1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND LEARNING THE GAME
From opening the Heat: Pedal to the Metal box, to feeling like you understand and start to ponder strategies (or obsess about that one corner!)
A. Production and first play through
From opening the box you are blown away by the quality and the quantity of everything included in this game. From the gear sticks to the card feel it is a joy to pick up and play this game. One thing I will say is the cards are not standard TCG size as I found out. I prefer to give card games out to players in sleeves, especially if they require as much shuffling as this game does. I loved the two separate rule books to get you going as quickly as possible (as a racing game should!). The longest part of the unbox and set up is to organise the cards into the different categories, thankfully the box helps with that in the way of partitions to sort the various cards. After a read of the ‘basic’ rulebook you feel eager to jump in your race car and get your pedal to the metal. Our group first played this with 4 people but I have also played this at different player counts and it delights at all of them. Once players had selected their car colour and the decks were set up I ran down the helpful turn sequence at the top of each player mat. There were a few questions and I can see why, although helpful the turn sequence is only icons, I cant help but feel some wording would have made certain phases of the turn easier to explain (specifically boost/cool down). That being said, the rules do suggest a practice lap before beginning the first game. This works wonderfully as by the time the first player crosses the finish line after that first lap all players have seen and used each step of the turn sequence.
The first full Heat game was a huge success with all players smiling and eager to start the next race. It took about 25 minutes for 4 players to do two laps, usually we are playing games like Wingspan or Scythe with a much longer runtime, which was refreshing. We kept the same track and didn’t reach back into the box for any of the upgrades/modules. Everyone just wanted to get back to the racing. We quickly finished another two races all on the same track with no additional content. With different strategies and results at the end of each race we were all impressed with the games mechanics and ability to replicate a car race on a board. On one of the races someone who was last on the home straight ended up taking the lead in one of the races. All of the additional phases in the turn allow for the players at the back of the pack to catch up. This stops someone from falling to far behind to lose interest. We have all been the last one to finish at Mario Kart, with everyone looking at you, this game manages to avoid that without giving you the Bullet Bill stomp over everyone.
An introduction at two players is slightly more challenging as you are unlikely to encounter all of the turn steps during the test lap. However if you intend for this game to be a two player experience, then the AI in this game is fantastic, and adds additional competitive elements to each race.
Single player has a similar learning curve as the first lap of multiplayer, although once you learn to read the Legend cards it’s very easy and allows you to enjoy a single player experience with just as many choices and variants as a multiplayer game.
2. HOW OFTEN DOES IT HIT THE TABLE?
The Heat core box feels like you have already got an expansion, with modules such as weather and car upgrades, the variety us breath-taking. Each track offers its own amount of heat and stress cards to include in your starter deck and the options are extensive, from double cool down acceleration cards to variable corner speeds, the upgrades are there for you.
The game time and the varied results as well as the personal strategies/rivalries(or Vendettas) means this is often one that comes off shelf. If you enjoy the game time and the variation in United games then this is one for you. The additional content provided in the box is awesome, any other board game would require at least one expansion to offer this variety. If you are looking for a family weight board game that excites the table and draws people in, as well as offering at least two months of replayablity, then I don’t have a better recommendation than this.
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