There are several reviews of pitchcar already on the Geek, but only a few touch on what this review is about. Most tell you something to the effect of: Pitchcar is a game where you flick wooden disks around a wooden track with guard rails. It’s fun. You should buy it as long as you can afford its really steep price tag.

But there is more to this game than that. In fact, I think it is the phenomenology (i.e. experience of playing) of the game that makes it special. Unfortunately, it is not something I put into words, but I will do my best.

This Sunday it was introduced to my gaming group at the local store. This group is made up of hardened gamers who have weathered various collectible games and at least 100 board games. They like euros, FFG, Days of Wonder, card games, miniature games, train games, abstract games, and even word games. Although they will play anything once, many games do not get played twice. Only rarely does a game get seriously talked about afterward or requested again. Those games are usually ones like Age of Steam, Mare Nostrum, Antike, Railroad Tycoon, Caylus, Shogun, and Twilight Imperium (the only one I’m reluctant to play due to time involvement). If you walked in on them playing, you would often see serious thought going into each play with some light banter in between turns. They all enjoy each other’s company but most try to play their best game, win or lose. Thus, much thinking goes into each game.

Enter Pitchcar. It has one page of rules and relies on “dexterity.” I knew they would play it, but I didn’t think it would get the reception it did. I set it up and flicked a few cars around the track with another player. It seemed only “okay” to me, but the other player really liked it. A third joined us and we played a full race. I liked it more that time because we started getting into it, cursing our opponent’s lucky bank shot or talking big when our car sailed ahead. Finally the rest of the group showed and we ended up with 6 people. Initially we played one of those “thinking” games, but afterward we all played Pitchcar. I was amazed at the change in tone. One player didn’t want to play because she had horrible dexterity but ended up taking 3rd in the first heat and 2nd in the second. One of our best players, overall, began scouting the track by testing each joint to see which end stood higher and would flip his car. Everyone cheered on fantastic shots whether it was their own or someone else’s. People laughed, joked, and generally seemed to have a fantastic time while still remaining competitive. The group played the game, but the game transformed the group.

Although this may seem like a session report, it is my attempt to describe how the experience of the game is greater than it appears. Flicking discs may seem silly or childlike to some, but you can get sucked into this race as much as you can rooting for your driver in a real one. The scale is just smaller. The kinetics of moving your body and sending your car careening around corners or off the track also increase excitement and verbal interactions. Spectators come over to watch and see what’s happening. Because there is some luck (mostly in the form of irregularities in the track), nobody feels crushed when they lose and even the winner knows it wasn’t just skill that gave them victory. I imagine you could try to nail down all the physics and slow the game down to a crawl, but nobody tried in our group. The closest we came was the scouting, and I managed to pull out a win in the 2nd heat without scouting at all. It’s amazing every time you see a disc flip up and ride the rails like a car on two wheels or go through two curves and a straight with one flick. In essence, the game stirs up excitement and is a thrill to play.

So is it Caylus or Age of Steam, or Twilight Imperium? Of course not, but I bet it will get played more. We played three games of Pitchcar and only one “thinking” game. Pitchcar was the only game that was asked to come back again for another round. I’m sure we’ll get tired of it at some point, but I’m just as sure that we will bring it out again eventually. I don’t see it ever becoming too tedious to play again. I can’t say that of many other games. I also want to point out that you can put a lot of thought into Pitchcar, but its not a thinking game foremost.

As a final note, I wanted to address the “kids” game comments that other reviewers have made. This is only a kids game if you decide it is. Can adults play Xbox 360? Is it okay to make model railroads? Remote control airplanes? Play hockey/soccer? Some would argue that those are all kids stuff and many would vehemently deny it. I feel that adults should worry more about whether they enjoy what they are doing and less about what others think. Sure, Pitchcar is fun with kids. It’s also fun with adults.