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Downforce
20m - 40m
2 - 5 Players
Ages 10+
This mechanic requires you to place a bid, usually monetary, on items in an auction of goods in order to enhance your position in the game. These goods allow players future actions or improve a position. The auction consists of taking turns placing bids on a given item until one winner is established, allowing the winner to take control of the item being bid on. Usually there is a game rule that helps drop the price of the items being bid on if no players are interested in the item at its current price.
Auction/Bidding
Hand management games are games with cards in them that reward players for playing the cards in certain sequences or groups. The optimal sequence/grouping may vary, depending on board position, cards held and cards played by opponents. Managing your hand means gaining the most value out of available cards under given circumstances. Cards often have multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating an "optimal" sequence.
Hand Management
Variable Player Powers is a mechanic that grants different abilities and/or paths to victory to the players.
Variable Player Powers
37.00
€
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Out of stock
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Kickstarter – Gamefound
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ajewo
"Racing" game with hand management, auctions, and betting for cars by Wolfgang Kramer (republished by Restauration Games). It is not a typical racing game where you race with your own car. What makes it special? * Combines hand management with multi-used cards, betting and auctions in a streamlined way * Players also advance cars owned by other players Pros: + Artwork (colorful, clear) + Components (double sided board, colored plastic cars, score/bet sheets) + Double sided board with different tracks (different number of choke points) + Auction for cars at the beginning: players play a card to bid for ownership. The played card must have the color of the current auctioned car. The card with the highest matching color number wins (more colors on a card is used as tie-breaker). However, the auctioned value counts as negative points at the end of the game (balancing act: it is harder to manage to win with each car). + Hand management with multi-used cards: each card contains a different amount of colored numbers for each car (used for auctions and for advancing cars). Players have to discard a card when passing. Timing is important and creates a lot of decision-making: when to play which card? + Players advance all cars on the played card: they are moved according to their number and the order (top to bottom) which makes playing the right card and timing very important. Some cards have wilds which allow a player to choose a car to move (flexibility, tactical decision-making) + At certain points in the game (3 times), each player secretly writes down his bet for a car + 6 separate special power cards give an asymmetric power to each player and to override rules or restrictions + Players score points for their owned cars and for their bets depending on the outcome of the race (order of cars) + Supports a wide range of player counts (best with 3+ players). The gameplay/dynamic changes with different amount of players (owning more cars, number of cards played by the other players) + Easy to teach and learn + Very well written rules + Quick playing time Neutrals # Nearly language independent (except for special power cards) # Potential family / gateway game (variant mode for beginners)... # ...potential mean player interaction due to limited space: cars block each other, especially in choke points (cutthroat) (can be frustrating if you only own one car and it does not move for several rounds) # The betting plays a equal role as the race (it is not a pure racing game) Cons: - Only 6 special power cards (repetitive, low variability). The expansion adds 6 more power cards and 2 more tracks. Similar games: * Camel Up (fun family party game about betting on camels, dice-based, chaotic) * Ave Caesar (racing game, mean-spirited, a lot of blocking) * Tales & Games: The Hare & the Tortoise * Winner's Circle (betting racing horse game by Reiner Knizia) * Race! Formula 90 (racing simulation with a lot of modules, hand management, damage management, complex due to a lot of small rules, long playing time) * Daytona 500 (predecessor)
Afrochiapet
I think getting the most out of Downforce requires a management of expectations. If you are expecting a deep and methodical game, you will be sorely disappointed. Going in with a detailed strategy is an exercise in futility. Downforce is a fast game driven by your id, the decisions a product of controlled chaos and pettiness. And honestly, it shouldn't be experienced in any other way. While you could invest time figuring out the optimal play, at decent player counts you will have little control on how the race plays out. The mechanics are built this way: randomization of cards and car powers can create situations where it's nigh impossible to win. However the game is quick, so a replay is always an option to try your luck again. *Update: With further plays I just don't feel there is much of a game to be played. Betting on someone else's car banks on the hope that the owner did not invest in their own car. The card play feels progressively less like a race and more like automated slot cars.
Apple Paul
This is a short, simple and amusing race game that is likely my favorite race game at the moment (and I am generally not fond of race games). I love the betting mechanic. And I like the auction for the cars at the beginning of the game (though I have mixed feelings about the tie breakers in that auction). The card play was reasonably fun. I might have preferred a few more choke points on the course to allow for slightly more amusing card plays. I can see this being a very appealing family game. September 2017: giving it an 8 of 10. March 2018: downgrading to a 6 after repeated plays seem to suggest that the player whose car first crosses the first yellow line wins the game in about 75 percent of the games because, that player then bets on their car, as do some of the others, who then help that car above others, causing the owner to come in first, and the helpers to come in second and third. Yawn. In order to avoid this, players must be lectured NOT to do this; yet, in our group, it seems to happen again and again. But it crossed the first yellow first! Sigh.