Nascard
Nascard Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 58 Driving cards (numbered 1 to 58 in 4 different suits)
- 1 trump card
- 16 Bonus cards (4 per suit)
- 6 double-sided Pit cards
- 1 player aid card
- 6 Racecar tokens
- 1 rulebook
- 16 double-sided Track cards (4 corners and 12 straights)
Each track card has 2 spaces: an inside track and an outside track. This is very important because it determines turn order and movement.
Game Setup
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To build the track, place the 4 corner cards in the 4 corners of the playing area. Then, shuffle the 12 straight cards and place 3 of them between each pair of corners, using either side you want, and taking into account the Caution symbols that can affect the suit bonuses.
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Separate the Bonus cards by suit and shuffle each deck separately. Place 1 card from each suit in the center of the track circuit you laid out earlier (for your first game, we recommend using cards 4, 7, 10, and 13). Return the unused cards to the box. Place the player aid card in the center of the table.
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Shuffle the Driving cards and deal 5 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards face-down in the center of the track circuit to serve as the Driving deck.
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Flip the top card from the Driving deck face-up next to the deck to create a discard pile. Place the Trump card on top of the Bonus card that is the same suit as the card that was just discarded.
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Give each player 1 Racecar and 1 Pit card of the same color. Put the unused Racecars and Pit cards back in the box.
Note: If you want to play with "virtual rivals" in the Rivals Module, leave the unused Pit cards next to the playing area with the side showing a car without any mechanics face-up and include the matching cars in the next step (see Rivals Module).
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Finally, randomly place the Racecars face-up (with the flag side down) on the track. Place 2 Racecars per Track card (one in each of its spaces), starting with the Start/Finish Line card (which shows the black-and-white checkered line). The first Racecar goes on the inside edge of the track, then the outside edge, and so on with the next Track card until all the Racecars taking part have been placed.
Management of Your Hand and Your Tires
If you want to win in a Nascard race, your ability to skillfully manage your tires is one of the key challenges you will need to master on the road to victory. To play certain cards and/or activate Bonuses, players must "Blister Tires" or "Burn Cards". It is very important to know the difference between these two actions:
- Blister Tires: Choose a card from your hand and place it face-down in front of you. You will be able to pick these cards back up when you land in the Pits or you activate the purple suit bonus (see Suit Bonuses).
- Burn Cards: Choose a card from your hand and place it face-up on the discard pile. Burned cards must fulfill special requirements for their value or suit (see Suit Bonuses).
The limit for the number of cards in your hand is 8 cards. At the end of the turn, if you have more than 8 cards, you must discard until you have only 8 cards.
Game Rounds
The game is played in rounds, continuing until a car passes the Finish Line for the second time (when a car crosses the Finish Line the first time, turn it over to show the side with the flag to show it has finished one lap).
Each round is made up of three phases:
- Play Cards
- Move Cars Forward
- End the Round
1. Play Cards
This phase is carried out in position order, from the lead car to the last car. If there are 2 Racecars on the same card, the one that has the inside track plays first.
Taking turns in order, each driver plays 1 card from their hand face up in front of them or makes a Pit Stop, immediately applying the following effects:
- Trading paint: If you play a card from the trump suit, you must Blister Tires twice, and you do not activate the matching suit Bonus.
- Economy: After playing a card from another (non-trump) suit, you have the option to activate the special Bonus of that suit (see Suit Bonuses).
- Pit Stop: Instead of playing a card from your hand, turn over the Pit card in front of you, then draw 4 cards from the Driving deck and take back any Blister Tire cards in front of you.
If at any time the Driving deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to make a new Driving deck.
The choice of which card you play affects how the cars move forward. Trump cards allow players to advance faster in the race. Cards that are not from the trump suit do not advance as much, but they can activate powerful Bonuses. Meanwhile, the Pit Stop allows the player to draw more cards, fuel up, and get back the cards that were set aside due to tire wear so they can get back in the race.
2. Move Cars Forward
Turn order in this phase depends on the Driving cards that were played:
- Cards from the trump suit are resolved first, in descending order. Keep in mind that the Bonus of the blue suit allows those cards to be treated like trump cards (see Suit Bonuses).
- Cards that are not in the trump suit are resolved next, also in descending order, regardless of which suit they have.
- Cars that stopped in the Pits are resolved last.
Applying the effects in this order, cars that did not stop in the Pits move forward the number of spaces indicated by their order of resolution. After moving each car forward, the card played on that car is put into the discard pile.
For example, whoever played the highest-value card will move their car 5 spaces forward, while the person with the second-highest card moves 4 spaces, and so on and so forth until all cars that did not make a Pit Stop have moved.
Cars that did stop in the Pits do not move forward. Their Pit cards are flipped back over so that the side with the car is showing.
Advancing the Cars
A maximum of 2 Racecars fit on each Track card, one in each space: one on the inside track and the other on the outside. When you move forward, your car will always try to get in the inside track space of the Track card it lands on. The following rules apply when moving:
- A. If the inside track is free: the Racecar is placed there.
- B. If the inside track is occupied and the outside track is free: the Racecar is placed in the empty outside track space.
- C. If both spaces are occupied: the Racecar that was on the inside track is pushed forward to the next card (following the same placement rules) and the new Racecar takes its place.
3. End of the Round
Once all cars have moved (or resolved their Pit Stop), the round ends. The players then check the top card visible on the discard pile: The Trump card is moved on top of the Bonus card matching the suit of the top discard, and that will be the trump suit for the next round.
Example of a Round in Which the Yellow Suit Is the Trump Suit
Alba played the 30 yellow card, William played 39 purple, Anna played 18 orange, Clara made a Pit Stop, and Harvey played 8 blue. The round proceeds in the following way:
- First, the players who played trump move.
- A. Alba (30 yellow) wins the round and moves her car forward 5 spaces (30 was the highest of the yellow cards, which is why she wins the round) and places her card on the discard pile.
- B. Harvey (8 blue) comes in second place and moves his car forward 4 spaces—since he activates the blue suit Bonus, his card is considered a trump card, so he moves ahead of those who did not play trump (if he had played a blue card that was higher than 30, he would have moved first). After moving, he too places his card on the discard pile.
- After those two, the game moves on to those who did not play trump.
- C. William (39 purple) comes in third and moves his car forward 3 spaces (because his card had the highest value of those suits that were not trump). Then, he places his card on the discard pile.
- D. Anna (18 orange) comes in fourth and moves her car forward 2 spaces (because her card was the next highest of those suits). Then, she places her card on the discard pile. Since her card had the lowest value without following the trump suit for the round, it determines what the trump suit will be in the next round.
- E. Clara made a Pit Stop and does not move forward any spaces.
At the end of this later round where yellow is again the trump suit, the blue card is the last card to be applied. In the next round, blue will be the trump suit. Move the Trump card onto the blue Bonus card.
End of the Game
At the end of each round, check if any Racecar has crossed the Finish Line for the second time (crossed it when the car is showing the number 1 on its roof). This triggers the end of the game. All players finish playing the current round as normal. Once that round is done, the Racecar that is farthest forward is the winner of the race! If there is a tie, whichever car is on the inside track wins.
Rivals Module
You must use this game mode in 2-player games and solitaire games. In games with more players, you may use these rules for the rest of the cars.
Game Setup
Prepare the game just as described in Game Setup, but with the following changes:
- Place the Pit cards that are not being used by the players in a row around the circuit made by the track, with the car side face-up. This is where the rivals will play their Driving cards.
- Randomly place the Racecars on the track as you would normally, placing both the players' cars and the rivals' cars.
How the Rivals Work
The rivals also play Driving cards, but in a slightly different way than the players do. At the start of each round, a card is drawn from the Driving deck and placed face-down next to the Pit card of each rival, starting with the one farthest to the left and moving down the row. This allows the players to see the suit of each rival's card, but not its value. After all players have played their cards, the cards played by the rivals are revealed and applied during the round as usual, from highest to lowest (see Move Cars Forward). That brings the round to an end. Here is an example in a 2-player game with yellow as trump: Anna and Alba each have Racecars on the track, and there are 4 left-over cars belonging to the rivals.
Rivals do not activate any Bonuses from their cards (for example, they do not use the blue suit as a trump wildcard). However, they always move forward at least 2 spaces.
End of the Game
The end of the game is carried out just as in the standard game mode. Whichever player or rival is farthest ahead when two laps have been completed is the winner of the race!
Suit Bonuses
Purple (Tire Management)
Cards that allow you to recover your used cards.
- Fresh Rubber: Recover all your Blister Tire cards.
- Tire Traction: Burn an extra purple card in addition to the one you played, then recover all your Blister Tire cards and also draw 1 card from the Driving deck.
- Faulty Tires: Burn a card with a higher value than the card you played, then recover all your Blister Tire cards and also draw 1 card from the Driving deck.
- Yellow Flag: If your car is not in a space with the Caution symbol, you recover all your Blister Tire cards. If your car is in a space with the Caution symbol, you get your Blister Tire cards back and also draw 1 card from the Driving deck.
Blue (Trump Wildcard)
Cards that can be considered any trump suit.
- Running Hot: Blister 2 Tires. The card you played is treated as though it was the trump suit.
- Wet Track: Burn an extra blue card in addition to the one you played and Blister 1 Tire. The card you played is treated as though it was the trump suit.
- Pace Car: Burn a card with a higher value than the card you played and Blister 1 Tire. The card you played is treated as though it was the trump suit.
- Racecar: If your car is not in a space with the Caution symbol, Blister 3 Tires and the card you played is treated as though it was the trump suit. If your car is in a space with the Caution symbol, Blister 1 Tire and the card you played is treated as though it was the trump suit.
Orange (Fuel)
Cards that allow you to fill your hand with cards.
- Stopping Short: Draw 2 cards from the Driving deck.
- Running Lean: Burn an extra orange card besides the one you played, then draw 4 cards from the Driving deck.
- Fuel Injection: Burn an extra orange card with a higher value than the one you played, then draw 4 cards from the Driving deck.
- Oil Leak: If your car is not in a space with the Caution symbol, draw 1 card from the Driving deck. If your car is in a space with the Caution symbol, draw 3 cards from the Driving deck.
Yellow (Turbo)
Cards that allow you to move forward extra spaces.
- Pick Up the Pace: Move forward 1 extra space.
- Heart of a Champion: Burn an extra yellow card in addition to the one you played and move forward 2 extra spaces.
- Push It to the Limit: Burn an extra card with a higher value than the card you played and move forward 2 extra spaces.
- Chrome Horn: If your car is not in a space with the Caution symbol, move forward 1 extra space. If your car is in a space with the Caution symbol, move forward 2 extra spaces.
Cards 4, 7, 10, and 13 are recommended for your first game.