A Turn-Based Cycling Manager
The Cyclist: Tactics is a sports management game where the racing itself is the main event. You create your own rider and guide a team through multi-day tours, gruelling classics, and time trials. The gameplay is turn-based, presented as a board game representation of professional cycling. Races take place on procedurally generated stages, so the landscape and terrain vary each time you play. You will deal with punishing mountain climbs, cobblestone streets, and hot deserts.
Managing Your Team
Your decisions during a race matter as much as your competitors. You need to use positioning within the field and slipstreaming to keep your riders in place to attack. Managing your riders' resources is key; you must balance keeping up with the pack against making a big push for the win without exhausting them for the next stage. Outside of the race, you handle team management by hiring and firing riders, scouting new talent, and developing them through an RPG-style progression system.
Career Mode and Game World
In Career Mode, you start in the amateur circuit with local riders and work to attract a sponsor. Good results build your team's prestige, which helps you get better riders and more lucrative sponsors. The game world features varied regions like the mountain passes of Hetvesia, the cobbles of northern Gasmea, and the deserts of Dalluha. The terrain affects your strategy, allowing you to conserve energy on smooth roads or attack on rough surfaces where opponents might struggle.