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Mille Bornes Card Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Mille Bornes Card Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Mille Bornes has had a number of versions released over the years. With each version some of the rules have changed. For this post I am using the 2016 version of the game. I will try to point out where the rules differ in older versions of the game in the corresponding sections.

Mille Bornes How to Play Quick Links:  |  Objective  |  Setup  |  Individual Player Card Placement  |  Playing the Game | Distance Cards | Hazard Cards | Remedy Cards | Safety Cards | Coup Fourre | End of Game | Variant Games | FAQ | Components

Objective for Mille Bornes

The objective of Mille Bornes is to be the first player to travel 1,000 miles or more and score the most points.

Setup for Mille Bornes

  • Each player takes a Quick Reference card and places it in front of themselves. Return any unused Quick Reference cards to the box.
  • Shuffle the game cards and deal six cards to each player. Players can look at their own cards, but shouldn’t show them to the other players.
  • Place the rest of the cards face down in the middle of the table to form a draw pile.
  • The youngest player starts the game. Play proceeds in a clockwise direction throughout the game.

Individual Player Card Placement

To make the game easier to follow while playing, the game recommends you create a number of different piles for the cards you play during the game.

On the far left side you should create a Speed Limit pile. Your opponents will play Speed Limit cards to the pile. To remedy Speed Limit cards, you will play End of Speed Limit cards to this pile. Whichever card is on top of the pile is the one currently active. If a Speed Limit card is on top, you can only play Distance cards equal to or lower than the Speed Limit (50). If a End of Speed Limit card is on top of the pile, there is no restriction on what Distance cards that you can play.

Next to the Speed Limit pile is your Drive pile. In your Drive pile you will play Drive cards. At the beginning of the game before you can play any Distance cards, you must play a Drive or an Emergency Vehicle card. Your opponents will play Hazard cards to the Drive pile. In order to play Distance cards, the top card on your Drive pile cannot be a Hazard card (unless you have played the corresponding Safety card). You will play Remedy cards to this pile to fix any Hazard cards played against you.

Next to the Drive pile you should create piles for the different values of Distance cards that you have played. Separating the Distance cards into different piles makes it easier to count the number of miles that you have played.

You should play Safety cards in a section along the top of your play area. You should spread these cards out so they are all visible at the same time. Should you play a Safety card in a Coup Fourre (see below), you will play it horizontally so you remember how you played it during final scoring.

Play Piles in Mille Bornes
Here is a sample layout for a player playing Mille Bornes. On the far left side is the Speed Limit pile where players will play Speed Limit and End of Speed Limit cards. Next to that is the Drive pile where you will play Drive cards as well as any Hazard and Remedy cards. You will then create a different pile for each type of Distance card. Finally above the rest of your cards you will play your Safety cards. Safety cards played normally are set down vertically. Safety cards played for Coup Fourre are turned horizontally.

Playing Mille Bornes

You will begin each of your turns drawing a card. You can either draw the top card from the draw pile, or the top card from the discard pile.

Draw A Card in Mille Bornes
The current player will draw a card to start their turn. They can either take the top card from the Draw Pile or the top card from the Discard Pile (25).

Note: In older versions of Mille Bornes, you could only draw cards from the draw pile. You could not take cards from the discard pile.

Should the draw pile ever run out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile. Note: In some older versions of Mille Bornes, the round ends when the Draw Pile runs out of cards.

After drawing a card, you will look at the cards in your hand. You will choose one of the cards to play. Depending on what card you choose to play, you will either play a card to your own area, or another player’s area. For more details on how to play each type of card, check out the corresponding section in The Cards of Mille Bornes section.

Playing A Card in Mille Bornes
For their first turn this player played a Drive card.

If you cannot play a card on your turn, you will discard one of the cards from your hand. You will place your chosen card face up on top of the discard pile.

Your turn then ends. Play passes to the player on your left.

The Cards of Mille Bornes

Mille Bornes consists of a number of different types of cards. Each type of card has a different impact on the gameplay.

Distance Cards in Mille Bornes

Distance Cards

Before you can play any Distance cards in front of yourself, you need to play a Drive card to your Drive pile or the Emergency Vehicle card to the Safety card area.

Start Playing Distance Cards
Before a player can play any Distance cards, they either need to play a Drive or Emergency Vehicle card.

After you have played one of these cards, you can play any Distance card from your hand to your own Distance piles. Should a Hazard/red card be on top of your Drive pile, you will not be able to play a Distance card until you fix the Hazard card with the corresponding Remedy or Safety card.

Stopped by Hazard card in Mille Bornes
An Out of Gas card was played to this player’s Drive pile. Until they play a Gas or Fuel Truck card, this player cannot play any Distance cards.

The number on each Distance card indicates how many miles you will move. The objective of the game is to move 1,000 or more miles.

Playing A Distance card
This player has played a 200 Distance card. It will count for 200 of the 1,000 miles that the player has to play in the game.

Each player may only play two 200 mile cards to their distance piles during the game. Otherwise there is no limit on the number of Distance cards of a specific number that you can play.

Hazard Cards in Mille Bornes

Red Hazard Cards

You will play red Hazard cards against other players. A Hazard card should be played on another player in order to either slow them down or stop them from playing Distance cards. 

You may not play a Hazard card on another player if they previously played the corresponding Safety card. Only one Hazard card can impact each player at a time. If a player already is impacted by a Hazard card, you cannot play another one on them. The one exception to this is that they can be impacted by a Speed Limit and another non-Speed Limit Hazard at the same time.

Note: In some older versions of Mille Bornes you can play a Hazard card on top of another Hazard card. This rule seems to be dependent on what version of the game you are playing. It seems to have changed back and forth a couple times.

Accident card

Accident

You will play Accident cards to other players’ Drive piles. The Accident card prevents the player you play it against from playing new Distance cards until they remedy it.

Flat Tire Card

Flat Tire

You will play Flat Tire cards to other players’ Drive piles. The player you play the card against cannot play new Distance cards until they remedy the card.

Out of Gas card

Out of Gas

You will play Out of Gas cards to other players’ Drive piles. The Out of Gas card prevents the player you play it against from playing new Distance cards until they remedy the card.

Speed Limit card

Speed Limit

A Speed Limit cards prevents the player that it is played against from playing certain Distance cards. You will play the card to another player’s Speed Limit pile. A player impacted by a Speed Limit card can only play Distance cards of 50 and lower.

Speed Limit restrictions in Mille Bornes
A Speed Limit card has been played against this player. They may only play 25 and 50 cards until they play an End of Speed Limit card.
Stop card

Stop

You will play a Stop card on top of another player’s Drive pile. When you play a Stop card, you prevent that player from playing new Distance cards.

Remedy Cards in Mille Bornes

Green Remedy Cards

Green Remedy cards are used to offset red Hazard cards played against you. When another player plays a Hazard card against you, you are unable to play Distance cards until you play the corresponding Remedy or Safety card. After you play the corresponding Remedy card, you can start playing Distance cards immediately. You do not have to play a Drive card.

Note: In older versions of Mille Bornes after playing the corresponding Remedy card, you also need to play a Roll/Drive card.

Drive Card

Drive (aka Roll)

In order versions of Mille Bornes the Drive cards were instead called Roll card.

Drive cards allow you to play new Distance cards to the piles in front of you. You will play Drive cards to your Drive pile. To start the game you need to play a Drive card before you can play any Distance cards.

When another player plays a Stop card to your Drive pile, you must play a Drive card in order to play Distance cards again.

Remedying a Stop card in Mille Bornes
Another player played a Stop card on this player. They played a Drive card to remedy the Stop.
End of Speed Limit card

End of Speed Limit

You will play an End of Speed Limit card in order to stop a Speed Limit card played against you. You will play the card to your Speed Limit pile. After you play the End of Speed Limit card, you can play Distance cards of any amount.

Remedying a Speed Limit card in Mille Bornes
Another player played a Speed Limit card against this player. They played a End of Speed Limit card to remedy its effect.
Gas card

Gas (aka Gasoline)

Gas cards are played to your Drive pile. When another player plays an Out of Gas card to your Drive pile, you need to play a Gas card to remedy it. Once you play a Gas card, you can start playing Distance cards again.

Remedy an Out of Gas Hazard
Another player played an Out of Gas card on this player. They can remedy the card by playing a Gas card.
Repairs card

Repairs

Repairs cards are played to your Drive pile. When a player plays a Accident card to your Drive pile, you can play the Repairs card to remedy it. You may then start to play Distance cards again.

Remedying an Accident card in Mille Bornes
To remedy the Accident card played against them, this player played a Repairs card.
Spare Tire card

Spare Tire

You will play Spare Tire cards to your Drive pile. Should another player play a Flat Tire card to your Drive pile, you can play a Spare Tire card to remedy it. Once you play the Spare Tire card, you can once against play Distance cards.

Remedying a Flat Tire in Mille Bornes
Another player played a Flat Tire card against this player. To remedy the Flat Tire this player played a Spare Tire card.
Safety Cards for Mille Bornes

Blue Safety Cards

Each blue Safety card protects you from one specific Hazard card for the rest of the game. Once you play the Safety card, it will override the corresponding Hazard card (if it is currently affecting you) and players can no longer play that Hazard card against you for the rest of the game.

When you play a Safety card, you get a free turn to draw and play another card.

Driving Ace Card

Driving Ace

The Driving Ace card is the Safety card for Accident cards. Should an Accident card be played on your Drive pile, you can play the Driving Ace card to remedy it.

After a Driving Ace card is played, no one can play another Accident card against you.

Remedying an Accident with a Driving Ace card
The Driving Ace card remedies any Accident card played against a player. It also prevents any future Accident cards from being played against the player.
Emergency Vehicle card

Emergency Vehicle (aka Right of Way)

The Emergency Vehicle Safety card is used to remedy Stop and Speed Limit cards. An Emergency Vehicle Safety card can be played to remedy a Stop or Speed Limit card played against you. You can also use the Emergency Vehicle card at the start of the game to allow you to play Distance cards without the need for a Drive card.

Once you have played the Emergency Vehicle Safety card, players can no longer play Stop or Speed Limit cards against you.

Using an Emergency Vehicle card
When you play an Emergency Vehicle card it remedies any Speed Limit or Stop cards played against you. It also prevents players from playing new Speed Limit or Stop cards against you.
Fuel Truck card

Fuel Truck (aka Extra Tank)

The Fuel Truck card remedies Out of Gas cards. You can play a Fuel Truck card to remedy an Out of Gas card played against you.

Once you have played the Fuel Truck card, players may no longer play Out of Gas cards against you.

Playing a Fuel Truck card in Mille Bornes
When you play a Fuel Truck card it will remedy any Out of Gas cards played against you. Players are also unable to play any Out of Gas cards against you for the rest of the game/round.
Puncture Proof card

Puncture Proof

The Puncture Proof card remedies Flat Tire cards. If another player plays a Flat Tire against you, you can play a Puncture Proof card to remedy it.

Once you play a Puncture Proof card, players may no longer play Flat Tire cards against you.

Playing a Puncture Proof Card in Mille Bornes
When you play a Puncture Proof card you will remedy any Flat Tire cards played against you. It also prevents players from playing another Flat Tire card against you.

Coup Fourre

Should a player play a Hazard card to your Drive pile and you have the corresponding Safety card in your hand, you may play the corresponding Safety card immediately. This is called a Coup Fourre. You can use this action even if it is not your turn.

You will draw a new card immediately to replace the Safety card you played. Then take the next turn. If it wasn’t normally going to be your turn, all of the players between the player who played the Hazard card and you are skipped. After you take your turn, play passes to the player on your left.

When you take this action you will play the Safety card horizontally in front of you to show how you played it. Playing a Safety card in this way scores you more points at the end of the game.

Playing a Safety card for Coup Fourre in Mille Bornes
Another player played an Out of Gas card against this player. The player had the Fuel Truck Safety card in their hand though. They will play it immediately for a Coup Fourre. This negates the Out of Gas card played against them. No player may play an Out of Gas card against this player for the rest of the round/game. The Fuel Truck card is played horizontal to show that it was played for a Coup Fourre.

End of Mille Bornes

Mille Bornes ends once one of the players play Distance cards totaling 1,000 or more miles.

Note: In some older versions of Mille Bornes you can’t play a Distance card if it would put your total above 1,000 miles. The game can also end once all of the cards have been played.

All of the players than count up how many points they scored in the game. You will score points as follows:

  • Distance cards: 1 point per mile traveled
  • Safety cards (not played for Coup Fourre): 100 points
  • Coup Fourre : 200 points

The player/team that scores the most points wins the game.

Scoring in Mille Bornes
It is the end of the game. This player will score points as follows. They will score 1,000 points for their Distance cards since they traveled 1,000 miles. They will score 100 points for the Emergency Vehicle Safety card. Finally they will score 200 points for the Fuel Truck card since it was played for a Coup Fourre. This player will score a total of 1,300 points.

Scoring in Older Versions of Mille Bornes

The scoring in older versions of Mille Bornes is quite a bit different. You normally would play a number of hands until one player/team scored 5,000 or more points. Below is how you score points in those versions of the game:

  • Distance cards: 1 point per mile traveled
  • Safety cards: 100 points
  • Coup Fourre: 300 additional points in addition to the 100 points for a Safety card
  • One player/team plays all four Safety cards: 300 additional points
  • Player/team that completes 1,000 mile trip: 400 bonus points
  • Completing your trip after all cards have been drawn: 300 bonus points
  • Don’t play any 200 mile cards and complete the 1,000 mile trip: 300 bonus points
  • Preventing another player/team from playing any distance cards: 500 bonus points

In the older versions of Mille Bornes, the first player/team to score 5,000 or more points wins the game.

Variant Games

Fast Play

If you would like to play a quicker game, you can choose to use the fast play rules.

The fast play rules allow you to immediately remedy a Hazard card played against you. If an opponent plays a Hazard card to your Drive pile, you can immediately play the corresponding Remedy card to your Drive pile. You will immediately draw a new card to replace the card that you played. Using this action does not count as a Coup Fourre

Play will then return to normal continuing with the player to the left of the one that played the Hazard card.

Additionally on any turn you can choose to discard as many cards as you want from your hand. You will then draw the corresponding number of cards from the draw pile (until you have six cards in your hand). If you choose this action, you will skip the rest of your turn.

Team Play

If there are four to six players, you can choose to use the team play rules. All of the players will play with another player.

Each player has their own hand. Teammates will play to the same area though. The players on each team will alternate taking turns.

Mille Bornes FAQ

Before I get into the FAQ I want to mention that the rules for Mille Bornes have changed over the years. Some of these answers will not apply to all versions of the game or may differ based on your version of the game.

Can you take a Remedy card from the Discard Pile in anticipation of a player playing a Hazard card against you?

This is going to completely depend on what version of the game you play. In some versions of Mille Bornes you can take cards from the Discard Pile and others do not allow you to. It seems like it is mostly the newer versions of Mille Bornes that allow you to take cards from the Discard Pile.

In versions of the game that allow you to take cards from the Discard Pile, I see no reason why you couldn’t take a Remedy card before you were planning of using it.

Can you play a Hazard card on top of another Hazard card, or can you only play them on top of Drive/Roll cards?

This depends entirely on the version of the game that you are playing. This rule seems to have actually changed back and forth a couple of times. Some versions of the game allow you to play a Hazard card on top of another Hazard card. Others only allow you to play Hazard cards on top of Drive/Roll cards. How you play it depends on what version of the game you are playing and how you want to play the game.

Do you have to play a Roll/Drive card after remedying a Hazard card?

This rule has changed over time so it depends on the version of the game you are playing.

Most older versions of the game force you to play a Roll/Drive card after you remedy a Hazard card.

Some of the newer versions of the game do not require you to play the Roll/Drive card though. After you play the Remedy card you can immediately start playing Distance cards again.

I played a Remedy card on top of a Hazard card but have yet to play the Roll/Drive card. If I draw the corresponding Safety card, can I play it for a Coup Fourre?

The only time you may play a Safety card for a Coup Fourre is immediately when the Hazard card is first played against you. You can play the Safety card even if it is not your turn when you are playing it for a Coup Fourre. After you play the card, you immediately get to take another turn.

What happens when all of the cards have been taken from the Draw Pile?

Like a lot of the other questions, this depends on what version of the game you are playing.

Most older versions of the game end when the Draw Pile runs out of cards. You will continue playing cards until no one can still play cards. The round then ends.

In newer versions of Mille Bornes you will shuffle the Discard Pile to form a new Draw Pile.

Can you play Hazard/Speed Limit cards on other players when you can’t play a Distance card yourself?

This rule might have changed between different versions of the game.

It seems like most versions of Mille Bornes allow you to play Speed Limit cards against other players even when you can’t play Distance cards yourself. This includes when you haven’t played a Drive/Roll card to start the round, or a Hazard card is impacting you.

As for Hazard cards, several versions of the game mention that you can’t play a Hazard card before you play your first Roll/Drive card. It doesn’t seem like the rules specifically mention if you can play a Hazard card against another player if you are currently being affected by a Hazard card. Therefore I think the players should decide whether this should be allowed or not.

Other Questions?

If you have any questions about how to play Mille Bornes, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components for Mille Bornes

Mille Bornes Components

  • 112 cards
    • Distance Cards
      • 10 – 25 Miles
      • 10 – 50 Miles
      • 10 – 75 Miles
      • 12 – 100 Miles
      • 4 – 200 Miles
    • Hazard Cards
      • 3 Accident
      • 3 Flat Tire
      • 3 Out of Gas
      • 4 Speed Limit
      • 5 Stop
    • Remedy Cards
      • 6 End of Limit
      • 6 Gas/Gasoline
      • 6 Repair
      • 14 Roll
      • 6 Spare Tire
    • Safety Cards
      • 1 Driving Ace
      • 1 Emergency Vehicle/Right of Way
      • 1 Fuel Truck/Extra Tank
      • 1 Puncture-Proof
    • 4-6 Reference Cards (Depends on Version)
  • Card Tray
  • Instructions

For my thoughts on the game, check out my Mille Bornes Review.


Year: 1954 | Publisher: Asmodee, Dujardin, Fundex, Hasbro, Parker Brothers, Winning Moves | Designer: Edmond Dujardin | Artist: Hergé, Pierre Praquin

Genres: Card, Family

Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

Where to Purchase: Amazon, eBay Any purchases made through these links (including other products) help keep Geeky Hobbies running. Thank you for your support.


For more board and card game how to plays/rules and reviews, check out our complete alphabetical list

Alex

Sunday 31st of December 2023

One rule that wasn't mentioned was the extension option. At the beginning of the game they determine whether they want to start a race for a 1,000 miles or 700 miles. If they do the 700 miles whoever gets to 700 first has the option to call "extension" and go for the full 1000 miles and if the player who called "extension" is able to complete the race they get bonus points (if memory serves me correctly 300 or 400 points). There was also another rule for when you were able to finish the hand and win the game after the cards ran out. I don't remember what that play was called. I previously owned 4 different versions. My 1st was the Parker Brothers version back in '78 (I was 9). I currently own the blue tin version and the vintage 1962 classic edition (purple box).

Eric Mortensen

Tuesday 2nd of January 2024

Mille Bornes is one of those games that can change quite a bit depending on which version you own. Usually you can use the variant rules from any version of the game even if the rules don't specifically mention them.

Of the versions of Mille Bornes that I have seen, I can't recall any of them having the extension variant that you mentioned so it must be a less common variant rule for the game. It sounds like an interesting addition though.

The second rule was in one of the versions of the game I have owned. In my version of the game it didn't list a name for what it was called. The player that completes their hand after all of the cards have been drawn scores 300 bonus points.

Mille Bornes Card Game Review - Geeky Hobbies

Wednesday 7th of June 2023

[…] the complete rules and instructions, check out our How to Play Mille Bornes […]

Lori

Sunday 28th of November 2021

What happens if a player has a speed limit on them but forgets and plays 75, 100, and 200 mile cards and the opponent doesn't notice?

Eric Mortensen

Tuesday 30th of November 2021

I briefly skimmed the official rules to see if this situation is addressed. I didn't see anything and I am guessing it is not addressed as it is a situation where the rules were broken. Technically the player that played those cards cheated whether they did so on purpose or by accident. As I doubt there is a specific remedy in the official rules, you group will have to decide for yourself how you want to deal with it. You could choose to let it go as the other players didn't catch it as the other players should be always double checking to make sure all of the rules are being followed. If you catch it before the hand is over you could decide to force them to discard all of the cards that they played illegally. Otherwise you could decide to just throw out the entire hand/round and not count it as this error could have impacted the outcome of the round. I personally would have the group come to an agreement about what should be done as this feels like the type of situation where the group should decide how it is resolved.

Sherry

Saturday 26th of December 2020

I have only played the older version which I have saved from the 60's -70's. I had no idea the rules were changed. If someone does not reach the 700/1000 miles before you reach bottom of the initial draw pile we used to shuffle those and continue till someone would reach the 700/1000. Is that incorrect? Also, eventually all the hazard, remedy, roll cards eventually wind up being played and sitting in front of each player and none are in the draw pile anymore. This didn't make sense to us when recently playing - Do I remember taking all what's under everyone's "battle" pile, except for the top one, and adding them with the discards and shuffling, putting them back into the draw pile and continuing play until someone wins that round? I'm assuming we must have been playing wrong. Always one of my fav games!

Eric Mortensen

Saturday 26th of December 2020

Hello.

Based on what I wrote in the how to play section, the 1971 version of Mille Bornes appears to end when all of the cards are played. The 1962 and 1982 version also end when all of the cards from the draw pile have been drawn and played. I don't have the newer versions of the game easily available so I don't know if this rule was changed with some of the newer versions of the game.

As for how you played the game I don't think you followed the "official rules". If you enjoyed playing the game that way though I see no reason why you couldn't just use house rules to keep playing until one of the players reached the target miles.

JP From Baltimore

Wednesday 22nd of April 2020

Hi Eric, How awesome to find this thread on Mille Bornes. We started playing this game again do to the current LOCK DOWN of american citizens. As a kid I think I played the '62 version as a hand me down in the 70's. Purchased the Collector's Edition from a brick and mortar store like 20 yrs. ago.

I had some questions to rules, but found as you did, that you can make your own rulez to the game. We have been playing to the end of the deck with no mileage limits per hand. We keep a running total. The question we came up with was; Can you throw down a hazard card directly on a remedy card, or do you wait until another Roulez card is put in play before you can put down a hazard again?

We decided that you have to wait for a roulez card to be down first. Our reasoning is it is a car card game. If you are not moving how can you get another hazard down the road. If you ain't moving. We have been interpreting rules as if you are actually driving a car down a French country side.

Thx for letting me in on this discussion. Cheers!!

Eric Mortensen

Thursday 23rd of April 2020

As I have mentioned in other comments the answer to your question depends on the version that you are playing. As Mille Bornes has been printed many different times the rules have changed between versions.

Some versions of the game only allow you to play a hazard card on top of a roll card. Other versions of the game allow you to also play them on top of other hazard cards.

There is another rule in a couple versions of the rules that somewhat addresses your question. Apparently if a player has played the Right of Way card you are allowed to play a hazard card on top of a remedy card for that player.

As the rules have changed so many times for the game over the years I believe you should address the issue however you prefer. Outside of the above rule I couldn't find a rule in the instructions that I looked at that allows you to directly play a hazard card on top of a remedy card except in the case of the Right of Way card.