Formula D - Fun boardgame for any size group
Quick background. I have a boardgame night at my place once a month, it's drop in style so the number of people ranges from 2 - 8 depending on the night. I have plenty of games but most support the 2 - 5 player group. A few go up to 6 but that's about it. It's rare that we have more then 5 players but it happens and when it goes over six we usually get a couple games going at the same time.
Then I stumbled across
First and foremost it supports 1 - 10 players and the average play time is 1-2hrs (depending on the number of players a 1 player game can be finished up in under 15 minutes). The key for any large group game is that the rules have to be simple and that there can't be a lot of downtime between each player, the last thing you want is 9 people sitting around for half an hour waiting to move again. In this regard Formula D works well. Each turn you set your speed and roll the dice to see where you movie. That's it - nice and sweet.
But within those seemingly simple decisions lies some great tension and strategy. If you haven't guessed yet Formula D is a car racing game. Each player controls 1 car. The goal being to get around the track first. However it's not just as simple as putting the pedal to the metal and rolling well. You have to take into consideration where other drivers are on the track how tight the corners are and how much ware and tare you are putting on your car. If you have to break to hard, over shoot the corners to much or shift down to rapidly or collide with other players you'll be out of the race. It's in these decisions that the strategy lies. If you play it safe the whole race you won't win. Your car has various points of stress that it can endure and the best racer is the one that pushes those stresses to the limits that's generally going to win. So while all you do each turn is select a gear and roll the dice to see how far you movie. That decision is critical and it creates a lot of tension.
It's that tension that makes Formula D a great party game. The tension fits the racing theme and keeps everyone engaged on the action. So while it may not be your move you are watching what all the other players do, hoping they don't bump into you, hoping they crash, hoping they don't cut you off etc...
The game comes with a few options. First there are the basic and advanced rules. The basic rules don't take into account weather and you have one large pool of points you can stress out. The advanced rules take into consideration weather, drafting and break the points pool down into various components (tire, engine, transmission, handling, and breaks). The game also has two modes of play. Traditional Formula racing or street racing. In street racing each driver has it's own stats and a special ability to boot.
There are also expansions you can buy for it that give you more tracks to race on if you get tired of the two tracks that come with the game.
If you are in a situation where you have a group of people over and looking for a boardgame to play that's not to in-depth with rules that are easy to learn. I highly recommend Formula D.
Then I stumbled across
First and foremost it supports 1 - 10 players and the average play time is 1-2hrs (depending on the number of players a 1 player game can be finished up in under 15 minutes). The key for any large group game is that the rules have to be simple and that there can't be a lot of downtime between each player, the last thing you want is 9 people sitting around for half an hour waiting to move again. In this regard Formula D works well. Each turn you set your speed and roll the dice to see where you movie. That's it - nice and sweet.
But within those seemingly simple decisions lies some great tension and strategy. If you haven't guessed yet Formula D is a car racing game. Each player controls 1 car. The goal being to get around the track first. However it's not just as simple as putting the pedal to the metal and rolling well. You have to take into consideration where other drivers are on the track how tight the corners are and how much ware and tare you are putting on your car. If you have to break to hard, over shoot the corners to much or shift down to rapidly or collide with other players you'll be out of the race. It's in these decisions that the strategy lies. If you play it safe the whole race you won't win. Your car has various points of stress that it can endure and the best racer is the one that pushes those stresses to the limits that's generally going to win. So while all you do each turn is select a gear and roll the dice to see how far you movie. That decision is critical and it creates a lot of tension.
It's that tension that makes Formula D a great party game. The tension fits the racing theme and keeps everyone engaged on the action. So while it may not be your move you are watching what all the other players do, hoping they don't bump into you, hoping they crash, hoping they don't cut you off etc...
The game comes with a few options. First there are the basic and advanced rules. The basic rules don't take into account weather and you have one large pool of points you can stress out. The advanced rules take into consideration weather, drafting and break the points pool down into various components (tire, engine, transmission, handling, and breaks). The game also has two modes of play. Traditional Formula racing or street racing. In street racing each driver has it's own stats and a special ability to boot.
There are also expansions you can buy for it that give you more tracks to race on if you get tired of the two tracks that come with the game.
If you are in a situation where you have a group of people over and looking for a boardgame to play that's not to in-depth with rules that are easy to learn. I highly recommend Formula D.
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Comments
I've done a little track driving and the first time through a course you are either taking it to slow or pegging it to hard and those corners really do jump out at you. It's surprising how well a seemingly simple mechanic does a rather good job at simulating the racing experience.
There really is a good sense of speed in Formula D. You come out of a curve in 4th gear slam it into 5th on what looks like a long straight away and suddenly you are at the next bend and having to gear down hard so you don't over shoot it.
I know I already praised this game a post ago. But just thinking about it again makes me want to play it. Even just doing some solo qualifying laps, timing how long it takes me and how many dice rolls to get around once is fun.
He was like a little kid even talking some trash and strategy during the race. Awesome. If I never play this game again, that was worth $50 right there.