Heat Pedal to the Metal

Motor racing, in which the real danger is your own hand of cards.

Days of Wonder's 1960s-styled racing game, designed by Asger Aleksandrov Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen. Period artwork, a board that looks like a vintage race programme, and up to six cars on the circuit at once. It teaches in about five minutes, which is not something most games carrying this much tension can claim.

You shift gear to set how many cards you play, play them, and then find out whether the corner ahead will accept the speed you have arrived at. Overcook it and your deck fills with Heat cards, which do nothing whatsoever except clog the hand you need two turns from now. That is the whole design: speed now is paid for later, always. Thirty to sixty minutes, and it works at every count from one to six.

Perfect for: The friend who overtakes on the inside and then spends the next three corners in the gravel.

1–6 players | 30–60 minutes | Age 10+