Apocalypse Road

Racing games usually leave me fairly cold, although Thunder Alley earned plenty of table time. After Grand Prix put me off so thoroughly, I approached Apocalypse Road expecting some bargain-bin post-apocalyptic nonsense. Happily, no. This is the game where cars race, turn, and make a very deliberate effort to ruin everyone else’s afternoon.

It keeps more of Thunder Alley’s system than anything else, while feeling lighter than both that game and Grand Prix. A race gets you into the driver’s seat quickly: keep your vehicle alive, keep it moving, keep it ahead. Then you remember that you have missiles and cannons.

The player interaction is not decorative. You fire, get fired upon, and watch a promising position vanish because someone across the table decided that you were their problem. The revised scoring gives the race a fresher, more interesting tension, so it never feels like a simple procession towards the finish line. The rules get you into the scrap quickly; the table will not remain quiet.

A race runs around an hour to an hour and a half, full of speed, noise, and that lovely little streak of spite which makes your friends look at you differently. Apocalypse Road is loud, unhinged carnage on wheels, and that is exactly why I want to play it again.