Circus Maximus

 

CIRCUS MAXIMUS

Company: Avalon Hill; Type: Ameristyle; Players: up to 10; Time: 2 hours; Genre: Racing; Rating: 💥💥💥💥 I like it!

This game started its life out as one game out of a two-game set put out by Battleline Publications in the late 1970s to early 1980s. The rights for both games were bought out by Avalon Hill. And that is how Circus Maximus came to be as a solo game for sale.

The game is about chariot-racing, Ben Hur -style in imperial Rome. The object of the game is to be first around the oval track in three laps. Players have four points to distribute among the three attributes that constitute a racing team: Driver, Chariot, and Team of Horses.  Driver determines the skill modifier you apply to your driving checks, Chariot determines its relative weight (light, medium or heavy), and Team of Horses determines their combined speed and endurance.

Movement Order is determined by drawing colored chits from a cup, bag or bowl. Players determine their base speed, may whip their horses to add to their movement, and then must move around the track. On their turn, they may also whip another team's horses or may ram chariots. When they corner, they must roll for chariot flips if over the safe speed score for their current lane. And that's it!

There are advanced rules for running a racing campaign, for gambling on the races, and for skullduggery. I've never played those rules (but would have loved too!). With those rules in-play, I could eventually see elevating my rating to an actual five booms!

--LM