Components
- 42 part cards
- 4 lane cards
- 1 checkered flag card
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Score the most points by quickly placing part cards next to high scoring cars without repeating color or shape.
Setup
Shuffle the four lane cards and put them face down in a line between you and your opponent (see illustration for orientation). Turn two of the four cards face up. Put the checkered flag card next to the lane cards, within easy reach of both players.
Separate the rest of the cards into two decks according to card back (red and blue) and give each player one deck. Shuffle your cards and hold them in one hand, face down.
Game Play
When you're ready to begin, both you and your opponent turn over one of the remaining face down lane cards to start the game.
Then, without taking turns, race to get rid of cards by placing them face up into eight rows that correspond with the numbered cars on either side of the four lane cards. As you place cards, pay special attention to the to the following rule:
There can be no repeat of color or car part in any row.
For example, if there is already a purple traffic cone and an orange spark plug in a row, you cannot place anything purple or orange, nor any traffic cone or spark plug anywhere else in that row.
Race Notes
You may place cards on either side of the lane cards.
Cards should overlap as they are placed in the rows. (Half of every card played must remain visible as the game progresses. See illustration at left).
Use one hand to hold your deck and the other to turn over the top most card and place it in the rows.
You can only look at the top card from your deck, not several cards at once.
If you cannot or do not want to play your top card, put it at the bottom of your deck and turn over the next card.
If by mistake, you play a card in a row that already has another card with the same car part or color, you may correct it immediately and put the card into another row (or take it back into your hand). However, if there is already at least one other card covering the "mistake" card, it must stay in the row until the end of the game.
Strategy tip: Try to first place cards in rows with the higher number cars.
End of the Game
If you run out of cards, or cannot play any more cards without repeating color or part in any of the eight rows, shout "Top Speed!" and take the checkered flag card. This ends the game.
Scoring
First, check to make sure you could not have played any more cards if there were any left in your hand. If there were more cards you could have played, your opponent wins the checkered flag card.
Next, check over all eight rows for mistakes of repeat color or part:
If there is no repeat of color or shape in a row, turn over the bottom most card in that row (furthest from the center lane card) to reveal who played it.
If there is a repeat of color or shape in a row, turn over the "mistake" card and place it back face down crosswise in the row to reveal who played it. Note: If there are multiple mistakes in a row, turn over only the closest mistake card to the center lane card.
Add the points on the cars at the top of each row in which your color is at the end but not crosswise.
For example, if you were playing with the red deck, you would count the points for all rows in which the end cards are red but not crosswise. You also get the points for any row where your opponent's card is crosswise.
The person with the checkered flag card also gets 3 bonus points.
The player with the most points wins.
Note regarding tie games: If the point totals are the same for both players, the winner is the player with fewer cards left in hand. If both players have the same number of unplayed cards, the player holding the checkered flag card wins.
Scoring Examples
At the end of the game, there are four cards in the #1 car row: yellow tire, red helmet, blue tire, and yellow muffler.
The blue tire is the first "mistake" card in the row (the yellow muffler mistake happened after that). So turn over the blue tire card and place it crosswise.
From the back of the crosswise card, you can see that the blue player made the mistake, so the red player gets the 1 point for this row.
Since there were no errors in either row, the red player earns 1 point for the row on top, and the blue player earns 5 points for the row on the bottom.
In this case, the blue player earns 4 points for the row on top, plus 2 points for the row on the bottom, since the red player played a card in error.
Continue Reading
