Automobiles: Racing Season

Automobiles: Racing Season Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal

Be the best racer by crossing the finish line first! But anyone can win one measly race. You must prove you have what it takes to stay at the top over multiple races. With even more options for customizing your race car, unique driver skill sets, and wealthy sponsors pushing results, the racing season has never been more competitive. Show your peers that you're here to stay. Show your sponsors that you're worth it. Show yourself that hard work pays off as you cross the finish line and watch that checkered flag wave!

About this Expansion

This expansion consists of 4 new modules:

New Boards
New Action Cards
Drivers
Season Campaign

You may combine any, or all of these expansion modules with the base game. You may also choose to play with just the expansion components by themselves.

In This Box

1 Double-Sided Board with three tracks
1 Season Record Pad (100 Sheets)
3 Garage Cards
3 Pit Cards
3 Handling Cards
3 Performance Cards
3 Engine Cards
10 Driver Cards
18 Sponsor Cards
5 Track Cards

New Boards

There are three new boards, providing even more tracks to race. The rules of the base game apply with the following notes.

Double-sided Board With Three Tracks

Talladega: Really fast track with several combo colored spaces for flexible movement. Counter-clockwise movement. Recommended for all player counts.
Monte Carlo: Challenging track with tight turns that require skillful driving. Clockwise movement. Fold the board in half so that only the track chosen is revealed. Recommended for 2 players, but compatible with all player counts. However, only players looking for a longer game, and significantly more interactive race, should proceed with more than 3 players.
Tucson: Small track that introduces combo spaces with 3 colors. Counter-clockwise movement. Fold the board in half so that only the track chosen is revealed. Recommended for 2 players, but compatible with all player counts. However, only players looking for a longer game, and significantly more interactive race, should proceed with more than 4 players.

Note: The checkered flag that marks the start/finish line cuts through two spaces (A and B). These spaces should still be treated as normal spaces with the checkered flag serving like any other dashed segment line. However, the player starting the game on "P1: $10" should treat that segment as a distinct space until they move out of it. This means, for example, if they play one white cube on their first turn they would move forward 1 segment to the front of space A. Likewise, player 1 should ignore momentum until they have moved out of space A.

New Action Cards

There are 15 new action cards to add variety to the game (3 Garage, 3 Pit, 3 Handling, 3 Performance, and 3 Engine cards). These function the same way as the base game. See "Card Clarifications" on page 8 for details.

The new cards are:

Garage: Factory Support, Maintenance Staff, Performance Testing
Pit: Pit Mechanic, Air Jacks, Impact Wrench
Handling: Burnout, Camber & Toe, Redline
Performance: Adrenaline, Bump & Run, Overdrive
Engine: Crate Motor, Fuel Injection Engine, Internal Combustion

The printed cost of each card is shown on the card face and is not repeated in this text.

Track Cards

Track cards can be used to randomly determine which track players use for that game. When playing a season campaign, track cards can also be used to remember which tracks have been selected and in what order.

Drivers

Driver cards give each player a unique ability to use during the game. Drivers may be used when playing a standard game or a season campaign. See "When using the drivers module" on page 5 for setup rules. See "Driver Clarifications" on page 10 for details.

Driver cards show:

Number: The individual number of the driver.
Name: The name of the driver.
Picture: Representative picture of the driver.
Phase: The specific phase that the driver's effect is active.
Effect: Ability granted by the driver during the phase noted.

Setup

The rules of the base game apply with the following modifications:

When using the new boards module: Decide which race track to use for the game. There are now five options to choose from: two from the base game and three from this expansion.
When using the new action cards module: Add the new cards to the base game cards. There are now 7 options to choose from for each card type: four from the base game and three from this expansion. Shuffle each type and randomly select one, or see "Suggested Card Sets" on page 12 for recommended sets.
When using the drivers module: Randomly shuffle all driver cards. After determining turn order for the game, reveal as many drivers as there are players plus 1. Then, the last player in turn order (the player to the right of the start player) chooses a driver first, placing it face up next to their player sheet. The players continue by each taking one driver in reverse turn order. Return the remaining driver back into the box. See "Driver Clarifications" on page 10 for details.
When using the season campaign module: Players must use the drivers module when playing a season campaign. Randomly shuffle the sponsor cards and place them as a face down deck next to the board. Then reveal as many sponsors as there are players playing. These revealed cards should be placed face up next to the board for all to see. Decide the structure of the season campaign, including the number of laps, on what tracks, and in what order. Alternatively, randomize it by drawing track cards. A season should have at least 3 tracks. You can make note of these tracks, and their sequence, by storing the track cards in order or by using one season record sheet for each track. Note: Laps should be the same from track to track.

Season Campaign Setup Example

The setup example on page 5 shows a Season Record Pad sheet with the rows labeled, from top to bottom: Track, Track #, P1 through P5 (player columns), Date, then the cube and record rows: 1 Handling (Red), 2 Garage (Yellow), 3 Performance (Green), 4 Engine (Blue), 5 Pit (Purple), 6 6th Gear (Black), 7 5th Gear (Dark Gray), 8 4th Gear (Light Gray), 9 3rd Gear (White), 10 Wear (Brown), 11 Driver, 12 Sponsor, 13 Finish Position, 14 Finish Points, and Total Points. The example shows the Talladega, Monte Carlo and Monza track cards.

How to Play a Season Campaign

In a season campaign, players play a series of three or more race tracks to determine the ultimate racing champion! Each player will race their own car and driver from track to track. After each track, sponsors are selected to help prepare for the next race, and points are awarded according to finish positions. The player who gains the most points over the series will be victorious.

The rules of the base game apply with the following additions.

Awarding Sponsors

During each race in the series, certain sponsors are available. They are revealed as described in setup and players may reference them at any time during the race. However, these sponsors serve no purpose until the end of each race.

At the end of each race in the series, sponsors are awarded according to the finish positions of the players:

The player finishing in first position chooses a sponsor first, placing it face up next to their driver card. That player then applies the first place effect of their chosen sponsor.
The other players, except for the last player, continue by each taking one of the remaining sponsors in the order determined by their position at the end of the race, and applies its middle place effect.
Finally, the last player takes the remaining sponsor and applies its last place effect.

At the end of the second race track of the season, and each race track after that one, players will already have sponsors in front of them. When it comes time to award sponsors again, each player has the choice to keep their current sponsor or choose a new one from those available. If the player chooses a new sponsor, they must remove their current sponsor from the game, replace it with the new one, and apply the effect of the new one. Alternatively, if the player chooses to keep their current sponsor, they must remove one sponsor from those available, then apply the effect of their current sponsor. See "Sponsor Clarifications" on page 11 for details.

Awarding Points

Also at the end of each race in the series, points are awarded according to the finish positions of the players. Reference the chart below and record these points on a season record sheet.

	Track 1	Track 2	Track 3	Track 4	Track 5
First Place	4	5	6	7	8
Middle Place*	3	3	3	3	3
Last Place	2	2	2	2	2

* Middle Place means any finishing position between first and last. Additionally, in a 2 player game, the player who finishes in 2nd place, will be awarded middle place points, not last place points.

Setting Up the Next Race

Very little changes from race to race in a season campaign. The card set stays the same. The quantities of cubes in the stock stay the same. Players keep their driver and sponsor cards. Even the contents of each player's bag stays the same (of course, all cubes from their player sheets are put back into their bag). In other words, these things don't change and are not reset at the start of each new race. Simply switch out the finished board with the next track in the series.

Turn order is updated for the new race according to the finish positions of the players in the previous race. First position becomes first player (give them the Starting Player card). Second position becomes second player, and so on. It is suggested that the players physically move seats at the table in order to have the seating positions match turn order.

Lastly, reveal new sponsors from the sponsors deck equal to the number of players. The next race of the season is ready to begin!

Note: Allowance money written on the starting spaces of a race track are ignored for the second race track onward. This means that a spending allowance is only provided during setup for the very first track of the series.

Saving an Unfinished Season Campaign

If for any reason you are unable to finish an entire season campaign in a single session, the provided season record sheets make it possible to save the current state of your campaign. First, finish the current race. Then, find and fill out the season record sheet for that track. There are spaces provided to document each player's driver, sponsor, finish position, points, and the contents of their bag.

After carefully filling out this info, pack up your game like normal, with all the season record sheets for each track in the season placed on top. When you're ready to return to the campaign, simply pull out the appropriate season record sheets and restore the state of your campaign.

Winning the Season Campaign

At the end of the last race of the season, after awarding points to the players according to their finish positions for that race, calculate the final point total for each player. The player with the most points is the winner of the season campaign! If two or more players are tied, the tied player that finished with the best position in the last race wins.

Example: At the end of a 3 track season campaign, Matt is the overall winner with 11 points. Also note, Nathan takes third, since he finished better in the last race than David.

Movement Clarifications

The rules of the base game apply with the following clarifications.

How to Move on the Track

Here are some more examples for how movement works, to supplement those found in the base game rulebook. In the examples, the green checkmarks indicate possible next moves for the blue player, while the red highlighted spaces are not available.

The page 7 diagrams show "A - Base Game" and "B - Weaving" lines. The "A" line represents the base game rules, while the "B" line represents how a player can use weaving to do things like draft where not possible previously.

Momentum

With the introduction of cards like Crate Motor, it is even more important to update momentum consistently. After any player's race car finishes its move, during any phase of a turn, momentum is applied.

Example (page 7): The yellow player just finished her End Phase after using a Crate Motor cube during her Action Phase. Since she is now in first position, the other four players get to move 1 space on any 1 color. The blue player moves first, since he is in second position. The red player was in third position, but due to momentum, the purple player is now in third position, therefore he moves next. After the purple player, red moves, followed by green.

Variant - Weaving Movement

This variant gives players even more control of their race cars. It allows players to change lanes while moving through early segments of long spaces. In other words, you can change lanes at any segment in a space (normally you must move to the furthest unoccupied segment in a space before you can change lanes).

This weaving movement can get a player out of a tough situation or provide an opportunity for drafting that wouldn't be possible under the base game rules.

However, even with this variant, it's important to remember a race car must always be progressing forward, never sideways nor backwards. With that in mind, weaving makes movement much more flexible.

Card Clarifications

Reminders:

Any cube drawn from your bag is placed in your active pile.
Any active cube you perform an action with is placed in your used pile before applying any part of its effect.
Any movement on the board starts with a space that must be adjacent to your race car or any previously placed cube.
Any cube gained during your turn is placed in your used pile.
Any cube removed during your turn is placed back into the stock.
When a card says "up to" in its effect, zero is a valid choice.
Your position is always determined by where your race car is at the beginning of the Action Phase, not where it will be during your Car Phase. If tied for a position, the more inner lane is leading.

Garage Cards

Factory Support: Draw 1 cube from your bag. After this, you must remove 1 cube from your active pile or discard pile. Keep in mind, the 1 removed cube may be the cube you just drew out of your bag.

Maintenance Staff: Choose any number of cubes to remove from your active pile. These cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes. Then you may remove up to twice that amount of cubes from your discard pile. For example, if you removed 3 cubes from your active pile, you may remove up to 6 cubes from your discard pile.

Performance Testing: First, you must remove this very cube. Then, you may draw up to 3 cubes from your bag.

Pit Cards

Pit Mechanic: Remove up to 6 wear cubes from your discard pile. After this, count how many cubes you currently have in your discard pile. Compare your total with each other player individually, not all other players as a group. If you have less cubes in your discard pile than each of the other players' discard piles, you get to remove up to 2 additional cubes from your discard pile. These additional cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes. For example, if you had 5 cubes left in your discard pile after removing up to 6 wear cubes, then you could remove up to 2 more cubes as long as no other player had 5 or fewer cubes in their discard pile.

Air Jacks: Count how many unique colors of cubes you currently have in your discard pile. Then remove up to that many cubes from your discard pile. For example, if you had 1 yellow cube, 2 dark gray cubes, 3 blue cubes, 1 green cube, and 2 wear cubes in your discard pile, then you could remove up to 5 of those cubes.

Impact Wrench: Choose up to 4 cubes to remove from your discard pile. These cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes. Then, remove all wear cubes currently in your used pile. This means all wear cubes gained during your Action Phase up to this point, including those placed on the track, are removed. Keep in mind, this does not allow you to remove wear gained by any future action, nor does it allow you to ignore gaining wear during your Decline Phase.

Handling Cards

Burnout: Gain 1 wear cube from the stock. Then choose 1 gear cube in your discard pile. Move your red cube up to 2 spaces on the board matching the color 1 lower than the chosen gear cube. For example, if you chose a black cube in your discard pile, then you could move up to 2 consecutive dark gray spaces with your red cube. Note, the chosen gear cube stays in your discard pile.

Camber & Toe: Choose 1 gear cube from your active pile to place into your discard pile. Then, move your red cube 1 space on any color on the board. For example, if you chose to discard a light gray cube from your active pile, then you could move on white, light gray, dark gray, or black with your red cube. Note, the chosen gear cube stays in your discard pile.

Redline: During your Action Phase, you may use any number of white gear cubes that you have in your active pile as if they were any color gear cube. Place these white gear cubes onto the board on color(s) of your choice. Use 1 white gear cube per space. Gain 1 wear cube from the stock for each white cube that you used with this effect.

Suggestion: Place this red cube on the Wear Chart on the board to remind you that you have activated this card's effect. Don't forget to place it back into your discard pile during your End Phase.

Performance Cards

Adrenaline: Choose one of the following. You may either move your green cube 1 light gray space OR during your Car Phase this turn, you may move up to 2 light gray spaces per position you advanced. In order to do the second option, take note of what position in the race your race car is in at the beginning of your Car Phase. Then note what position your race car ends up in at the end of your Car Phase. Finally, move up to 2 light gray spaces per position you advanced. For example, if you chose the second option and started your Car Phase in fourth position of a 5 player game, but ended your Car Phase by passing 2 other cars to move into second Position. Then you could move up to 4 light gray spaces.

Suggestion: If using the second option, place this green cube on the Wear Chart on the board to remind you that you have activated this card's effect. Don't forget to place it back into your discard pile during your End Phase.

Bump & Run: Gain 1 wear cube from the stock. Determine what position in the race your race car is currently in. Then, as long as you are not in first position, move your green cube up to 2 dark gray spaces on the board. If you are currently in last place, you may move 1 more dark gray space. For example, if your race car is currently in 4th place of a 4 player game, then you could move up to 3 consecutive dark gray spaces with your green cube.

Note: If you are in first position you don't move at all with this green cube.

Overdrive: Gain 1 wear cube from the stock. Determine what position in the race your race car is currently in. Then, move your green cube up to 3 spaces according to your position. If you are in first place, move on white. If you are in last place, move on dark gray or lower. For all other positions in the race, move on light gray or lower. Keep in mind, you may move on more than 1 color with each green cube. For example, if your race car is currently in 2nd place of a 3 player game, you could move 1 white space and 2 light gray spaces with 1 green cube.

Engine Cards

Crate Motor: Move your blue cube up to 3 spaces on any 1 color on the board. Then, after your End Phase, determine what position in the race each player's race car is currently in. Each player that is in a lower position in the race than you, may move 1 space on any color. This movement takes place in position order, not turn order, and those other players do not gain wear for their movement. Additionally, after each player moves, including you, momentum must be updated and positions may change due to this momentum (see example on page 7). Keep in mind, if more than one of these blue cubes is used in a single turn, player positions are not determined until after your End Phase. In this situation, each player in a lower position moves all awarded spaces before moving onto the next player. For example, if you used 2 blues cubes this turn, and ended up in 1st position after your End Phase, the player in 2nd position would get to move up to 2 spaces on any color(s) without gaining any wear. After the 2nd position player moved, and momentum updated, then the 3rd position player would move up to 2 spaces on any color(s), and so on.

Fuel Injection Engine: Gain 2 wear cubes from the stock. During your Action Phase this turn, each of your activated gear cubes may move twice as many spaces as they would normally move. This means that for each gear cube that you use this turn, you may move 2 spaces instead of 1 on its respective color. Keep in mind, this effect can combine with cards like Redline, but does not have any effect on cards like Camber & Toe. Furthermore, activating more than one of these blue cubes is superfluous, as it does not compound the effect.

Suggestion: Place this blue cube on the Wear Chart on the board to remind you that you have activated this card's effect. Don't forget to place it back into your discard pile during your End Phase.

Internal Combustion: Choose 1 cube from your active pile to place into your discard pile. Then choose up to 3 cubes from your discard pile. Place these chosen cubes into your active pile. Gain 1 wear cube from the stock for each cube that you brought from your discard pile to your active pile with this effect. Keep in mind, one of the cubes that you bring from your discard pile back to your active pile may be the very cube you just placed in your discard pile.

Driver Clarifications

Reminders:

Each player keeps their one driver throughout the entire game/season.
Driver abilities are optional.
Each player may use their driver's ability every turn during the phase stated on their driver card.
When a card says "up to" in its effect, zero is a valid choice.

The driver cards are numbered 01 to 10. Their names are printed on the card art and are not repeated here; the phase and effect on each card are as follows.

Driver 01 (Decline Phase): During your Decline Phase, you may move your race car up to 1 light gray space for each wear you gained. Keep in mind, this is only for wear gained during your Decline Phase, not your Action Phase. For example, if you gained 3 wear during your Decline Phase, then you can move up to 3 light gray spaces. For another example, if you would have gained 2 wear during your Decline Phase, but ended up drafting, you will not get a benefit from this driver.

Driver 02 (Action Phase): During your Action Phase, you may choose 1 cube from your discard pile. Place this chosen cube into your active pile. That cube may now be used like any other cube in your active pile.

Driver 03 (Action Phase): During your Action Phase, you may choose up to 3 cubes from your discard pile. These chosen cubes can be any combination of colors. Place these chosen cubes back into your bag.

Driver 04 (Buy Phase): During your Buy Phase, you may draw up to 3 cubes at once. This means that you must state for all to hear how many cubes that you'd like to draw (up to 3). Then draw that exact number from your bag. After you have drawn all required cubes, keep them separate from your player board until you have decided to do one of the following options with each cube: remove it by putting it back in stock, place it in your active pile, OR put it back into your bag. You may decide to do any of the three options with each cube. Keep in mind, any cube added to your active pile may only be used for its value to buy new cubes, since you are in your Buy Phase.

Driver 05 (Buy Phase): During your Buy Phase, you may remove any number of cubes from your discard pile. These removed cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes. For each cube that you decide to remove this way, you must pay $1. If you have no money during your Buy Phase, you will not get a benefit from this driver.

Driver 06 (Car Phase): During your Car Phase, after you finish your normal move with your race car, you may move 1 additional space on any color. Like normal, you could be subject to wear for this movement during your Decline Phase, if you don't end up drafting.

Driver 07 (Decline Phase): During your Decline Phase, take note of how many wear cubes you gained. For each of those wear cubes, you may draw up to 1 additional cube during your End Phase. For example, if you gained 3 wear during your Decline Phase, then you will draw 10 cubes during your End Phase, instead of just 7. This means, you will start your next turn's Action Phase with those 10 cubes. If you gained no wear during your Decline Phase, for instance if you ended up drafting, you will not get a benefit from this driver.

Driver 08 (End Phase): During your End Phase, before drawing new cubes for your active pile, you may remove up to 3 wear cubes from your player board. Keep in mind, these wear cubes can be located in any pile on your player board or on the track.

Driver 09 (End Phase): During your End Phase, after drawing new cubes for your active pile, you may draw up to 2 additional cubes. Of course, these cubes may be used like any other cube in your active pile.

Driver 10 (End Phase): During your End Phase, after drawing new cubes for your active pile, you may choose any number of those cubes to place in your discard pile. Then, draw cubes equal to the number that you chose to discard. You may only do this once. For example, after drawing 7 cubes for your active pile, you could decide to discard 4 cubes, so that you can draw 4 new cubes to add to your active pile.

A player may empty their bag onto their player sheets before applying the effect of their sponsor. This way they have access to all of the cubes in their bag. After applying the effect of their sponsor, each player should return all of their cubes back into their bag before starting the next race.

Every sponsor has 3 effects (first place, middle place, and last place). Each effect starts off with a standard ability to remove a certain number of cubes from your bag and/or player board. First place effect removes 3 cubes, middle place effect removes 6 cubes, and last place effect removes 12 cubes. These cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes.

The sponsor groups are described below; each sponsor card is identified by its group and place letter (for example, A1, A2, A3).

Sponsors A1-A3: Spend the specified amount of money to buy new cubes from the stock. Keep in mind, the stock does not replenish from race to race during the season, so some cubes may be in short supply. Any money not spent is lost.

Sponsors B1-B3: Remove the specified amount of additional cubes from your bag and/or player board. These cubes can be any combination of cubes, including but not limited to, wear cubes.

Sponsors C1-C3: Remove the specified amount of wear cubes from your bag and/or player board. These cubes must be wear cubes.

Sponsors D1-D3: Gain the specific cubes stated from the stock for free. If the stock does not have adequate supply, then take as many as available.

Sponsors E1-E3: Take note of how many non-wear cubes you removed with your sponsor's standard remove ability. Then, for each non-wear you removed, remove up to 4 wear cubes from your bag and/or player board. For example, if you had Sponsor E1, finished in first position, and decided to remove 2 white cubes and 1 wear cube, then you'd be allowed to remove up to 8 wear cubes from your bag and/or player board.

Note: Sponsor E3's last place effect does not have an ability beyond its standard remove ability.

Sponsors F1-F3: Remove the specified amount of additional cubes from your bag and/or player board. Then, for each additional cube removed, you may spend up to $2. For example, if you had Sponsor F2, and finished 3rd in a 4 player game, then using the middle place effect would let you remove up to 3 additional cubes. If you removed all 3 additional cubes, then you'd be able to spend $6. Any money not spent is lost.

Reminders:

Sponsors are only used during a season campaign.
Sponsor abilities are optional.
Each player may only use their sponsor's ability once at the end of each race.
When a card says "up to" in its effect, zero is a valid choice.
In a 2 player game, the player who finishes in 2nd place, will apply the middle place effect, not the last place effect.

Suggested Card Sets

The following card sets focus on a central theme to create a distinctive play experience. Players should agree upon which card set to use at the start of the game.

Rinse & Repeat (Expansion Only) Factory Support, Pit Mechanic, Burnout, Overdrive, Internal Combustion

This is the suggested first game set for exploring this expansion. We also recommend this for your first season campaign.

Squeaky Clean Maintenance Staff, Air Jacks, Camber & Toe, Adrenaline, Crate Motor

These race cars avoid wear at all costs, providing a fast race with ample interaction. We suggest five laps for this set.

Well Oiled Machine (Combining Base with Expansion) Performance Testing, Crew Chief, Aerodynamics, Nitro, Crate Motor

The race cars will be in tip top shape in this set. Cubes, actions, and interaction will be plentiful. Also recommended for a season campaign.

This or That Manager, Pit Crew, Tires, Turbo, Fuel Injection

This set provides some tough choices for how to build your race car. Will this or that bring you victory?

Shake & Bake Engineer, Impact Wrench, Redline, Boost, Internal Combustion

In this set the wear will keep coming, but you'll keep dodging it. Lots of cubes, lots of actions! We suggest five laps for this set.

Rubbin' is Racin' Factory Support, Pit Captain, Camber & Toe, Bump & Run, Diesel Engine

Feel that? That's all the other race cars around you. Find a way to make it through the pack. We suggest playing on the Talladega track for this set.