Across the Finish Line - Games with a Racing Theme

 Circuitous Explanation

So there are quite a few games out there with the "Race" genre here on BGG, and I wanted to clarify before I get too deep into the weeds with this one. While there might be games with a "race" mechanic (a la Race for the Galaxy), I am going to keep this list more focused on games that have a car/bike/vehicle racing theme to them. I would like to look into games that have a "racing" mechanic or theme to them later on this year, but for this post, I'll be exclusively looking at games that have a vehicle race theme to them.

I've also been a big fan of racing in general. Maybe it's because I grew up playing way too much Mario Kart and Need for Speed, but there's something about driving a vehicle and beating your opponents through some serious dedication, skill and precision. Hours upon hours were spent playing racing games, looking to get the best times and finishing the main campaigns of the games. I'm not going to say that I spent time perfecting my times for the courses, looking to get good enough to challenge even the best players, but I did get good enough at most games to beat my brothers, who were really good in their own right.

I did tend to lean towards kart racers and games that had more of an arcade-style to them due to the lack of precision that was needed in the game. Re-Volt still remains one of my favorite games ever as you were playing RC cars in oversized neighborhoods, houses, and museums, all while blasting other cars with bottle rockets and other powerups. It featured an extremely rich number of unlocks and even had really cool courses that could be raced in reverse that had special level design to allow for it and even hidden unlocks that could only be obtained via cheat codes. I spent so many hours playing that game, I can't even comprehend how much time was sunk into Re-Volt and attempting to delve the game for each and every secret that it held, including building my own courses via the (limited) track-builder.

As a side note, I started looking into Re-Volt further and found out that there's a fairly active community for the game still with even a massive modding community that has made custom courses and even custom cars for the game. I think I know what I'm going to be spending much of my time on the next few nights...

Anyways, I'm a huge fan of racing games, so of course I started looking into board games that had that theme to them as well. There's so much that you can do with that genre of games that I knew that I would be hard pressed to not be inundated with a large number of racing games. Of course over the last few years there have been a number of great racing games that have come out, so I thought I'd note some of them here to point out some of my favorites and ones that I hope to be able to try later.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Release Year: 2022
Designer:Asger Harding Granerud, Daniel Skjold Pedersen

I feel like not much needs to be said about this one that hasn't already been said in the past. Heat: Pedal to the Metal really takes the racing genre and distills it down to a fantastically designed and implemented deck builder where you are attempting to manage your engine's heat level and beat your opponents, all while navigating straightaways and sharp corners. With four tracks in the base game, along with several additional modules including a series of championships, the game has so much in the box, it's astounding. I'm still working through the championship games and I feel like there's so much I have yet to play, it's exciting for me. Plus it's fairly easy to teach and always a fun game to play with others, so that's a big win in my book.

Camel Up

Release Year: 2018
Designer: Steffen Bogen

I'm disappointed that I haven't yet had a chance to play this since I've heard that it's an absolute blast to play. I did have a potential opportunity earlier this year, but my friend informed me that the game was better at higher player counts, so we chose to play another game instead. I still regret that decision since Camel Up seems to be just an absolute blast to play, especially with the chaotic fun of the rogue camels running backwards. I know that there's a few editions of the game and from what I can tell, the second edition of the game is the better version, so if you want to play it, see if you can find the second edition.

Long Shot: The Dice Game

Release Year: 2022
Designer:Chris Handy (I)

Long Shot: the Dice Game is a reimplementation of the original Long Shot that distills it down to a roll and write game. If you thought the roll and write genre was supposed to be relaxing, this game will surprise you immensely. Each time I've played this game, it's been an adrenaline-pounding race to the finish with the horses as players attempt to make last-minute bets and help their preferred horse make it to the end of the track before the others. Because players can move horses forward and backwards during the race, and even affect other horse movement with their choices, it's a constant edge of your seat experience. I personally liked it better at 3 players versus 4 players since a bad draw of cards can lend one player's preferred horse being pushed back multiple times (speaking from experience). Still, this is a really fun quick and small racing game to have on your table.

PitchCar

Release Year: 1995
Designer: Jean du Poël

PitchCar is my holy grail game and despite my best efforts to get my hands on a copy of the game, I have yet to find a copy that a) I'm able to afford at the time I find it, and b) is available long enough for me to get it at a decent price. Still, this is one racing game that I'm really excited about since it's a dexterity game with you flicking your wooden car pieces down the track from start to finish. Add in the ability to build your own courses and a ridiculous amount of expansions with more course elements, and there's so much that could be done with this game. It's a mix of dexterity and racing; two of my favorite elements in board games. Unfortunately it's out of print (for now), so my search will probably continue for some time.

Dungeon Kart

Release Year: 2024
Designer: Michael Xuereb

This was just released in 2024 after being published by Brotherwise Games through Kickstarter and it features some absolutely fantastic kart racing mechanics. I did a review of the game last week, but for those that missed it, Dungeon Kart takes the bosses from the Boss Monster universe and places them on the race track for a kart-racing cup. The game features over a dozen double-sided hexes for players to build their own courses and an excellent balance to the racing, which makes for a fun and chaotic time on the table. This is a must-have for anyone who played too much Mario Kart as a kid, like I did.

Flamme Rouge

Release Year: 2016
Designer: Asger Harding Granerud

There was a very specific reason that I included the term "vehicles" in my description of this list, and Flamme Rouge is that reason. This game features a linear bike race for players to constantly pass and concede the lead to their fellow players, all in an effort to reach the end of the course first. From what many have said on BGG, this is the definitive way to experience a racing game and features some of the best racing in all of board games. While I've not yet had a chance to play this, the high praise that this game receives is definitely something that makes me want to try it out myself. Plus, building your own courses is always something that I'm interested in with a game, a feature that is a prominent mechanic in Flamme Rouge.

Thunder Road: Vendetta

Release Year: 2023
Designer: Dave Chalker, Brett Myers, Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Jim Keifer, Brian Neff

While I don't really consider Thunder Road: Vendetta to be a racing game, since it's more a game about surviving the chaos, yelling "WITNESS ME!" as you manage to make it through mines, helicopters, and other hazards on the road, it still is a game where you race from point A to point B. Unlike other games on this list, Thunder Road: Vendetta really leans into the destruction of other vehicles in the game and with any groups larger than two players, requires at least one player to be eliminated before the finish line appears. It's one of my favorite games and an absolute blast to play, no matter if I win or lose, because I'm all about causing as much chaos as possible.

Robo Rally

Release Year: 1994
Designer: Richard Garfield

While reimplemented in 2016 with an updated version and another in 2023, I've included the original version of Robo Rally as the initial version sits highest on the BGG rankings (for now). The original game was created by Richard Garfield of King of Tokyo fame and features players having to race their robots around a warehouse using cards that perform specific programming actions, such as turning, moving, and other things that help players or hinder opponents. It's a clever little game and one that must be popular to get two separate reimplementations/revisions.

Rallyman: GT

Release Year: 2020
Designer: Jean-Christophe Bouvier

Rallyman: GT is another game that allows players to build their own track and rather than utilizing cards, this uses a dice system to determine how well the players are driving around the corners on the track. It's an interesting and clever way to have racers determine if they spin out or are able to complete their planned routes around the track. I'm not really sure if it's an implementation that I like over some of the other options, but Rallyman: GT does implement it well. If you're looking for a fun dice-based racing game, this is an excellent option to choose.

Downforce

Release Year: 2017
Designer: Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Wolfgang Kramer

A reimplementation of Top Race, Downforce features a multi-car race where players auction the various cars at the beginning of the game and then seek to push their preferred vehicles to the end of the race. As the race proceeds, players also place secret bets on which car they think will win, even cars that aren't the car that they purchased in the initial auction. Although cars are moved by cards played by each player, those same cards might see opponent vehicles moved, presenting a challenge on when to play the card to get the best payout for their bets. At the end of the game, the player with the highest payout from their bet on the race wins the game.

Finishing Strong

With so many racing games out there that I want to play, I'm certain that there are several that I missed with this list. However, I tried to include mostly games that I'm interested in and would recommend, both from my personal experiences, but also with the experiences of you wonderful readers here on BGG.

As I noted above, I love racing games, so I'm always interested in finding a new one that adds a twist to the genre, especially those that have a vehicle-based race element to them. There's also a ton of other games that feature a "race" element to them so I might look at those at a later time with another list since I primarily wanted to focus on games that feature vehicle-based racing. Still, with how many games that are coming out from year to year, I fully expect there to be many that I didn't feature on this blog, so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on some that you would recommend.

Give your thoughts:What are some vehicle-based (or animal racing based) games that you'd recommend that I didn't list on this post? Are there any games on here that you personally liked? What's your favorite type of racing game (either board or video game) genre? Do you like kart racing, games that steer more towards arcade-style racing, or games that feature realistic simulation style racing?

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*originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 22/7/2024*