RALLY - Reviewed by Mike

Category/Format: Sport/Board

A boot sale purchase at the princely sum of 70 pence was RALLY by Waddington's. Billed as a game for 2-6 players aged 6 or over I wasn't expecting too much but I was pleasantly surprised at the contents and the game play.

The track is a little bit naff but offers some opportunity to baulk other players but the real plus with this game is the system of movement which is based upon placing cards on a 9-square matrix to form lines of the same symbol, of which there are 4 types : - tyres; spanners; petrol pumps and stopwatches. All lines of 3 that you form by placing your card are used to determine the spaces you move that turn. If you fail to make a line of the same symbol you only move the value of the card you played.

The cards have a different number of each type printed on them so that by laying a '4 tyres' card onto a line that contains '2 tyres' and '1 tyre' your movement is 7 spaces. Sometimes you will be able to complete 2 or 3 lines in which case your movement is aggregated to give totals of 12, 17 or perhaps 23 spaces !!

Players always have 3 cards in their hand at the start of their turn and draw from a pack to replenish at the end of their turn. When the pack is exhausted(good term for a motor-racing game) ALL cards are removed from the matrix and shuffled to form a new draw pack.

We normally play 2 laps to even out the luck element as 1 lap can end in a procession if the leader gets away too far.

This is the first time I have encountered this movement system and I can see other uses for it in other games.

As the game is unlikely to still be in the shops those seeking a copy will have to scout for it at boot sales.

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