Thunder Alley did exactly what Carla & I had hoped it would do. It brought the feel of a stock car race to our table. No runaway leaders, frequent yellow flags and when there were no yellows, there was tension around the event cards with half the table hoping for a yellow to catch up and the other half hoping for a green to hold the lead. If played in the right spirit it is a game that begs you to keep your car in good enough shape to the last half lap when you can try to sprint to the finish and take the checkered flag.  I like the constant re-organizing of the pack that is an American stock car event. And if I like it, Carla loves it. No one is in complete control and no one is ever out until the cars start crossing the finish line.

However, that style is not for everybody. Most of the world does not see the weekly banging of metal and spinning tires that we see and have come to appreciate. When the rest of the world goes racing they witness a more strategic and consistent event. Cars get to the front and they stay there, daring those behind to find the right opportunity to challenge them. The back of the pack does not get bailed out by an accident and must claw their way out of the rear to get into the points. Carla & I took this as a challenge, to try and make a game that uses similar components, that can share tracks with its sister game Thunder Alley , and that feels more like a F1 road race than a NASCAR tri-oval.  In the end the changes are significant but the game-play is easy to pick up if you have any experience with Thunder Alley .

WHAT IS NEW?

Grand Prix introduces a number of new rules and methods to the Thunder Alley  system. First and foremost being the introduction of NPC’s (Non-Player Cars). Each racing team consists of two and only two cars. However each race consists of 22 cars every time. That brings in the innovation of NPC’s. These cars come in two flavors, those with a controller and those without. Team NPC’s are cars that can only be controlled by one player. They act as a part of your team but any points they might score at the end of the game are not added to your 2-car score. Neutral NPC’s are cars that can be activated by any player on a first-come basis. Each car may only be activated once in a turn but NPC’s allow you to get a jump on the pack.

The other major hurdle to clear was the shape (specifically the narrowness) of the Grand Prix tracks. The rules of movement from Thunder Alley  would not work as well on these tracks as they do on the original tracks. The answer was conditional linking. In Grand Prix, every type of movement allows linking with the car in front of you. Gone are the log-jams in Thunder Alley  that would force a player to spend 3 MP’s to force ahead one space. A forward movement now costs only 1 MP regardless of movement type. But, the Conditional Linking allows cars to push a line some and then stop pushing and break out from the pack. Maybe you push some cars through the narrow chicane and then blow past them on the ensuing straight.

Some changes seem mild but have major impacts on the new game.

• Scoring only is awarded to the top 10 finishers, and players only score points for their two Player Cars. There is no scoring for leading laps. So there is more of a push to get and keep your cars in the top 10 throughout the race.
• There is only one Red Flag and one Double Yellow restart in the event deck. That means that most races won’t see either and the Yellow Flag tension is replaced by a constant clawing towards the front.
• Duration-Based repairs. Different repairs will take different amounts of time in the pit to repair. Changing a tire is 1, repairing a wing is 5 and tweaking an engine is 10. There is also no mandate to repair all damage when you pit. A car with a tire and a suspension token can fix those issues without spending the time required to fix a loose transmission.
• A new effect token is introduced, the Close-Call token. These tokens become a trigger for events. Some come with card play but others can be merited through aggressive actions so you have some control on their accumulation.
• Tire types are introduced, specifically soft, hard and wet tires. Cars are required to make a mandatory pit to change tire type at least once in a race and there is a one-time bonus for soft tires that can be exploited for extra speed.
• Safety Zones are instituted when an event causes a section of the track to become unsafe. Passing is not allowed and the cars are stacked up in sectors until they exit the zone and continue racing.

Action from a Grand Prix Playtest. Photo by Leeland Krueger

One thing that stayed the same was the track format. Both games, Thunder Alley  and Grand Prix will have entirely compatible tracks and can be raced on with either system. Of course each game will be better on the base tracks, but the challenges of the new courses make it a very nice crossover combo. In addition, the Thunder Alley Track Pack will be compatible with both games but will lean a bit in the Thunder Alley  direction with the addition of another short track and a dirt track. The track pack will also feature a pair of dual use tracks consisting of a speedway surrounding a road course to allow each game to shine on the same asphalt.

Thunder Alley  was one type of beast. Grand Prix is a whole new creature indeed. More refined, less wild and more predictable. We tried to listen to what players liked and what they felt was missing from the original and we tried to provide a new and wholly different experience in Grand Prix. We both hope you enjoy the new roads.

Jeff & Carla Horger

Author: Jeff Horger