My Top 10 Favorite Racing Games

[@steveody978]

Jamey, congrats on the rising star award you were given from Origins. We were looking for you there, would have loved to meet you! Can't think of anyone more deserving of such an award!

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Steve! I'm sorry I wasn't there to meet you, but I hope you had a good time at Origins!

[@thewelcomemat7094]

Ice Cool when combined with Ice Cool 2 has a great racing mode :) Thanks for the video, really easy to listen to and follow what you're saying!

[@rosefatato90]

Great list! I love tales and games: the hare and the tortoise too!!!

[@Razorgirl]

I *adore* _Hare and the Tortoise_. Everyone I’ve introduced it to loves it. I love that kids can play it (so long as they can count to 8, they can play it). It also has the *best* game balance I’ve seen - in that the more people that are barracking for one character, the less cards there will be for that character in the game, and thus they’re less likely to place in the race. 🐇🐢🐺🦊🐑

[@quadparty]

Lewis and Clark would probably be my favorite. The art is amazing, I like the theme, and the mechanisms are a good amount of think-y.

[@clubcourage6862]

Fun list! I love flamme rouge, downforce, snow tails, quest for Eldorado, and Jamaica. Also would add Winner's Circle (similar card decisions todown force, plus betting), and Automobiles (bag builder makes agonizing decisions).

[@JacobLikesMusic]

My favorite among the ones I played is Snow tails, it feels like racing. I'm designing a racing game now, it's really focusing on the driving. It's a bag modifier and there is some push your luck. It rewards cutting corners and it matters where you are on the road (left/right) both when you handle curves and try to overtake or draft on other cars. One playtester recently said it reminded him of playing the video game Need for speed, that made me happy. 🙂

[@scyldscefing3913]

What a fun way to start my Sunday. The only racing game I've played is Steampunk Rally. I just bought Downforce based on so many great reviews, but have not yet played it. This isn't a genre I gravitate to, but I'll bet I would enjoy every game on your list.

[@jameystegmaier]

I completely forgot about Steampunk Rally! I really enjoyed my play of it, especially with the metal gears.

[@Razorgirl]

Wow. I’m surprised that _Flamme Rouge_ was so low in your ranking. 🚴‍♀️🚴🚴‍♂️ I’m surprised you didn’t mention _Robo Rally_ . 🤖 _Steampunk Rally_ has shortcuts that are more difficult to navigate than the longer route. ⚙️

[@dratsum76]

Downforce is really fun with its betting mechanic and card system. The expansion tracks are worthwhile. Id love to show you formula d sometime soon if you'd be up for it. Like many race games, it plays pretty fun with more people.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Steven! I'd definitely like to try Formula D.

[@DenisRyan]

Fantastic video! I love Downforce and got to teach it just last Friday to a whole table of six new players at the board game Meetup I run, and then played it myself last night with friends. Great, great fun. Given that it and Mario Kart sit so highly together, have you seen the fan rules for adding all the powerups and other elements of Mario Kart into the Downforce mechanics posted on BGG? They use the minis from Mario Kart Monopoly, which are perfectly scale! I'm also surprised by your thoughts on Gravwell. Not that it didn't make it into your top 10, you had a very strong list, but that you had trouble wrapping your head around the gameplay. I adore this racing game and have regularly used it as an intro game into board games, even teaching it to kids I've worked with. Maybe you had a bad teacher? Hahah!! If we ever end up in the same convention hall together, I'd love to have the chance to run you through a game of it and show you how I teach it. Finally, I love your Mad Max coop race idea. Have you even seen a classic (read: old) board game called Thunder Road? It's very much based off the Mad Max movies style, with a cool track mechanic. I've been pestering Restoration Games for a while now to pick up the license and do their magic on it, and adding in a coop element like you've suggested would be amazing! I shall, for now, continue to dream of apocalyptic roads stretching endlessly to the horizon on cardboard tiles with tiny plastic vehicles racing to control the water.

[@jameystegmaier]

That's really cool to hear about the Mario Kart fan powerups! I need to try that. I'd be happy to give Gravwell another try, and Thunder Road sounds really cool too.

[@cmicha8303]

Another great racing game is Steampunk Rally. Engine building (literally), dice placement, and a lot of player interaction make for an exciting time. I am in St. Louis and would love to show you anytime. 😀

[@JR-zc9vq]

Do you feel like there's only one way to win though? Or like there's no catch up mechanic once you're behind? I have never played before but kinda interested since it plays up to 8 players and it has simultaneous action so lesser downtime.

[@manonfire1174]

Mario cart 64 is my favorite too! So many great moments. I am setting up a retro gaming station and this game is one of the reasons why.

[@jonlocke7112]

Jamey please tell me you are making a heavy game soon. I think your ability to create clean engine building mechanics with area control would translate well in a 4-5 weight scale.

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm more of a medium-weight gamer, so that's the type of game I design. :)

[@jameystegmaier]

Also, you just described Scythe. :)

[@jonlocke7112]

Oh my god, I totally forgot you made Scythe. lol

[@msanasiri7873]

Can you make a new video as I like racing games, and there are so many great ones right now and I Would like to see you’re opinions on them. Also thank you for making a great game like wingspan which is one of our favorite games to play.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks! You're right that it's been a while since I made this video, though I can think of only 3 racing games I've played since then that might contend for the top 10. What games not on this list would you add?

[@trippjs]

Watched this one with my kids who applauded Downforce, Jamaica and Camel Up (the top 3 that get to our table). My 8 year old son (a Mariokart fanatic) stood up and cheered for #1 on list. A real time co-operative game we enjoy which is essentially a race against the clock is Escape: Curse of the Temple which is a blast with great tension and player interaction.

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm glad the video made for good family viewing! :) And I like the idea of Escape as a cooperative racing game.

[@landonkryger]

I don't play too many racing games so I had to lookup all my games to find some. I've got 2 that I really enjoy that didn't make you list: RoboRally and Salmon Run. Both happen to be sort of programming games. Salmon Run is probably less well know, but it has a deck building element too. I think what I like about these (aside from the programming mechanism), is that your path for the course is very open about how you want to get to the end.

[@ZakiJeppe]

Not a big racing game fan but here's my top five: 1. Pitchcar 2. Steampunk Rally 3. Karuba 4. Downforce 5. Camel Up

[@HenryRSeymour]

Euphoria is just one of my favorite games in general, but I do love the endgame. Pieces has a copy of Jamaica if you ever want to play it again!

[@htak2010]

Motorsports nerd here, so, my #1 is definitely Race! Formula 90. A lot of authenticity and racing tactics there, even if it's not exactly simple or super fast. Still, it's perfect for someone who's in deep into actual racing. I'm also looking forward to receiving my Rallyman GT KS pledge. You should really try Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Such a wonderful game. Lots of variety, and good kart control, too.

[@ericfinley220]

I recently picked up Downforce. I am currently tracking down the Mario Kart pieces from Monopoly Gamer to make the game more appealing for the kids.

[@DenisRyan]

I'm sure you've seen the extensive rules on BoardGameGeek for adding in all the powerups and other elements of Mario Kart into the Downforce mechanics!

[@jaggyg8122]

Does anyone remember the old card game Mille Bornes? Simple draw and play/discard style card game.

[@jameystegmaier]

I do! It's one of the first games we played as a family when I was a kid. :)

[@1000YearBeard]

I'm working on an endgame mechanism that feels like a relay race, so players that are far behind can still have some fun. Right now, players decide/vote to switch over to this "cooperative" play BUT I want it to be a game condition that triggers it. If they go co-op, the players are ranked (Winner, 2nd place & runner-up).

[@jameystegmaier]

That's an interesting twist, to have players vote on keeping the game competitive or having it become cooperative.

[@DanielHCassidy]

When you described the chase scene i thought of last Jedi. But it is a neat idea. I see it as a two player game. But i think the primary condition to stop the initial chaser from winning would be the chased would win if there was more than x spaces between them at the turn around point. To stop the initial chaser from hanging back at turn around

[@ckgamedesign726]

Love racing games, our first game Road Roariors has a Mario Kart inspired catchup element AND hard to access shortcuts :-)

[@Malkryst]

Formula D is great - you need to try that. It's 2-10 player and simple enough and with enough luck elements to let non-gamers compete with seasoned gamers, so it's a good game for big family gatherings. It even has a partial co-op team mode (like you mentioned was missing from your list, Jamey) if you play with an even number of 4 or more players - half of the 10 F1 cars provided are the same colour as the other half, just with black spoilers to differentiate them, so you can race as a team of two cars like in actual F1, and points for finishing positions are added together after the race is over to determine winning team. Tracks are double sided boards, an F1 circuit one side, a street race track the other, which leads to my sole problem with this Formula Dé reprint compared to the original. Street racing mode is fun (10 extra cars provided for that), but for F1/racing fans like my family and I the extra rules/weirdness for street races (hazards, jumps, shortcuts, driver special powers, etc.) dilute and slow down the racing without adding much except additional luck and some frustration (feels unfair when your car gets damaged because a bystander shot at it as you drove through a hazard zone in a rough part of town). I wish Formula D had focused on F1 like Formule Dé did - and maybe Indycar too (as that wouldn't have diluted the professional racing theme) - because I suspect street racing was maybe added to appeal more to a US and maybe younger audience less interested in F1. They could have done street racing as a different base game with its own track packs then.

[@Razorgirl]

I was surprised how much I loved _Formula-D_ given how I have ZERO interest I have in car racing, I found the game thrilling and exciting. +1 for Jamey giving Formula-D a go. 🏎🎲

[@stephenstanton4936]

I enjoy Turfmaster a horse racing game with alternate turn use of cards and dice to determine movement. Playable with up to 8 players but reasonable in length.

[@anthonywestbrook2155]

I still love playing Backgammon, but I think its biggest flaw is that its toughest decisions are centered around gambling and the doubling cube. It's a game that historically has always had lots of variants (I'm planning on hosting a night with the Medieval 7 players/7 sided dice version), but I've not found any that overcome the basic need for catch up mechanics and more interesting choices that aren't about gambling or multi game scores.

[@martinba9629]

Ha! No 1 was a bit of a surprise, but all things considered: Yes, that series might just be the best Racing Game(s) out there. In my Case, #1 would still have been The Quest For El Dorado - I absolutely love that game! :-D

[@michael-anarchygamestudio5190]

You fooled me with where you placed Downforce!

[@cklester]

"Long Shot" is such a fun racing game and is probably my favorite, although my experience with racing games is somewhat limited. I'd love to play Formula D! You mention possible racing games--I think someone should make a game based on Cannonball Run! You could have highways across America, and you could detour to cities not on the direct route for bonuses. Somebody make that one!

[@Stephen-Fox]

I prefer the way the drifting works in more modern Mario Karts, evens the learning curve just a notch between (As people found for the first online Mario Kart, I think that was the Wii) "You either snake or you lose" - Basically just means that you can't charge the mini-turbo you get from drifting by changing the direction of your drift, meaning you can only charge it if you're (willing to) properly corner at that point in the race, rather than being able to charge it on straights by 'snaking' back and forth. My favourite racing game is probably Hare and Tortoise. As in the first Spiel Des Jahres winner, not as in the game you were talking about. Some lovely resource management mechanisms - You're unable to finish unless you have 10 or less carrots, but carrots are your fuel in the race so you'll have to figure out how to gain enough to get around the track and then spend enough to finish. Moving further costs you more carrots (triangular progression), but on paper you can move as many spaces as you like, at some points you may want to move backwards (you gain 10 carrots per space moved this way, can only move onto specific - tortoise spaces - and so forth. On top of that interesting resource management puzzle base, in the eddition we had in my childhood jugging the hare added your position in the race to a die roll so the further back you were the more likely you'd get a good result (The card flips in more recent editions have started to be written in a way to reintroduce that catchup element to jugging the hare I think?), with a bunch of spaces operating better if you were further behind (and a few that were position dependent) making the game highly interactive.

[@TheDavidPhillips]

Have you ever tried Divinity Derby? It's kind of an odd combination of Downforce and Camel Up. Not sure I love it yet, but the mechanism where you share hands with your neighbors is interesting.

[@jameystegmaier]

I haven't! But that sounds very interesting.

[@jonknight4616]

Tortoise and the Hare/Camel Up reminds me of Colossal Arena, but instead of a race, you are all bidding on mythic beasts to survive in the area. You will most likely be supporting more than one beast. You have a secret bid you can place in the first round. And by having the most backing to a creature (having the higher value bet totals on it) means you can activate that creature's ability when you place a card on it during the round. I want to try snow tales! No chance to yet! As for games racing to get to a certain point, Istanbul very much is that. You are trying to be the first player to get X number of rubies. +1 for Grokking. Also, my copy of Wingspan that I won is coming in today! And my copy of Euphoria + Expansion that I ordered is also coming in today, so it's like a Stegmaier kind of day of goodies! And supposedly this month, Dark Age, the latest book in the red rising series is hitting!

[@Julebstube]

I just came up with an idea for a race game, where all players control a team of 5 racers each, you need to get as many of your racers to finish before a certain end game trigger. Age 6+. Any other games like that out there?

[@jameystegmaier]

In Flamme Rouge, each player controls 2 racers, though I'm not aware of a game where each player controls more than 2 racers that other players also do not control.

[@Julebstube]

I just found a game called Ice Team coming out this year. It is a 2 player game, where you control 4 polar bears.

[@Julebstube]

So after testing it some with other designers, I contacted a few publishers, and got my first contract ever, coming out autumn 2020 :)

[@Julebstube]

...and now I won my first award with my first game :) boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/309824/arctic-race Thanks for providing some inspiration for designers.

[@destrio]

Fugitive by Tim Fowers is a 2 player chase game i have heard of but didn't play.

[@Stormmover]

What about Luxor and Um Reifenbreite?

[@jameystegmaier]

I hadn't played Luxor when I filmed this video, but I've played it since and enjoy it.

[@romainb9174]

There is a game called cerberus that emphasize your idea of chase/race

[@dimitrisxanthis5671]

crazy karts is a coop racing game :) And gaslands in some modes :)

[@JosephFlemming]

snow tails failed for us because the instructions were confusing and the track was very confusing around curves

[@powellhall9794]

😎👍

[@republikadugave420]

Um reifenbreite... :)

[@jilldesiree8780]

Try playing The Really Nasty Horse Racing game.

[@jamesroy007]

How about Euro mission racing, like....Oracle of Delphi from SF?

[@jameystegmaier]

That's a neat hybrid, because it kind of falls into the Euphoria category of racing towards the goal, but it also includes an actual vehicular racing element too.

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

Istanbul for me. First to 5 gems.

[@robs5688]

Powerboats.

[@rexgoodheart3471]

Dang, this is chatty.

[@dimitrisxanthis5671]

some of these games are not racing games but bidding games (you bid for the winner of a race,but you are not racing yourself)..