Designed by: Reiner Knizia
Formula Motor Racing is a short and swingy racing game.
The board represents not the really the track – at least not in entirety – but the player’s positions relative to one another. Each player begins with two cars and if you’ve one car at the front, your second will be at the back. If you’re in second place, your other car will be second-from-back and so on.
Players are each dealt a hand of cards and on your turn, you simply play a card and then draw another. So what do the cards do?
Well, they all move cars, but in distinct, deranged and occasionally despicable ways. Some cards move a car of a specific colour. Some move a car that’s in a specific position on the track. Some involve rolling a die and applying the results. Overtaking cards allow a car behind the overtaking car to move with it, thus pushing two cars up the track. Some cards involve crashing, and eliminating you from the race!
Play continues until the draw deck is empty, and then players in positions 1-6 are awarded points. A single race takes 20 minutes, but the game recommends playing an entire season of races as a Grand Prix-style championship.
Plenty. In a real race, you can be overtaken. In this one, someone else is often driving on your behalf - and not very well!
Low to moderate, depending on how thinky you want to get. But really, it's best experienced as a fast-moving, luck-pushing bit of silliness.
Extremely low
Hugely depends on how you feel about FMR's approach to racing, which is less about milliseconds bought with fine-tuning an engine, and more like being hit over the head with a baguette
3-6
Players
8+
Years
15-30
Mins
Sam says
Good silly fun, easily taught and each play seeded with moments of risk-taking glory and folly. For my tastes it's all a little arbitrary-feeling - you can have a hand of cards that don't help you at all - and whilst I wouldn't pooh-pooh a game, I wouldn't seek it out either. It gets three stars from us though because I can't deny it's fun all the same, and if you're into the idea of a campaign then there's an extra level of play (and drama) to be found in the addition of a leaderboard - in fact, that's no doubt the best way to experience it, as not only does it balance out the luck, but would also bring additional soap-opera drama.