Race cars used in new board game

There are more thrills to a good car race board game than there is in watching racing on television.

At least that’s the case for me.

I fully admit to almost zero interest in car racing as a spectator sport, but it can make a great platform for a game.

And that brings us to Thunder Track a very recent release.

“Be the first player to complete your lane and cross the finish line to collect the first place trophy. In Tournament Champion play, the goal is to collect the most first place trophies in five consecutive races,” explains the rule set.

Now the game is based around cards, and the use of small toy cars (think Hot Wheels and Matchbox). It is the use of the cars that really adds a ‘little boy’ factor to Thunder Track. It is simply cool to have an excuse to play with toy cars again.

Again from the rules, “Use any small toy car as your racer. Start your car in front of the first card in your lane. To begin play, the first player flips over the first track card in their lane. Move cars according to the directions outlined in the card description. The race is finished once all players have crossed the finish line.”

Now this race game has a bit of a ‘Mad Max’ or ‘Death Race 2000’-feel as well. By that I mean a healthy dose of skullduggery is part of the game.

In fact, “Phase I: Attack – Players may use weapons to attack from any On-Track position. Fire as many rounds at as many On-Track opponents as you choose,” notes the rules.

So blasting away is the first thing you can do on a turn.

The track is revealed a card flip at a time, so one is never exactly sure what might lie ahead.

The game also utilizes an ever-changing track via RPM cards.

“RPMs (Radical Performance Maneuvers) are played as enhancement or counter effects. RPMs can be saved and played at any point during a five-race tournament according to the card’s ability.”

The game does require some strategy.

You don’t want to get into a position where you are the target of every other player, which happens if you scoot out too far ahead.

But lagging at the back makes over-taking the field a challenge.

Similarly, a player has finite resources in terms of ammunition, and the all important RPM cards, so a player needs to be careful when he utilizes what he has in-hand.

This is a game that has players interacting, being nasty, and having a blast.

It is not overly rule heavy to teach, and is compact enough to travel. It’s sort of that mid-way style filler game for two-to-eight players, which makes it ideal for group events.

Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/166525302/t-h-u-n-d-e-r-t-r-a-c-k-relaunch-from-turbo-rally