Another Game Z you're going to want: Roadkill Rally

Ok this time I'm not dangling the latest greatest prototype that I've played- though I have pulled that stunt on you guys once or twice. (mostly to hear the cries of anquish across the internet as hapless game nerds are denied great games that may never see the light of day.)

No this time I'm talking about Z-mans' Roadkill Rally.  Roadkill rally is the kind of game I would have designed with the aid of lots of beer, some dice, a couple of cocktail napkins and reruns of Deathrace 2000 playing in the background.
In other words: A FRIGGIN GREAT GAME!

1st Clue: Frank Branham reccomended it. More than once. Frank is understated. In Fact, he takes pride in being as understated as possible and if he mentions a game more than a few times then it is either incredibly good or very very bad. In this case Incredibly Good.

2nd Clue: It has both Boobs and Bombs. Lots of Bombs (though it could use a few more boobs)

So when I got to Origins, playing this was at the top of my list.
I tracked down Zev and forced him into a submission hold until weeping, he conceeded to teach me.

How Avery would teach the game:
Everyone moves their speed and runs over pedestrains.
Everyone shoots each other and pedestrians.
You discard rally cards to avoid wrecking and damage.
Ok lets play!

How Zev Taught the Game:
You get a hand of rally cards and equipment cards. The Rally cards represent your handling and the equipment represents er...equipment.

You can play rally cards from your hand for special effects but they are also discarded to avoid damage or avoid crashing. You can equip your car with the cards from your hand. There are three slots that are each color coded to mathc types of equipment.

You also get a special skill card that gives you a small perk in certain situations.

Set your speed, then beginning with the lead inside car, you move spaces indicated by your speed (Speed/ 20.) if you move through a pedestrian space you can try to hit them by rolling a die. (You may discard rally cards to roll more dice.) The dice have 1 hits and 2 hits and the double hits open up. 2 hits kill a pedestrian.

If you move into a bend the edges are color coded.  On your accelerator, there are colored bands showing how many dice to roill at unsafe speeds. So if  you're gunning it at 120MPH into a tight bend,  you might end up having to roll 6 dice and discard that may cards.

If you can't discard that many?  KARLgoBOOOOM!! 
Crashing sets your speed to 20 mph and you loose one of your weapon slots until you pit.  And you get a nice fat -20 point penalty. And everyone else makes fun of you.

Three crashes and you're outta there or you can play nice and keep them in the race without the ability to make a pit stop. -but then who is going to get your beer when you're thirsty?

After all the movement you fight. You can shoot pedis (which take three hits instead of two)
or other cars. Shooting another car gives you a +10 pnt bonus and the cards the victim has  to discard.

Instead of attacking, you can play a pit card and swap out equipment. There is a nice selection of weapons and gear. At first glance there looked like there could be some very effective combinations but the draw is random. Besides, if anyone gets too uppidty just blow them off the road.

Each tile of the road has some sort of interesting effect, like having to navigate a jump or roll through a blazing barricade.  Or you might get lucky and run through a shool crosswalk as the little tikes are on their way to school. (That thought will long sustain me as I wait out at car pool duty during those cold rainy January mornings.)

The board and peices are done in bright primary and secondary colors with fun little red splats of blood to make where the pedis go. Although, I would have liked to see things looks a bit less cartoony, I appreciate the irony of the happy bright colors depicting crazed motorsport killers.
So how is the gameplay? It is only fun if you enjoy peppering your friends with fire from a vulcan cannon, rolling lots of dice, and running over senior citizens.  And I'm afraid it has no cubes...not even one. Oh wait, the damage dice are cubes so it looks like its got the Eurogame angle covered.  I guess this game has a something for everyone. I will say there is a lot of dice rolling and card playing, and while the game is very simple and straightforward, it does take some time to go through a whole turn of 6 players through a hairpin turn while everyone is shooting at each other. Fortunately if you have a bunch of people you can just shorten the track by removing a few tiles.

The bottom line is that this game is pure fun. It still doesn't replace my all time favorite of Thunder Road, but comes in a close second with lots of carnage and laughs. Oh and if you don't like it then you're a complete wanker.  Thats not an opinion, it is just a fact.

Steve"RoadWarrior"Avery