree Grand National a record eight times between 1895 and 1904, finishing third three times and winning twice, the second time carrying a record weight of 12 stone 13 pounds. (Wikipedia, Grand National Guide) While Minoru focused on betting the odds on horses that had different lengths to run and equal chances of advancing, Manifesto says on its box that "players win on their judgement". There are eight horses, each running a straight 20-space track. Each turn, players must choose one of three cards for each horse: Careful, Risky, and Reckless. By playing Careful, a horse will move safely between 1 and 3 spaces on 2D6. Playing Risky means moves of 2-4 spaces, but failing to move at all on rolls of 5, 7 and 9. And Reckless offers the chance of moves from 3-5 spaces, but failure to move on 4, 6 and 8, and a fall (elimination from race) on a 10. The odds are set in a way that the average outcome of each card is identical, so "judgment" really comes down to "How lucky do you feel?" Described on the cover as being designed by the (unnamed) "inventor of Minoru, the box has cover art by British equestrian painter George Dervill Rowlandson.

groupPlayers

2–8 best 8

schedulePlaying time

20–30 min