OVERVIEW:
In gumball rally, you control a racecar, represented by a nice thick cardboard tile on the table with quality graphics. You control your position in the race by playing race cards from your hand based on their number and symbol. The goal is to be in the lead (or close) when the scoring cards get drawn, so that you can score victory points.
There are three decks of cards at work in the game: First a set of race cards with numbers and symbols on them. These cards are drawn by the players and played to move their cars in the race. More on that in a moment! The second deck is a "hazard" deck that sends certain racers to the back of the pack. This works to prevent runaway leaders and add some funny moments/random screwage to the game. This deck also contains the scoring cards that trigger scoring rounds. Scoring occurs by taking cards from the scoring deck, deck number three.
MECHANICS:
The game starts out by placing the youngest player in first place and going clockwise around the table placing the cardboard cars in order. Believe me, this isn't really going to effect the outcome of the game. After drawing a hand of race cards, the racing begins!
The player in first place places a race card from his hand. Each race card has a number from 1-10 and also has a symbol/color. The four symbols are lunch break, nap, tune up, and gas fillup. OK, so I forget what they are actually called but this is what they represent. These are easily recognized by the picture and the color of the card.
The first player plays a card and sets it on his cardboard car marker. He is already in first place, so there isn't any passing to resolve. The first player draws back up to three cards. Then, the next player places a race card. You can pass any car ahead of you if the card you play has a higher number OR if it is the same symbol. Therefore, even if the card ahead of you is a 10, you can pass it if you play the same symbol. This is really a great mechanic, and it makes this game shine. You aren't just trying to get ahead of the pack each play, you are trying to manage your hand and find good spots to use your low card, as well as chances to move ahead AND get cars right behind you with high numbers to protect your butt.
Everyone goes around the table playing a race card and resolving their passing. Sometimes this results in a big shake up of the order and sometimes it doesn't. Often, folks who haven't been managing their hand well (or just haven't been very lucky) can fall all the way from first to last in one turn.
After everyone has played a race card and resolved it, a card is drawn from the hazard deck. This card will be either a hazard card or a scoring card. If it is a hazard card, it will have a symbol corresponding to the symbols on the race cards. Whoever played the highest race card of that symbol last turn goes to the back of the pack! For example, if you played the highest tune up card and the Flat tire hazard card is drawn, you go to the back. Likewise for the other symbols, lunch break, out-of-gas, naptime, whatever. There are also major hazards that effect everyone who has played a card of that type.
If a scoring card is drawn, then cards from the scoring deck are given to the players in the first four places according to their position. They keep these, and these form the VPs for the game.
This continues until the hazard deck is gone. I think the game plays for fifteen rounds, but I could be wrong.
COMPONENTS:
The components in this game are beautiful. The thick cardboard of the car markers is perfect, as these cards get slid around the table quite a bit. The cards are large and have good quality art on them. They seem pretty durable, which is a good thing since this is a game you could play with kids. It would also be a good game if you were slightly drunk, another potential test for component durability. The art is really all first class, and it makes the game more enjoyable. Its a fairly abstract little racing game, but the great production values helps you get into the racing theme. You really get a lot of nice stuff in this little box, well worth the $15 price tag and more.
STRATEGY:
There is a lot more here than meets the eye. Sure, with all the card drawing and the unpredictability of the other players you aren't going to feel like you are in control of your own destiny very often. I still think that clever card play and hand management really pays off in a game like this. That said, you can still play the game off the cuff just slinging cards and have a pretty good time.
SCALABILITY:
We played the game with 8 players, and it actually worked and worked well! It scales wonderfully. Of course, it was probably longer then it would have been normally, but it was still a pretty short game. I can imagine that with 3-5 players it would be really quick.
THE GOOD:
Great production quality on the components here. They all have great art and seem very durable.
Great mix of strategy and luck. You can play this as a beer and pretzels goof off filler game, you can play it for fun with your kids, or you can take it seriously as a hand management/positioning game.
Very quick game, easy to teach and play.
Most of all, its just fun! There are a lot of chances to screw your opponents, chances for big comebacks, and other fun stuff. Nothing like managing your hand well and saving up several high cards for the endgame either! The game is very enjoyable.
THE BAD:
You have to supply your own gumballs.
Seriously, at the beginning of the game, there is a little bit of deck setup to rig the scoring cards in the right place. Its pretty minor, but I had to come up with something to criticize.
RECOMMENDATION:
I recommend this game to anyone with kids, anyone looking for a good filler or a beer and pretzels style racing game, and anyone looking for a light hand management racing game.
Posted Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:24 pm
