Games
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Back in the 80s, my very first job was working at Six Flags – St. Louis. I quickly noticed that there was an inordinate amount of incredibly cute girls working as “Hostesses” who escorted the costumed mascots around the park. Eager for any chance to talk to a cute girl, I asked them “What exactly do you do?” They explained they lead the mascots around, since it was incredibly hard for the people inside the costumes to see anything and that the mascots were constantly tripping and falling due to the bulk of the outfits. Hot Streak is not about hostesses or even the people who chose to “wear the fur” inside the costumes. Instead, you'll be channeling the dudes who used to stand around, smoke cigarettes and saying “Hey, I'll bet you a quarter that the guy in the squirrel suit slips in that vomit around the Tom's Twister. I'll Make it 50 cents if he takes a header over that six year old.”
Hot Streak is a game about racing mascots and players will be placing bets on who they think will win. You'll use a snake draft to pick two tickets that will pay out if the selected character finishes in the top three of a race. You are also able to use your selections to wager a side bet, with options like “A character will be disqualified this race” or “The final stretch will be empty when the first racer crosses the finish line.”
It is of vital importance that you learn the names of all the mascots: Hurley the Hot Dog, Dangle the Fish, Gobbler the Bear and Mum a Queen. You may be wondering why do you have to know all of these names? Because you don't want to be that guy yelling “No, you stupid hot dog, you are going the wrong damn way!” It's much more refined to speak clearly and distinctly and say “Hurley, I believe that your destination is in this direction. So, if you could crawl a space or two toward the cursed finish line, I might win this f***ing bet!”
For the love of King and country, at least face the right direction on the podium Hurley!
Racers will veer left and right, knock other racers down, end up going the wrong direction, and -in the case of Hurley- always disappoint you. The movement of the racers is defined by the cards that comprise the deck. You'll have a (mostly) random set of cards for all three races that is generated before the first race begins. Like any professional loser...err...gambler, everyone will be looking for that little edge and Hot Streak provides it by letting you see exactly what cards will be used during the races. And you'll be thinking “This is almost too easy, the money is going to roll right in!” and then the players will be adding one card from their hand of three cards to each race. No problem, we got this. Then, as the race begins, the dealer counts down “Three, Two, One” (Burning a card card for each number...oh no, you can just picture all of the cards that you counted on to bring Mum to the forefront being removed for this race) and GO!
Psst! Mum! The race started five minutes ago!
The dealer will reveal card after card and the dedicated player mover (preferably the person who hasn't been eating Cheezy Puffs) will move the racers as the actions are revealed. Like a first time driver learning to drive a stick, there will be plenty of surging, stalling, and full-on collisions. The game even goes full Vince Coleman after you work through the deck in a race. You reshuffle the cards and then fold up part of field to the first white line. If any mascots are still in this area, they are immediately Disqualified from the race...kind of like the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals. Wait a minute, is that Don Denkinger inside that Hurley costume?
Hot Streak thrives on the hilarious little details. Like once you finish a game, every final cash total has an entry in the instruction manual that you read out loud to find out what you did with your “winnings.” There are so many that are legitimately hilarious. And check out the Money!
If Mum, Dangle and Gobbler aren't adorable enough, now I want to know the backstory of the Soccer/Football, Baseball and Basketball headed (as in their heads are designed to look like the actual associated sports balls) mascots who appear on the money. Is there a mascot Mount Rushmore and are these guys on it? So many questions.
Hot Streak is a explosive, LOUD gaming experience that is basically unrivaled. It supports an astounding NINE players but, beware, with the full compliment of players, games will likely register on the Richter scale. But if you are here for a review of the game portion and not the experience portion, yes, it has a few flaws. Side Bets are too lucrative but, hey, it's gambling and a long shot is a long shot. The 50/50 Yes/No bet is like betting on the coin flip at the Super Bowl...which, in a game about degenerate gamblers who will bet on anything, is kind of perfect.
The amount of influence each player has on the actual race is like giving a Energy Drink to one of the mascots. Did you actually impact the race? Hmm...maybe a tiny bit? It's more effective to NOT play a great card for a specific character when it ends up in your hand. So, maybe it's more like untieing one of the mascots super floppy shoes than giving them an energy drink. If you can get other players to also throw in a card for a specific character you all want to win/lose, you can make a real difference. BUT, since the betting tickets for specific characters have diminishing returns, they are more likely to promise and not deliver. But, again, that is part of the experience of Hot Streak. Flaw or feature? You decide.
Kick him when he's down Dangle!
The game takes place over three races and, on the final race, you pick one bet that you double. Great for a come from behind victory, not so great for balance. None of these gaming shortcomings hinder the enjoyment level in any significant way. If you are whining about someone making a metric shit ton of cash on the last race with a crazy bet while you took a slow and steady approach over all three races...maybe embrace the lunatic betting?
** We interrupt this review for a breaking news story **
“Hello everyone. Your action news reporter, in the booth at the stadium. Covering the Mascot Race at the football play-off. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?”
“Yeah, I did. It was half-time, I was just goin' down there to get Ethel a snow cone. Here they comes, crashing into the cheap seats. Gobbler was runnin' right down the middle of the field, darn, didn't have on nothing but a bobbling head. He was streaking down the field. Made a field goal, got DQ'ed, and got out through the concessions stand. I hollered up at Ethel, I said, "Don't look, Ethel!" It was too late, she'd already got stiff armed by Hurley, Grandstandin' it right there in front of the home team.”
If you take anything away from this review it should be this: Hurley is a punk who sucks the money from your wallet like a... No, no, wait, that wasn't it. I can't think of a single Board Game that gets the visceral reaction Hot Streak does. It not only pays out on your race bets, it doubles down with howls of laughter and screams of despair/delight at the antics of the racers.
A review copy of this release was provided by the publisher. Therewillbe.games would like to thank them for their support.
If you enjoyed this review, please consider tipping via My KOFI. All proceeds go to buying more games for review!
