OUR STORY
"When I was a kid I was fascinated with racing games and creating a board game around the 24 hours of LeMans (one of my favorite races). But it can be very time consuming, and frankly boring, recreating a famous race. This game came about by simplifying the essence of racing down to its core. Cars battling for position." - Mark Haskins, LACORSA Designer
LACORSA was created as a passion project from designer Mark Haskins. He has designed everything in the box out of a love for cars, racing and competition. Mark holds a degree in Transportation Design from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and LACORSA has been a creative outlet for the last 10 years.
LACORSA was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2016.
DESIGN
Here is the design background for LACORSA from the designer Mark Haskins:
What was the inspiration for the art in the LACORSA game?
I love old racing posters. Especially Max Huber’s work on the Italian Grand Prix posters in the 40’s, 50's and 60’s. There is a certain timelessness to them. I’ve intentionally mixed certain eras of racing history. The cars are really from a latter period but I wanted graphic art, not photographs. When it comes to print, Swiss graphic design just looks so cool. It was fun to brush up on grid systems when it came to designing the Sporting Regulations booklet. The type is period correct with the usage of Univers. Univers was designed by Adrian Frutiger on Swiss principles.
Where did the LACORSA name and logo originate?
LACORSA is a merging of “la corsa” which means The Race in Italian. Italians have a passion for auto racing and design that LACORSA shares. The type is Press Gothic which is a lesser known Italian modern font from the period. Originally it was called Metropol and designed by Aldo Novarese. It resembles some of the Agip advertising at the Italian GP from the same era.
The arrow logo is a somewhat ubiquitous logo in racing and doubles as a futurist symbol. Always looking forward. Always GOING forward. It also symbolizes the linear nature of the game and so becomes a representation of the game board.
How did the board come about?
I always felt that the strategy in LACORSA makes race cars feel like pawns on a chess board. So a wooden checkered board was an aesthetic I wanted to embrace. Then I had to figure out how to get it in a normal sized box. The elastic mechanism is a simple solution and works quite well.
What is great about the racing action?
You really do get an exhilarating feeling trying a particular strategy and adapting it during a race. As you get closer to the front there is so much uncertainty and you are constantly asking yourself “will this strategy work out? Can I hold position? Am I cutting it too close?”
The other aspect is the social interaction between the drivers. You are constantly going head to head with everyone and this creates a great dynamic. You are rarely out of the action and there is usually something left to fight for.
What was the inspiration for this game?
When I was a kid I was fascinated with racing and recreating the 24 hours of LeMans in a board game. And later, I loved racing video games. But, it can be very time consuming and frankly boring trying to do a recreation of a famous race. This game came about by simplifying the essence of racing to its core. Cars battling for position. All you are thinking about is: “How do I get my car to the front”.
What was the design reference for the cars?
I loved the classic forms of 60’s grand prix cars and I wanted to take these elements and exaggerate them as if someone from that time period imagined how they would look in the future. The proportions are actually from a 70’s Ferrari formula one car. This gives them a weight and width that communicates how difficult it is to pass another race car. The solidity of the design turns the cars into a racing chess piece.
The colors are right from the grand prix grid. Red for the Italian cars (Ferrari, Maserati and/or Alfa Romeo) and British Racing Green for the Lotus, Cooper and Brabham. Mercedes used to participate in Racing White before World War I but by the sixties Honda represented Japan in the white cars.
Linea Rossa Games LLC has been set up to create and publish the LACORSA Grand Prix Game.