Hare and Tortoise

Hare and Tortoise is a Eurogame designed by David Parlett in 1974 and first published by Intellect Games. In 1978 it was released by Ravensburger in Germany, and received generally positive reviews critically and won the 1979 Spiel des Jahres. It has since sold some 2 million units in at least ten languages. The current editions are published by Gibsons Games in the UK, Ravensburger in Germany and Rio Grande Games in the United States. The game is based on Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare", in which the hare and tortoise decide to race. The tortoise wins the race by cunning while the hare fails because he overestimates himself and takes a nap during the race. The moral of the story is "slow and steady wins the race" which is incorporated in the game mechanic. Hare and Tortoise is a strategic race game in which players pay carrots (the currency in the game) to move forward. The more squares the player wants to advance, the more carrots the player must pay. The cost to advance increases as triangle numbers: Players can earn carrots in various ways – most notably by moving backwards to designated squares (10 carrots per square).