Racing Games: A Mini-Buyer's Guide (Heat, Thunder Road: Vendetta, & Joyride)

[@jbringas9582]

I just love how Tallie gets it! I agree with her reviews 99% of the time, and her take on Vendetta is spot on. I don’t know how the husband thinks it is not very replayable. I’ve had hours and hours of fun playing this game with my family and we are nowhere tired of it. I’m glad she’s the voice of reason. Keep up the awesome vids!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hahaha this is the greatest comment of all time 😉 - Tallie

[@RavingMadStudios]

I still have my original Thunder Road from 1987, and it is still fun to play, if a little random and simplistic. The retooled version, Thunder Road: Vendetta, is a fantastic modern update which incorporates many improvements that hobby gamers will appreciate, including more meaningful player choices, randomness mitigation, and downtime reduction. I enjoyed it so much that I gave my retail version base game to my son and got the all-in Maximum Chrome edition with the new Carnival of Chaos expansion, and the amount of added content is amazing, without adding too much complexity. You get motorcycles, a Big Rig, additional track boards with new terrain and hazards like Fire and ramps, unique player abilities, and a whole dueling Arena which introduces a brand new style of gameplay, plus a ton of other stuff that can be used to add variety to the experience. If you enjoy this type of game, you will not regret splurging a bit on the fully expanded version. It’s awesome.

[@tjplaysboardgames]

Haven’t heard of Joyride, but now I want to try it! Heat moved up my ranks immediately! So much replayability. Great video 💯🔥

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks so much!

[@OresteGamba]

Very useful comparison! Thanks for the video!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hope it helps!

[@allenherring7787]

Love this, thank you. Curious what you think about Flamme Rouge, Rallyman GT, and Deathroads: All-Stars. Love these as well.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you! If we ever get our hands on all those games we'll let you know!

[@jameshowlett1546]

Thanks for these reviews and comparisons!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad you like them!

[@williamkremer7382]

Useful video, thank you. Any chance of a demo or review of Dungeon Cart?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

No chance unfortunately, but you can always let Brotherwise Games know you'd like us to preview it!

[@williamkremer7382]

@@BoardOfItReviews Done! 😂

[@williamkremer7382]

They got back right away and said no. 😢

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you for trying!

[@floobe]

Great video! I think I'll get Joyride, seems like a good mix between racing and havoc! And on the Kickstarter there seems to be a lot of additional stuff that'll keep it fresh. Have you thought about hanging up some mats, curtains or something in the room you're recording in as to stop voice echo? Great production otherwise!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks! It's something we should look into, I think we just never quite sorted it after we moved house.

[@jimmarshall807]

Great comparison, shame it's hard to get hold of these. The only one I have is Heat, which does work best at higher player counts. I'm fortunate to have a local game club so I can usually drum up sufficient opponents.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Yea, it's crazy Heat in particular has been so hard to get considering the big publishers behind it

[@rbolkey]

If we don't have enough players, we do try to add however many Legends bots it takes to reach at least 5 cars. It helps give more opportunities for players to catch up, and gives a good sense of pacing as they've tuned the bots pretty well.

[@tgwatkins]

This video definitely has me itching to play thunder road and I wonder if I'll love it as much. I will say, I found the review of Heat to be different from my experience with it. I have 20 or so races under my belt with varying player counts of 2, 3, and 5 and it is so smooth. I really think the review missed on showcasing just how important the modules are. Play the base game once or twice with the AI module (for lower player counts), then add the weather and garage module and WOW! the game opens up and becomes hyper strategic, do I go for the breaks because it's a hot sunny day with tight corners and I might need to bounce between a 4 or a 1 speed ... etc... Then you add the championship module and you're off to the races with so much crunchy strategy it quickly goes from checkers to chess. I also think the reviewers misrepresented the game in saying someone who is behind can't catch up. I've had plenty of games where the person in last for the majority of the game has finished first and there are a lot mechanisms to help players behind perform better. The game is deck builder and deck management 101 and it's tight and my gamer group loves it.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for sharing your opinion, it should be super helpful for others :). It's fair to say we didn't focus too much on the modules, but I would also point out a lot of people will probably never try the modules! I think part of the popularity of Heat is how easy it is to introduce and play with family and friends, and once you throw in weather or the decisions on how to build your car it does get more complex which is fine for gamers, but less appealing for family (probably). Regarding last place, I guess we just have different experiences! It's true you do have a number of catch up mechanisms in last, but I think often they can be hampered by triggering a corner/situational and if you're too far back you won't be getting slipstream. I think it's one thing if someone is at the back of the pack and win, but we were talking about people being a quarter of the map away (or more!) by the end and it feeling over for them. It's probably a quite different situation however if you play like yourself with the garages, weather and have skilled players!

[@zombierich]

Think I’ll order a copy of Heat while I wait for my preorder of Thunder Road: Maximum Chrome 😊

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Sounds good!

[@ninjabiscuit1095]

Was looking into videos on Thu der Road and had never heard of Joyride, thanks for letting me know about it. I'd also say that Heat has the AI bots to have that make it excellent to play with lower player counts, I've played it several times 2 player with my mum

[@BoardOfItReviews]

The bots are great!

[@epepo]

Where would you place Formula D?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We have not played it unfortunately!

[@MCoTEDDY]

In the museum with the rest of the fossils. Heat is so much better. You have more control on the level of luck implied. The race goes by much faster, regardless of player count. It is also more forgiving, making it more worthwhile to press your luck now and then. Formule D was cool but it is definitely outdated. The rules are overcomplicated, the pace is slow, if you allow people to actually count before moving, it becomes a snore fest.

[@Coffeemaker1978]

The new kickstarter for Vendetta is quiet expensive 😢

[@nicholascoso4070]

Y’all heard about Race! Formula 90? 2nd edition just dropped

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We have not!