Racers, to your vehicles …. On your mark, get set, GO!

Your drivers and co-pilots are ready to take the wheel and earn some trophies while racking up that distance! But be careful, the competition is vicious and other drivers will attack, lay traps, and try their best to nerf you right out of the race! Keep your wits sharp to spin out others and arise victorious! Ready to get started? Let’s check out the competition!

What Is It?

A racing-themed game for 2 to 4 where drivers battle it out with with various abilities to propel themselves forward. The driver who covers the most distance will win, so players will need to equip helpful gear to their cars, set traps for opponents, and attack one another to cause others to spin out and lose their distance cards.

Who Is It For?

The box says ages 13+ and that is fairly accurate in my opinion. I think that it is simple enough that slightly younger kids could play it, maybe 9 or 10+, but there is a bunch of “take-that” in the game, so younger audiences may also be more sensitive to that.

Speaking of that though, fans of take-that mechanics will enjoy this one because there’s a fair amount of balance in the abilities that attack others.

I think that fans of Mario Kart games and Smash Up will also enjoy this one because of the fun mash-ups of character combos, without all the math of Smash Up, and the fun go-kart racing theme.

Contents + Quality

Cards – These are pretty nice, they’re sturdy and have a nice finish on them. The art is simple, but quite cute. I like the different colors for the driver cards, but it felt weird that they didn’t all have the same back. It didn’t affect the game a lot, but some traps triggered based on having all the same driver cards in hand, and it seemed too easy to just avoid.

Trophies – Thick cardboard and a nice shiny finish. I like these a lot!

Rules – Well written and laid out. There is also a helpful FAQ section! I do wish there were a few more details about certain cards, but since the game is newer, I understood not everything would be answered in the rules.

Insert/Box – The insert fits everything pretty perfectly which is great. The box is a nice size for shelf presence, while still being what I consider a small-box game, and has a nice finish on the cover.

PROS

  • Cute theme/art
  • Snake draft for drivers
  • Simple gameplay (draw distance card and play an ability card is most turns) so you can teach to a wide range of gamers
  • Variable player powers, plus variety of combinations since you combine two driver decks each game
  • Mostly seems that characters/combos are balanced overall

CONS

  • In 2 player games, some special abilities or ability cards seem hard to combat, but I think that also depends on the draw of the cards. A lot of the game comes from knowing your deck and how to best utilize your abilities I think, so it’s a “better with practice” situation
  • There’s no system to prevent ganging up on someone (i.e. not being able to be targeted multiple turns in a row or something like that) until they spin out, which then prevents targeting them until their next turn. It wouldn’t be a problem in most situations, but depending on your group can make for a not so fun time if others constantly target you.

Difficulty

The difficulty depends a lot on your driver/co-pilot combination, and your strategy with them. Plus, there’s the obvious luck factor based on the shuffle of your deck. I’d say the first play is maybe  a 3/5 for difficulty, as you’re getting the hang of the mechanics, and after you get the hang of it, it’s a 2/5 because you’re just trying to react to the abilities you have in front of you, and who try to halt whoever is gaining more distance than you.

Final Thoughts

I thought this was a super cool game! It’s fun, cute, and overall pretty simple so you can teach it to a lot of gamers, new and experienced.

I’m not big on take-that games usually, but I thought this felt well-balanced, and it wasn’t super vicious, so I didn’t mind it. It was also kind of funny to me that for traps that got laid next to the distance card deck, the person who set it could also be affected by it.

Although I liked the theme, I will say that, to me, it wasn’t really a racing game per say. To me, a racing game means that we are all trying to achieve one goal and someone needs to get their first. This didn’t have that fast-paced feel to it that I’m used to in racing games, so I thought of it more as “racing themed” instead of an actual racing game. Since you’re going for most distance and not “first to finish” or something like that, it’s more about trying to gather extra distance cards and making opponents spin out so they lose some distance.

Overall, a neat little game that a wide range of gamers will enjoy.

My Final Rating: 7/10

Additional Information:
Designer – Rob Newton
Artist – Ruwen Liu
Publisher –  Games by Bicycle, The United States Playing Card Company
MSRP – $24.99
BGG
BGA
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

If you like what I do, consider Supporting Me.