Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
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After playing some BattleLore Hundred Years War with Nash, and with Liam and Def looking on interestedly, it was time to turn to a short, fun game that would allow me to catch my breath after a couple of great battles at Crecy.
That game was Reiner Knizia's Formula Motor Racing, perhaps one of the most out-of-character games to be produced by GMT in its history. However, it is also a really good game, perfect for some fast and furious action. The box says this is the quickest-playing auto racing game in existence, and I can well believe that. It's a fast and wild card game that just works.
Def, considering his first game. I'm (as normal) playing Green.
Nash, Def and I played the first game, which was the first for Nash and Def and was "slow" as they learnt the rules, but speeded up appreciably as they got the hang of it. It's all about relative positioning in this game, and so there's no messy counting out squares and deciding what gear you're in. Either you're moving someone up or back in the relative placings.
Def won this game with one of his cars reaching 1st place by the end. It was going to be he last success in this sequence.
Def and Liam. Def is playing Purple, and already his two cars are out of the race!
From there, I displayed an uncanny knack for rolling a 10-12 when I played cards that could cause cars to burn out their engines, and cars would disappear from the track with great frequency in the next two games. I didn't target Def in particular, but he was also extremely unlucky when pure random events occurred. Seeing Nash play a "Crash" card would almost guarantee that one of the cars lost was Def's!
However, it is part of the fun of this game that you don't stop playing just because both of your cars are smoking ruins on the side of the track! Def found new purpose in the race trying to stop me winning; a goal that he was joined in by Nash and Liam!
End of Race 2
By now, our play was going by really quickly, and the last game lasted less than 10 minutes, with a lot of laughing and conspiring going on throughout. I was the first to have a car knocked out this time, but Def was still able to lose both his cars before we finished!
Red and Orange were non-player, so I was in 1st position (relatively) for players, with Liam (blue) behind and Nash (yellow) last of those who finished. Overall, my score was pretty poor - I think Def would have won if we'd really been keeping track.
End of Race 3
However, this had been a well spent 40 minutes with my friends, and it'll definitely come out again. If there's one production flaw, its the similarity between the yellow and orange colours on the cards, which caused Liam ongoing problems. It's a minor point compared to how much fun we had with this light, mostly random, racing card game!
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Second in a one horse race
United Kingdom
Bromsgrove, Worcs
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Nice report, though I think it's easier to screw your opponents, especially with high player counts, than it is to set up your own cars for the win. If you accept it for what it is, then this is a good, fun game. Like all GMT games, the stock used for the card decks is super thick and nicely finished.
A good filler, and nicely presented.
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