The Basics:
- Ages 3+
- Players 2 – 4
- 10 minutes
Geek Skills:
- Nothing at all
Learning Curve:
- Child – Easy
- Adult – Easy
Theme & Narrative:
- None
Endorsements:
- Father Geek emphatically rejected!
- Child Geek approved! I mean really — is there anything young kids do not like?
Overview
Each player controls a car (Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson, or Sally) and tries to be the first player to race around the circuit to return to the starting area. Movement is done by rolling a 6-sided die and moving to any one of 5 colors pictured on the die. The 6th side is a stop sign, which means the player’s turn is lost.
The board has some special squares:
- Gas Pump — roll again
- Tractor — road block; stuck there until the dice face rolled matches the color to move on
- Combine — switch places with another player
It’s a standard roll and move game that you continue until the misery ends.
Final Word
For goodness sake!! Is there anything at all that kids do not like? If I coated the board in feces, I think they would still want to play it. I am going to have to find some new criteria for child geek approved because really, if everything is approved, then why have the rating? Up until now, I have been calling it approved if they ask to play it more than once after the initial play-through, and unfortunately this game satisfies the criteria despite my strong dislike for it.
If you cannot already tell what I think of the game….. I absolutely LOVED it!!!
Yeah, right. Loved it like a gunshot to the groin. Can I say anything good about it? Well, yeah. It ends in under 10 minutes.
Now to the bad. At least it’s therapeutic to write this stuff.
- The board itself is not even printed correctly. Upon unfolding, it did not lay flat. An attempt to press it down caused it to rip in half on the seem!! Are you kidding me? Why does a 16″ squared board need to be quartered anyway?
- The playing pieces–a very loose term, trust me–are very flimsy cardboard that you fold in half and attempt to insert into plastic bases. The plastic bases are the only quality part in the game, but trying to push in the paper-thin cardboard assures you will destroy them before you even start. An another thing — they did not even attempt to make the playing piece such that both sides have the car pointed in the same direction. This resulted in my son getting frustrated because his car was pointed backwards. He could not even flip it around since the other side was reversed. I finally settled on turning it upside down so it pointed the right way from his vantage point. Of course, this took another bite out of the paper.
- The die. It’s a 6-sided plastic die that you have to put the game stickers on. Yeah, how long do you think that will last before the sticker peels? I guess, on one hand, it does not matter since I hope to help this game find a fiery death some night when the kids are sleeping.
- The theme. What theme? It frustrates me that the game (somewhat) visually works even though they did not even bother to try and incorporate any real theme of the movie at all. How does Freddy the Combine have anything to do with switching places? How is tractor tipping a road block?
- The mechanics. It is just roll and move, so right there is a huge strike against it, but they did not even do that right. One has to sit on a tractor until the color is rolled, but after 2 turns the player can move on anyway. How do kids keep track of this counter? Switch spots? I mean really!! Because the starting positions are staggered, you can switch spots with somebody on the first turn and win the next turn.
The game is the worst example of cashing in on a property name that I have ever seen. It does not teach anything meaningful and is a complete and total waste of family game time.
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THIS… GAME… IS… TERRIBLE!!!!!!!
It needs to die. I tried to lose this and failed; my children found it. They got it all set up and asked if I can play with them. Needless to say, I had to finagle a game of Sorry or game time was not going to go well.
Your review was spot-on. I hope you’ve rid your house of this atrocity.
Ok, while this game is pretty lame, it is easy and fun for kids. Isn’t that the point? It sure was better than playing another game of Slap Jack or War. Besides, my nephew enjoys it and I didn’t buy it for my pleasure. And I only paid $0.49 for it at a thrift store! Hahaha!
Ha! Excellent points, Cindy.
Reviewing anything is a complicated process and very personal. For example, Brian does not care for Feed the Kitty (loathes it, in fact), but I am in love with it! So, who is right? We both are, actually.
To be successful, a game must provide rules and game play that are manageable and understood for their target age group and audience. But that is only half the equation for success. The other portion is totally out of the game designers hands and is put squarely on the shoulders of those playing it. If the game is not enjoyed by the players, it simply does not matter how good the rules, components, and game play is. An unloved game by the players is a game that is not played.
So, taking this game as an example, the rules and game play are easy and correct for the target audience. If you and the little geeks enjoy it, the game is a success! If not, put it aside and get out another game.
No one has the right answer but everyone has an opinion. We encourage all our readers to send us feedback and provide us their point-of-view. WE ARE NOT EXPERTS, and frankly, don’t care to be. To suggest otherwise would be rather smug of us as we have no idea what games you and your little geeks might or might not enjoy.
I find it highly encouraging that this game has found some love in your household. After all, that is the point, isn’t it? To enjoy not only the game but the time spent? Yes, yes it is. The game is the medium and nothing more than a fun means to a rewarding end. Be that medium card, dice, or board, it simply allows us to enjoy the time we spend together.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Cindy!
Objection! This game has all faults that a game can have. The company publishing it is lazy and greedy. Dont even think there is a designer. Nobody put more than 5 minutes of thought into this game. The roll and move mechanic is extremely old and switching places is a) old too and b) among the worst game mechanics of all times – an “I did well all the time but in the last move Jimmy took my place and I finished last” sort of thng. Despicable, bad, written in 2 minutes rules that did appear in thousands of bad games before. Components of the cheapest possible type that even stand in the way of game play. No, the only investment the publisher did was in the lavish licence payment to Disney. Apart from that they give You nothing of value, and as a license does not a game make they practically give You nothing at all. I hate this type of games as too many publishers foist these on the public and board games get a bad reputation because of that. Get a good game by a quality publisher like Haba, Kosmos, Queen, Zoch, Ravensburger. This game is dreck. Or as a rule: Avoid all licensed games and be sure You stay far away from anything Disney. And please do spread the word. Quality games give You enjoyment. This type of game is like stealing money out of Your pocket and time from Your life.
I know what I’m getting Andreas for Christmas this year…. 🙂