Company: Mayfair Games; Type: Ameristyle; Players: 2-6; Time: 1 hour; Genre: Racing; Rating: 💥💥💥💥💥 I love it!
This game is based on the previous Daytona 500 put out by Milton Bradley in the early 1990s. It is a simple racing game in which an entire deck of cards is dealt out to all the players. Based on their resulting hand, they bid on cars by color for them to own and race in the current heat. After running a number of races, the winner is determined to be the player having the most money in their bank in the end.
As cars are purchased they are placed in order on the gameboard, with the first car purchased having pole position and making the first play. Each game card has a series of colored dots with movement numbers in descending order. When a player plays a card, they must move all the colored cars in ranked order the maximum value of movement points they are permitted by card and capable of moving at that moment on the gameboard. Cars always move forward, whether directly or on a diagonal. If they are blocked, however, they can end up losing some or all of their movement.
Unlike Daytona 500, there are cutbacks and curves where the number of lanes are limited. It is to your advantage to get into those cutbacks and curves before other cars, so as to limit their available movement and not to limit yours in return. Sequence of play on a card is an important component of the game.
Whenever we play, we always include the rule about drafting from Daytona 500 into our game. The rule is that if a car directly in front of you starts its move, you automatically get to draft behind them into that square. Drafting can also be a key component and vital strategy to efficiently moving your car around the track.
Each place in the race is worth a certain sized purse. Because the goal of the game is to have the largest bank at the end of one or more races, placing consistently at second or third can be even more valuable than getting first in a given race. It is equally important not to overbid on your cars. I generally spend the minimum value of $10,000 for most cars, but up to $30,000 for pole position. Going first has some intrinsic value, in and of itself.
It is a dead simple game to teach and play, but there is some nuance in how you play your hand and move the cars around the board. To me, this game is the ultimate in simplexity.
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