Wacky Races

10th August 2019

Saturday has come back around and it means games night at Matakishi's.

"And here they are!
The most daredevil group of daffy drivers to ever whirl their wheels in The Wacky Races.
Completing for the title of world's wackiest racer.
The cars are approaching the start line..."

The first game of the night was 'Wacky Races' a recreation of the legendary Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the 1960's (Oh God, that's over 50 years ago, half a century...).

Wacky Races is a light game by the standards of the games normally reported in this blog. Given that nostalgia and name-recognition will be selling points for Wacky Races, it's probably a wise decision to keep the game as instantly accessible as possible.

What's in a game?

• The first thing you will notice about the components, are the cars: They are big and chunky and generally quite bright despite essentially being monochrome. And for a game that is about the personalities and the cars they drive; this is a good thing.
• Start, middle and end tiles: There is a large starting line up tile, a 'gas station' tile (That is placed in the middle of the race course.) and a finishing line tile.
• Track tiles: These tiles are about the same size of a normal playing card, except they are sort of curved so they look nice when creating a bend. Each tile depicts one of the 4 different terrain types that players will encounter during the race.Some are used in the first half of the race and the others in the last half. This includes some special tiles that only appear in the last half of the race.
• Personal game board: Each of the playable personalities will have their own individual game boards. Each board is accompanied by 4 special ability cards.
• Movement cards: As the name may suggest, used by players to  move their cars. There are 4 types of movement card, matching the terrain types on the track tiles. 
• Trap cards: As the name may suggest, used by Dick Dastardly to trap cars.

All of these components are adorned with colourful art reminiscent of the cartoon.

How's it play?
We begin with set up.

• The starting tile is placed down and all the track tiles for the first half of the race track are shuffled and then placed in a line face-up after the starting tile to form the first half of the track.
• Next, the gas station is placed down.
• Then the remaining track tiles are randomised and placed face-up to create the second half of the race track.
• Finally, the finishing line is placed down.
• Each player chooses a car and also takes the associated personal board and cards for it. Nobody is allowed to choose Dick Dastardly as their character, he is controlled by 'the game.
• Each player is randomly dealt 3 cards from the movement deck.
• The trap deck is shuffled and placed into a face-down deck.
• Determine the starting player. Dick Dastardly always starts in last place.
• The player cars do not go in the race tiles, but on either the left or right side of it. Only Dick Dastardly's 'Mean Machine' goes on the actual tiles.

Now we go on to the game. Play starts with the first player and progresses to the left.

• In their turn, the active player will move 1-3 spaces. To do this, the active player plays movement cards from their hand. For the 1st move, any movement card can be played. But for the 2nd & 3rd moves, the player must play cards that match the terrain of tile they are currently on. Thus if the active player mad their 1st move on to a forest terrain tile, they must play a forest movement card to move off the forest race tile (For their 2nd move,). Then if the moved on to a desert race tile, they must play a desert movement card to make their 3rd and final move.
• When moving to a new space ahead, if the side of the tile you are on is occupied, then you move to the other side. If both sides of the tile are occupied, you overtake those cars and move ahead to the next empty space (Vrooomm!).
• If the active player lands on a tile with a trap, the trap is revealed and the consequences must be dealt with. (Traps are explained below.)
• Players can also use their special abilities at any time in their turn. Each character has 4 special abilities. 2 of the special abilities are common to all characters and 2 are unique to each character. When a special ability is used, the relevant card is turned face down and cannot be used again.
• When a character reaches the gas station, one of their special ability cards can be turned face-up and will become available to use again.
• When a player has finished moving, they replenish their hand back up to 3 movement cards again.

So that's how players move, but what about Dastardly and Mutley?

• At the end of every player's turn, there is a chance that The Mean Machine will move. This is done by referring to the last movement card played by the active player and The Mean Machine moves to the next tile that matches that card.
• The Mean Machine always travels along the top of the track tile and ignores everybody else.
• If Dick Dastardly moves into first place, then he lays a trap for the oncoming cars. This is done by taking the top card from the trap deck and placing it face-down on the track tile. When a trap is laid, The Mean Machine slips back into last place in the race.
• When a car moves on to a tile with a trap, the trap card is turned over and dealt with. There are a variety of traps that have different affects.

There are also additional rules for 'AI' cars if there aren't enough players and some special  but that's pretty much it.

Endgame
The first car across the finish line, wins.

Overall
There are 3 things the rules do really well.

• Ensure that all players move at least 1 space every turn, this might not seem like much, but it keeps the game moving (And see below.).
• The overtaking rules emulate the jostling and changing of positions seen in the cartoon.
• Allowing The Mean Machine to repeatedly and easily zoom into first, lay a trap and then drop to last is very Wacky Races!

As stated earlier, Wacky Races is a light game and really it only ever gives players 2 choices to make in 2 areas.

• Choosing the 1st movement card: If a player has the cards to make the 2nd and 3rd moves, then it's a no-brainer to use them when possible. But the 1st move is different, in that it can use any card, which requires a little thinking ahead. If a player has several card which do not immediately help them, then they need to decide which one to keep and which to use. Looking at the spaces further ahead and deciding what to do is important here.
• When to play special ability cards: If a player is hit by a specific trap and they have the card to negate that trap, then once again, playing that card is a no-brainer. But other special ability cards may require some thought on when to play most effectively.

I know these seem like small choices, but they are choices nonetheless. And this is a comment, not a criticism. It's not really fair to be so critical of a game so clearly aimed at different target audience or play style to me.

Wacky Races is a quick, light little diversion. Take it as that and it's fine.