Mille Bornes

Arthur (AKA Edmond) Dujardin was a French publisher of driving school materials. After the war he tried his hand at several automotive-themed games, including The Highway (1947). Coup d’essai, Coup de maître, Carrefour, Hitchhiking, Stock Cars, and in 1954, 1000 Bornes.

1000 Bornes,¹ also known as 1000 Kilometers or Mille Bornes, among many other names, was described in the first edition as “la Canasta de la Route” (the Canasta of the Road). But the game is based not so much on Canasta as it is an earlier card game, Touring, with the addition of safety cards and the corresponding Coup fourré play. Initially Dujardin manufactured the game in the basement of his family’s home in Arcachon, but the demand was so great that he moved production to an old fish factory. In all, more than a million copies were sold in France in the 1950s.

The first edition featured a wonderful hand-lettered card designs.² Shown here is a selection from the original 106 card deck:

1000 Bornes, Dujardin, France, 1954

Around 1960, as Dujardin was preparing for international distribution, the cards were replaced with a new design by the graphic designer Joseph Le Callennac.³ It would be this design that become the standard for the game and, often using bilingual cards (such as the 1960 US cards shown below), the one that was licensed throughout Europe and North America. A card design classic:

In 1960 Dujardin released the “edition spécial” in France with an unusual and highly abstract design. Although I dont know the designer, it certainly nails the mid-century modern French design aesthetic:

1000 Bornes, Dujardin, France, 1960

The same year Dujardin began distributing or licensing the game, first in England, Italy, Germany and North America,⁴ and eventually pretty much everywhere. Each of these licensees updated the design every few years. The result was (or is) literally hundreds of different editions of the game. It has been estimated that over 10 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide and it has been chosen by Games Magazine for their Hall of Fame (one of only 25 so honored).

1000 Kilometer, Dujardin, Germany, 1962

Mille Bornes, Parker Brothers, US, 1962

Mille Bornes, Parker Brothers, US, 1971

In general, these periodic redesigns; presumably an attempt to “freshen” the game, are worse then their predecessors. Each iteration became progressively more derivative and generic and by the 1980s the cards displayed none of the originality or (and I’ll just go ahead and say it) charm, of Callennacs’ original design. For example here are the 1982 cards, which were produced for almost two decades:

Mille Bornes, Parker Brothers, US, 1982

The situation can be perhaps illustrated by the 2003 Winning Moves Collector’s edition that, as a specific marketing point, reverted to the “original”1962 design.

Mille Bornes, Winning Moves, US, 2003

Card and board games have suffered significantly over the last 50 years, both in terms of design (game design and graphic design) and quality.⁵ I won't detail all the reasons for this, other than to say that computer games are only part of the problem. So, if you want a copy of Mille Bornes (and you know you do) try Ebay, or perhaps even better, Ebay.fr.

1. 1000 kilometers was chosen based on the approximate length of the Nationale 7 (RN 7, Paris→ Nemours→ Lyon→ Avignon→ Italy). Oddly, however, each hand in the game is played to 700 kilometers. The French, go figure.

2. To Dujardin’s credit, the rules (and the basic deck) have remained unchanged. He resisted the temptation to add, e.g., special collectable holographic monster power cards. This guide card, from the 1962 Parker Brothers edition, is still valid:

3. Joseph Le Callennac (1905―1988) was, aside from his Mille Bornes designs, perhaps best known for his logos and design work for Béghin-Say (sugar, or in French, sucrose), Pie qui chante (candy) and Céma (margarine).

4. The game became so popular in the US that for a short period in the early 1960s it was Parker Brothers most popular title, even outselling the venerable Monopoly.

5. With the notable exception of Germany, where several publishers still develop and market wonderful games with high-quality components.

21 May 2009, updated 5 Jun 2011 ‧ Design