Game: RoadKill

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sistino — 2008-01-11T23:48:44+00:00

Thread: [Portuguese] RoadKill

tiagoaob — 2007-07-16T18:25:17+00:00

Desta vez tinha chegado bastante gente, e ainda no meio da partida de SCCRCG o pessoal começou outra mesa de jogo. Uma parte do pessoal quis continuar com jogos de corrida e então decidimos jogar RoadKill, já que os outros dois jogos foram muito pacíficos.

Infelizmente para nós, foi uma partida bem atípica de RoadKill, pois as armas se recusavam a funcionar. Apenas o Glauco e eu ficamos um tempo considerável parados esperando para consertar o carro. A corrida foi atráves de pistas pequenas apenas, e sem grandes surpresas.

No final, quem ganhou foi o Sumaré e deste modo, o trio de jogos de corrida que jogamos nesta jogatina teve o seguinte placar:

Formula Dé:
1 - Eu
2 - Luiz
3 - Glauco

SCCRCG:
1 - João
2 - Luiz
3 - Eu

RoadKill:
1 - Sumaré
2 - Marcelo
3 - Luiz

E assim o Luiz foi o vencedor da rodada de jogos de corrida.

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:04:02+00:00

cards sample - movement related cards

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:03:30+00:00

cards sample - defensive cards

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:03:06+00:00

card sample - attack cards

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:01:57+00:00

card back

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:01:26+00:00

sample status chits

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:01:07+00:00

Beginners track part II - Finish

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T13:00:47+00:00

Beginners track part I - Start

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T12:59:51+00:00

various chits

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T12:59:37+00:00

car upgrades

Thread: Re: Attack cards.

Windopaene — 2006-12-26T16:22:18+00:00

Ah, must not have read that.

Thread: Re: Attack cards.

Eidelweiss — 2006-12-26T13:41:40+00:00

Thanks for the reply. But they sort that mix-up out with a supplement sheet of rules for the basic game.

Thread: Re: Attack cards.

Windopaene — 2006-12-26T07:05:35+00:00

Haven't played yet myself, but that's certainly what the rules say. Of course, they also get the black/red own/opponent's turn thing wrong in one of the examples so...

Thread: Attack cards.

Eidelweiss — 2006-12-26T05:18:27+00:00

Regular attack cards for active players (Machine guns, sharpened hubcaps, etc.) may be used to pass the card ahead? One does not have to play a "move" card along with the above mentioned attack cards in order to pass and attack? Is this correct?

Thread: Session Report

tiagoaob — 2006-01-31T21:32:01+00:00

Everything setted up for a new game of mayhen and firefight along the vast deserts, and river and mountains and roads of this awesome Avalon Hill game.

It was a five player game with me and my brother, a friend of him Kovick, and a couple of friends Leo and Pat. I used the very old ball owner system for deciding who would begin the game and started ahead and with some luck draws I managed to be on the second track before anyone else had even started their engines.

The compact mass of car on the lower sections assured me with a calm leadership while everyone else was bitting and sttabig themselves on my hear mirror. I had a fair race until I got Box Cannoned, so I took the chance to replace my fuel and even getting back to the race in last place, I could had some hope, as everyone else should stop for fuel and I don't.

The first player managed to play a Rest Stop card and as everyone stoped to refuel, I narly got the lead. SO I pushed my engines a little more, stteped out in the gas and running on the Red Line I could not see a stone in front of me, there goes my fuel tank, but I was leading the race, a new track and a new box cannon.

As my now leaking fuel tank was nearly empty again, I ravenged some gas another time, and just in time to see that if I could pass everyone else, even with my leaking tank, I could win the game.

I just managed to catch a hand of high value roads and swerves, with that, I got out the side road passed along the rest stop again, passed to the last track, passed all four players, some with difficult and not undamaged, but managed for the third time, to get the lead and win the race.

A fabulous session....

Thread: Re: Changed Roads Sign

tiagoaob — 2006-01-27T11:11:58+00:00

Thank You very much....

Thread: Re: Changed Roads Sign

WBRP — 2006-01-27T04:17:50+00:00

Since it is on the back of the Fog chit, I will type in both sides:

CHANGED ROAD SIGN
New arrivals make a "Lost" draw on the "wrench" column and discard that many cards. If unable to do so, stop, discard everything, and lose on fuel.

FOG
Deduct three from all Exit draws while leaving this section. Subtract two from attacks in the Fog except from Tire Spikes.

Thread: Changed Roads Sign

tiagoaob — 2006-01-22T03:20:48+00:00

I have this game, but unfortunally, I've lost the Changed Road Sign marker. Does anyone can tell me what exactly this marker does? It is writen only in the marker.

Thread: User Review

JeffGoldsmith — 2004-10-19T15:14:07+00:00

Wow...there are some people out there who haven't played RoadKill. The title is a verb, not a noun---the players drive a road rally trying to kill each other. The cars are decked out with all sorts of weapons: machine guns, tire spikes, hand grenades, the works. First person across the finish line in one piece wins. The finish line is pretty far away, so there is plenty of time for death and destruction. Allocate about two hours for a game, though one can play a shorter game by reducing the number of road segments in the race.

The standard game is eight road segments. The beginners' game has a map, but advanced players make their own, so no one knows what the track will be. Road segments come from the card deck. As do weapons. And everything else.

Within each road segment, cars are in their race position; passing one another is possible. There are no other positions (mostly) within a road segment. But anyone in road segment 3 is ahead of everyone in road segment 2. This is important, because everyone in a previous road segment is a "trailer." More on that later.

On your turn, you can play as many cards as you like, even more than your hand limit (which starts at 7) if you can obtain more. If, however, you play 2 or fewer cards, you get to draw at the end of your turn. If you play 2, you can draw one; if you play 1 you can draw 2. If you play zero, you can draw 3, unless you do nothing at all during
your turn and you are stopped, in which case, you can discard as many cards as you like and can refill your hand.

Playing cards is the good part. In order to pass another car, you may use a move card to move past him, or you can use a weapon card to move past him. Weapons can do damage (but there are defenses and counterattacks) which reduce the player's hand size. Or they can cause cars to spin out, crash, or the like.

A car in the lead of the pack in the lead segment can try to create the next road segment by playing a Move/Road card. In order to succeed at this, he needs to make an "exit check." That's computed by comparing the number of trailers the car has (cars in previous sections) with the car's "Time on Road." The Time on Road is roughly how many turns the car has been in that road segement. So the longer you've been there, the easier it is to leave. The fewer trailers you have, the easier it is to leave. This makes it hard for a leader to run away.

The card deck is large (128 card) and each card is used for all sorts of things, including random number generation. That lends to a big variety of possible situations in the game.

The real fun part is the car upgrades. These give cars special powers like never running out of gas or avoiding bad events. We play with each car's being given two. The rules call for a draft, but it's more fun to assign the upgrades randomly by drawing them out of a cup. For a more powerful game, give each player three from which he may select two. Upgrades are not normally found after the start of the race, but some groups let them be found under special situations, like being placed in a Box Canyon or reaching a milestone in the race. The game is rich enough that all sorts of tinkers like this are possible.

The Box Canyon card is the most important card in the deck. Players will quickly learn to keep track of it. It can only be played on a car which is creating a new road segment (thus the leader) and has the effect of placing him in a new road segment off to the side of and behind the current lead section. This is a very big swing of position. As a result, players nearly always save it to be played only at the end of the game. Many groups have added the rules tinker that it cannot be played at the finish line for exactly that reason. "I win!" "No, you don't," just doesn't make for a great ending. There are a few cards which can be used as defenses to the Box Canyon, but if you don't have them, the only alternative is to try to steal the card from the owner's hand. In order to do this, your car needs to sideswipe his car (while passing him). Sideswipes are a particularly dangerous type of attack, but desperate situations demand desparate measures. Much of the gameplay will center around this.

Despite the numerous weapons and ways to kill each other, we have found that the game just isn't bloody enough. I have never seen a car totally destroyed. To add a little more destruction, we use the Extra Death rules, which can be found at http://waggle.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/games/roadkill.html
RoadKill definitely needed a "Psychotic Driver" rule; these variants supply it.

All in all, RoadKill's game play is reasonably good, but nothing really special. The theme, however, is not just tacked on, but is central to the game, and is very immersive. For those who like a little role playing in their board games, RoadKill is a winner.

Thread: Re:Session Report

Yoder — 2004-01-23T07:33:32+00:00

tiagoaob (#23469),

To be more specific, I didn't have to pull off onto a side road to scavenge for fuel. There were no rest stops in play, which was why siphon fuel was effective.

Thread: Session Report

batman — 2004-01-08T14:03:38+00:00

Day 1

At this point we started our Road Kill campaign. This game feels very much
like a cross-country road race Mad Max style. It is essentially a card game
where some of the cards become the terrain we must cross to reach the finish
line. Each race is eight cards and a campaign is several races. The campaign
is especially interesting because prior to each race every player can
purchase one upgrade for their vehicle that allows them a special ability
that no one else has.

All players are constantly jockeying for position, trying to knock each other
out of the race, or repairing damage from any number of calamities that could
befall you. I was the start player for the first race (and every subsequent
race, for that matter). I hopped on the first section and raced away. Ken was
quick to follow me but an event caused him to have to stop his car. My car
has the ability that allows me to continue to play cards after I've stopped
my car (no one else can do that). In my rearview mirror I witnessed Ken's
calamity so I thought I would be a Good Samaritan and stop to help him. It
turned out that he had a flat tire. While he was changing his flat I thought
he might need the use of my Philips head screwdriver. I put it tip first into
his radiator hose where he would be sure to find it. While I was being the
kind neighbor that I am, all of the other cars passed us sitting on the side
of the road. Teach me to be helpful.

Ken and I eventually got started on the road again but Ken appeared to be
having a problem with his engine coolant. What bad luck! He managed to fix
the leak eventually. Good thing he had my screwdriver on hand.

We found ourselves traveling through some long and rough terrain. We had to
spend a lot of gas to get through the terrain. A convenient rest stop served
to fuel us up again, which we all decided to stop at. This gave everyone time
to catch up to the pack and the race was on. Tim was the first to leave the
rest area but he made a wrong turn. He ended up going down a dead-end road
and had to backtrack. Meanwhile Ken and I regained our lead and Max assumed
his rightful position, dead last. The race continued without much change and
I was able to win the first leg.

We raced another leg of the campaign after buying some more upgrades. I spent
money on putting a shell of armor around my car. With all of the bullets
flying around the track I figured I had to do something. Especially with Ken
sporting a 20mm turret, a new computer guidance system (allowing him to take
time from driving to shoot) and a grudge for my lending him my screwdriver.
Some people are never happy.

The second race was more of the same. Shooting, tire spikes, sabotage and
mayhem everywhere. We thought we were driving through a desert because we
kept seeing a car that looked like Max's Dallara in front of us. We assumed
it was a mirage and acted that way. On the last stretch before the finish
line, Ken made one last ditch effort to win, but was thwarted by the Max
mirage. Max actually won a race. After my great showing in the first race I
managed a distant fourth. It's the accumulation of points that counts
though. Max is now the cup leader with 9 points. Ken, Tim and I all have 7
and Elliot has 5. We are nowhere near completing this and I look forward to
my next upgrade. We've decided to gang up on Max too.

Day 2

We then proceeded with day two of our Roadkill campaign. With my poor showing
from the last race I was determined to do better. I figured with Max winning
the race whatever happened then was a fluke and extremely unlikely to be
repeated.

I was lucky with the cards I drew and was able to get onto the first track
right away. Max managed to seriously damage Elliot's car while passing him at
the starting gate. With all of the shooting going on behind me I continued to
advance in the race. I pulled two tracks ahead of the second place driver and
kept that distance for six out of seven legs. I was getting the right cards I
needed and managed to avoid any bad events. The rest of the pack were
struggling to catch up. Ken was the leader of the pack behind me.

Ken's upgrade, a supercharger, gave him a nice turbo-boost at several
opportune moments. This was why he was in second place. It used a lot of gas,
however, and his run for the race was shortened by having to make a pit stop
and refuel. He couldn't recover from that.

As I was entering the seventh and penultimate leg I made a grave error. I
stopped for gas not realizing that I didn't need to. This caused me to lose
two turns to the rest of the pack and allow them to catch up. Elliot,
recovered from his earlier mishap, was the first to enter the track behind
me. Tim was soon to follow.

Before I could make the final attempt to finish the race Elliot passed me and
made his attempt to end the race. As he was heading for the finish line he
must have misread the road signs because he made a wrong turn and ended up in
a side canyon. Tim's efforts to lead him along the right path were for
naught. Again, before I finish the race Tim passed me and made his attempt.
This time it was successful. This placed Tim and I within a single race
victory from claiming the cup championship.

The second race of the day was much worse. My luck of drawing cards rivaled
Max's card-drawing ability and I was soon left behind in a cloud of dust. Ken
again upgraded his vehicle between races, as we all did. This time he bought
himself a nuclear fuel cell. There would be no running out of gas for him
anymore. His combination of upgrades are now really potent and he stormed out
to a lead. He didn't make the crucial error that I did and he was able to win
the race easily. At the last minute I passed Max and Elliot for third to
somewhat redeem an otherwise dismal race.

With the win Ken can now win the cup championship with another race victory.
With his upgrade combination he is the sure favorite and designated target
for what should be the last set of races next week.

Day 3

What would turn out to be our final race of the campaign was started with much fanfare. The leader and everyone' s favorite driver, me, started the race without event. I left the starting gates and entered the first cross country leg. I noticed that the roadsigns were slightly confusing so I stopped to fix them for my fellow drivers. I wouldn't want to see them get lost or anything. As I found out later my fix made things worse for everyone instead of making them easier as I had intended. Oops, my bad. Everyone was thrown off by my mistake and lost cards, except for Max. Apparently Max's GPS system allows him to drive without roadsigns or maps, and apparently without conscience as you'll see later.

The race continued unabated except for the occasional gun fire or grenade explosion. Ken took some hits from Max who had finally discovered that guns have sights and can be aimed. He managed to ding up Ken's car a little, knock out his headlights and flatten one of his tires. As Ken was fixing his flat the rest of us were stopping at a rest stop to fuel up and bondo our own cars. I had some shrapnel in my car's underbelly that I had to extract in an excrutiatingly slow process. While I was under my car, minding my own business, the ever spiteful Max tried to clean my headlights with his tire iron. I discovered this evil deed as I was pulling out of the rest stop. It was night time and I had no lights to drive by. I almost spunout when I missed the road taking a sharp turn. I recommend never taking a road trip with Max.

It was night time and two of the five drivers were driving without headlights. We still had the important stuff though, machine guns and hand grenades. Tim and Elliott managed to pull ahead of the pack with me driving cautiously in third. Ken limped into the rest stop to fix his roadster. The damage was so extensive that he elected to fix only the most heavily damaged areas and get back into the race. Max, who was still at the rest stop for some reason, had a devious, if not original, plan. He would sabotage Ken's car. As fate would have it Ken came upon Max attempting his dirty deed and shooed him off with some shots into the air. Max was undeterred and managed to sneak back for another attempt. This time Ken was in the loo and Max had free reign to do what he could. Max thought hard about what he could do and, without much ingenuity, grabbed his tire iron and struck for the headlights. Again. Although showing a decided lack of inventiveness he did show some effectiveness. Because Ken had no headlights from one of Max's earlier attacks, Max's tire iron struck against much more valuable components sitting just behind the headlight cavity. Ken's ultra-modern computer guidance system was demolished. Max jumped in his car and sped off leaving Ken to wonder who would hate him so much.

Meanwhile Tim was speeding along and entered the final leg of the race with Elliot right behind him. Elliot managed to sideswipe Tim as he was passing and knocked out his headlights (it's a recurring nightmare), and his front left tire. This left Tim at the side of the road looking for his spare. I was able to pass Tim before he knew it and then pass Elliott not much further down the road. The finish line was in sight. I sped along and celebrated the victory... It was an oasis, and I was on the wrong road. I guess the strain of driving all night with no head lights caused my eyes to see something that wasn't there. I was lost and had no time to get my bearings. The race was lost to me. Ken managed to catch everyone and pass them. Max was still back at the rest stop eating a cheeseburger or something. Sometimes his motivation comes into question.

Elliott made one stab at finishing the race but managed to get clipped by Ken's hubcap blades. Elliott and Ken were slowed just enough to allow Tim to pass them both and claim the race and the cup. We had a great time with this campaign. I really thought Ken would win the race with the combination of upgrades he had but he couldn't avoid the deviousness of Max. I managed to finish second in the point standings with Ken right behind me.

Thread: Session Report

tiagoaob — 2003-12-10T14:24:35+00:00

For the last game of the evening, the last folks still up claimed for this old classic in my group.

Since there was some newbies, we could not continue our championship and played a stand alone game instead. I beganned the game in the lead, but soon after one Shortcut by the last player let me eating sand.

In the 3rd section, I managed to take the lead again, and for my luck, the other players engaged thenselves in a mass destruction party.

After that, I could stay isolated on the lead until the 5th section, inwitch my fuel ended. While I waited for a blessed Siphon Fuel card, one of the other players managed to pass me and went fot the 6 section, where his fuel ended.

I got the Siphon Fuel card and find my way to the 7th section in the lead again, were again my fuel ended. Soon after, another player got on me, but his fuel also ended.

We both got a Syphon Fuel card togheter and we had a quite good fight over the lead, but in the end, he managed to stay ahead and won the game.

Thread: Re:Session Report

tiagoaob — 2003-12-10T12:08:21+00:00

Yoder (#8777),
you wrote: "I pulled out to an early lead, and thanks to a Siphon Fuel card never had to stop for gas."
But even with Siphon Fuel you had to stop, since it is a Stoped only card, and every time you Stop, your turn is finished so you always lose at least one turn in the Time on Road marker for gas.

Thread: Session Report

batman — 2003-05-29T12:27:20+00:00

Lately I've been wanting to bring a set of games to Tuesday night with a theme. No particular reason for wanting to do this, I just thought it would be fun. So last night I brought only card games. I know, no bits to play with, no big artsy board to stare at, but I've always had a fascination with cards. Besides that the box to carry them in is much smaller. Jeff A. must have sensed something going on in the gaming ether because he too brought a game theme set. All of his games that he brought were designed by the great Karl Heinz-Schmiel. Combine this synchronicitic coincidence with a full crowd (was there anyone not there last night?) and you have a great evening.

Tim, Max, Dustin, Ed and I hit the dangerous road that is Road Kill to finish our "season" started oh so many moons ago. Dustin and Ed had enough points to win the whole season with only one race win. This forced me to join a truce pact with the ever untrustful pair of Tim and Max. So with a large grain of salt I entered the race in my usual starting position I fondly refer to as dead last. And there I remained for 7/8ths of the trip.

A little information side note for the unitiated... Each race of Road Kill consists of 8 road sections. The winner is the first car to reach the 8th section, obviously. Along the way there is constant jockeying for position using such menacing items as machine guns, hand grenades and assault rifles. This creates a very Mad Maxian atmosphere. Your car is never safe from attack and it's kill or be killed the entire time. By running a season of races, instead of just one race, we can buy upgrades between races that improve a particular aspect of our car. Some of the upgrade combinations are quite ingenious and the race is that much more exciting for them. The entire game is card based, fitting in nicely with my theme, and random events are determined by drawing a card from the deck and reading from a table on the card. Back to the race...

I was struggling to keep up with the pack during most of the race. My luck with getting car damage and difficulty in getting it fixed hampered me quite a bit. Meanwhile Tim was trailblazing a relatively short path. (The lead car determines the route we take). Tim has a nuclear power cell and it is to his advantage to drive a very long route instead of the one he was founding. I suspect he was using the cards he was dealt and not just being nice to the rest of us. Tim was still in the lead when he drove onto the seventh section of road. Max was close behind him, and me and Ed soon followed. Dustin, ahead in the season standings, was an entire section behind everyone else and a finish by any one of Tim, Max or myself would help all three of us to catch up. I had the cards to finish the race and attempted to use them. Thinking back on the pact that we had I thought that I would pass Max and Tim peacefully, and they would let me pass peacefully as well. We would all finish in the top three thereby making ground on the two leaders. Apparently Mad Max took his name to heart and decided to attack me while I passed him. Of course this gave me a flat tire and I had to stop on the side of the road and couldn't finish the race. Max was next and he couldn't finish and neither could Tim after him. This gave Ed and Dustin a chance to catch up, which they did, and actually pass both Max and I. Tim finally finished the race with me in last and Max in fourth. So Max's stab in the back caused both him and I to lose points while giving more points to the leaders. Now it wasn't just Mad Max, it was Mad Carl as well.

Tim earned enough points with the race win to be able to win the season by winning the next race, along with Dustin and Ed. Unfortunately the points we lost from the last race prevented Max and I from joining that group. Max and I were thrown together again as allies against the leaders. From the start I was able to pass the pack and take the lead. I had good enough cards and luck to remain in the lead all the way through the seventh section. I was hoping to enter the seventh section then stop and change the road signs to confuse the rest of the pack. Dustin snuck into the section before I could finish the job so he wasn't confused by my ploy. It did slow down the rest of the crew though. This left me all alone with Dustin on the final section. I was able to hold him off for a while but couldn't last forever. My attempts at finishing the race were unsuccessful. Tim had the cards to be able to come into the section and help me hold off Dustin enough so that I could finish the race, the only way to keep Dustin from winning. Once again it came down to passing Max for him to be able to accomplish this. Max just couldn't help himself, his itchy trigger finger found Tim's tires and he was stymied from the get go. It figures that Max couldn't hit the broad side of a barn until it came down to crunch time and then he hits the wrong cars.

Dustin was finally able to pass me and finish the race and the season. Dustin drank his milk.

Thread: Session Report

Yoder — 2003-05-21T13:03:05+00:00

We didn't get enough gear grinding fun last week, so when Mick arrived Roberto and I decided to play Roadkill yet again.

We decided to play to the 6th road segment instead of the 8th, so we could finish the game before Rob arrived. We adjusted our fuel down accordingly and started off.

I pulled out to an early lead, and thanks to a Siphon Fuel card never had to stop for gas. Mick initially could not draw the cards he needed, but did duel around with Roberto in the rear.

The game's mechanics hinder those in the lead. It's harder to move road segments when other people are behind you, and I was also slowed down by random events like headwinds and drawbridges. Eventually Mick and Roberto both caught up to me down the stretch. However, I had enough fuel to make it to the sixth card, and they didn't.

At this point Mick played a Siphon Fuel card to steal some gas from Roberto, but Roberto ran him off with automatic weapons fire. This was pretty funny because Roberto had done the same thing on the first turn when Mick tried to sabotage his car. Now Mick had to stop for gas, and he was already somewhat beat up by damage Roberto had inflicted. He was out of it.

Roberto also managed to pull out a Siphon card, giving him the fuel he needed to win the game. But, he had to stop to do it, giving me the chance to blast around him and take the win. I should have known he had something up his sleeve, for when I did it I found spikes all over the road, and suffered a flat tire.

However, Roberto was out of cards so I knew I had at least one more turn. I tried in vain to fix my tire, but couldn't do it. At last I drew a spare and then played sabotage on Roberto. Meanwhile he had drawn new cards twice but didn't find the combination he needed to win. So I was able to zoom past him to the finish line.

I enjoyed the game a lot, and didn't think it suffered much from playing with two less road segments. Since the mechanics are geared towards keeping everyone in the game, the endgame is pretty much all that matters, although it sure is fun blasting and ramming each other along the way. Like the last game we played, it game down to who could draw the cards they needed in the last "lap", and like last game I was the one to do it. Even Mick could have won, despite his damage, it if his attempt to steal gas from Roberto hadn't been repelled.

This is just a silly, random card game, but it's incredibly evocative of it's theme for some reason. The mechanics of playing weapons to pass each other are great--you can use attacks to pass, but your opponent can then counterattack, and both of you are just as likely to miss as you are to hurt each other. It really feels like you're zooming along at top speed, sideswiping your opponent with spiked hubcaps while he desperately sprays machinegun fire at you.

I can see getting bored of this game, but not before I play it several more times at least. Next time I want to play with four or more, and with the full eight road segments.

Thread: Session Report

Yoder — 2003-05-17T15:47:15+00:00

Roberto and I showed up early, and Fred soon joined us. Roberto had been itching to play this old Avalon Hill title so we jumped in.

The rules are somewhat complicated, but surprisingly not too hard to teach. So it wasn't long before we were racing along, with only a few minor misunderstandings of the rules during the game.

Roberto took an early lead, but Fred was able to hose him with a box canyon. However, Fred couldn't draw move cards to save his life. So I pulled ahead next, and was even able to stop and mess with the road signs, causing Roberto and Fred to lose some cards.

Eventually we were all close again, but all of us were running out of fuel. I had to stop first, since Fred had siphoned some of my gas earlier in the game. Then Fred was forced to stop. Roberto was able to siphon enough gas to make it to the penultimate road segment, where he frantically tried to find another way to get gas, to no avail. So I was able to zip by Fred and to the eighth segment for the win.
I liked the game a lot more than I expected I would, and am surprised it's not rated higher here. Some of the mechanics are very nice, like the way the system keeps those in the lead from zipping ahead, although one could argue that it is too easy to keep up, making the endgame something of a crap shoot. The mechanics do a good job of capturing the theme. The one problem we had was a shortage of move cards, but we could have been more careful about how we used them, too. I actually think the game would be better with four or more people and it may hit the table with four Tuesday night.