We have had a few cracking racing games recently, from the bombastic Thunder Road: Vendetta to the wacky ones like Magical Athlete and Hot Streak; we are certainly in a bit of a purple patch for this genre of board games.
From what I understood, Joyride was a multiplayer, dice-driven game that was closer to Thunder Road in premise but not quite as manic. Zatu Kindly sent me Joyride Duel: Next Gen to review and here are my thoughts.
The Premise
Joyride Duel: Next Gen, as you can imagine, is a 2-player-only version of Joyride. It can also be incorporated into the main game, adding more track options, weapons and characters. Which is always a bonus.
In Joyride Duel, you will race around a track, trying to beat your opponent to the finish. However, which way you go and how dirtily you do it is up to you. Bash, crash and explode your opponent while hitting various checkpoints to win.
Track Setup
One of the very welcome parts of this package is its various tracks and configuration options. Included in the box is a double-sided board with various setups and track layouts. In the box are various checkpoints; these checkpoints can be configured in multiple layouts on either side of the board, leading to quite a healthy helping of variability. The fact that you can go round these tracks in any direction, even in reverse, really opens up the game for exciting racing. Just make sure to hit the checkpoints in the right order!
Each track config can be used with more players (if added to the main game) and they all offer different challenges and driving lines. Well, as long as your opponent does not barge you off anyway. I did find quite a lot of fun and gameplay options were available in this quirky box.
Characters and Cars
Included in this box are 2 new cars and drivers. One an android with an electric car and one learner driver, who I definitely don’t think should be participating in this sort of activity while still learning. Hahaha, it is certainly a fun premise though!
Both of these cars are bright, colourful and do have a personality of their own. They both have their own set of powers to utilise and advantages to make the most of. While I cannot speak of how they compare to the main box of characters, I am sure they will be a welcome addition and both are unique enough in this box to make them both enjoyable to play and fun to learn.
Wheel-2-Wheel Combat
So, how do you sling your hunk of metal around these tracks quicker than your opponent? Well, Joyride is mostly a dice-driven game. You essentially roll several dice, depending on your gear and use them to manoeuvre your vehicle. What's clever about this system is how you change gear, when to change gear and how you can reserve dice before rolling them.
Essentially, your dice from your last turn can be ‘locked’ before rolling or changing gear, this gives players a bit of control over the dice and give yourself a few guaranteed results and hopefully help with avoiding collisions or walls. I thought this system was very intelligent indeed, giving players a way to break up their movement, with guaranteed results but still leaving a bit of madness at the end with the remaining dice being rolled. It also gives players a lot of options for overtakes, crazy moves and risky plays, which we all love!
Combat and Special Abilities
Every time a player goes through one of the track's checkpoints, they get an item to use. There are 4 in this box and are things like oil slicks and grenades. You use these to try to damage your opponent and eke out a bit of space to overtake. As you damage each other, you cover parts of your player board, cutting the amount of dice you can use, how many items you can carry or how many dice you can ‘lock’. As you get damaged, it hampers your effectiveness on the road.
Each car also has 3 abilities to utilise. There are 2 options to choose from: the default actions, where both players have the same abilities or a slightly more advanced set where each player has their own, more character-specific set of powers. These are mad things like handbrake turns and the ability to change dice values.
I did find that this game really shines when using your powers and items correctly, getting up in your opponent's grill and throwing a proverbial spanner into their plans! I do, however, feel this feeling will be magnified with more players and the carnage will certainly be taken up a notch or two with more cars on track.
The Production
I thought the production and components of Joyride Duel were superb. From the bright and punchy art style and the chunky wooden cars, everything looked and felt great. Everything on the boards was clear and easy to parse and the racing tracks were attractive and easy to lay out. I have zero concerns with the production in this game and everything surpassed what I expected from a game like this.
Final Thoughts
I really had fun with this box of goodies. From smashing your friends and taking weird and wonderful routes around the many tracks, everything was well designed and looked great.
I enjoyed the choices, from choosing which dice to keep and which gear to be in to which route to take and where to fire your weapons. Every turn was a mini-puzzle to tackle and let’s be honest, dropping an oil slick and your opponent sliding into it by pushing their luck too much will never get old.
My only gripe is that I feel the game could be a bit more chaotic; maybe that is the Thunder Road fan talking but I definitely wanted to try this with more players and more cars on track. I mean, it will never be as chaotic as Thunder Road but I don’t think it was made to be that way. It has enough space for weird things to happen; I just feel, with more players, it would be more fun and have more space for craziness.
Joyride Duel: Next Gen is a lot of game in an attractive box. If you have 2 players and want to smash each other around a track you can drive in whichever way you wish, look no further; it's a metal-grinding good time.
