Zoom Zoom Vroom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Racetrack Side A Explained
• Setup
• Gameplay Overview
• Playing a Trick
  • Tune Up
• Resolving a Trick
• End of Round
• End of Game
• Card Special Effects
  • 1: Any 4 or 5 Face Up in the Trick Becomes a 0
  • 2: Gain One Gas from the Middle of the Table
  • Example Trick
  • Original Speed and Lap Tokens
• PGC Variants
  • Larger Hands
  • New 0 Suit
  • 0/5 Cards
• Meet the Racers
• Game Recap

Components

• 5 Player Tokens (1 per player)
• 5 Speed Tokens
• 1 Racetrack (double sided, side A & B)
• 6 Lap Tokens
• 25 Gasoline Tokens
• 36 Cards – six copies of six suits, numbered 1-5 (These are two different suits for the number 4) (The 0 & 0/5 cards are explained in PGC Variants)

Racetrack Side A Explained

Always look at the number that is directly above your speed token.

Example: Pink has +2 speed, Orange is not in play, Yellow has +0 speed, Blue has +1 speed, and Purple has +0 speed.

Setup

1. Prepare the deck based on the number of players, returning any unused cards to the box:

   • 3 players: 18 cards, three copies of each suit
   • 4 players: 24 cards, four copies of each suit
   • 5 players: 30 cards, five copies of each suit

2. Shuffle the deck and deal six cards to each player.

3. Place five gasoline tokens (further known as gas), in front of each player. Unused gas is returned to the box.

4. Place the racetrack within reach of all players and place lap tokens, equal to the number of players plus one, next to the racetrack. Unused lap tokens are returned to the box.

   Example: In a 4-player game, use 5 lap tokens and return the other lap token to the box.

5. Each player chooses a color and takes the player token matching that color. Also, place a speed token on the 'Start' space of the racetrack column matching that color.

6. The last player to drive a car will be the lead player.

Gameplay Overview

Each round consists of six tricks. A trick involves each player, in turn order, playing a card, applying any special card effects, adding gas, and adding speed. The player with the highest card number wins the trick and will gain speed. The winner of the final trick completes one lap (gains a lap token) and wins the round.

Rounds are played until one player has completed two laps and wins the game!

Playing a Trick

Starting with the lead player and going clockwise, each player will complete the following three steps in order:

1. Select a card from your hand and play it face up on the table near the racetrack. You cannot play a suit that has already been played this trick. If you played a 1 or 2, activate its special effect (explained in Card Special Effects).

   Example: Vernon plays the 5, Fern plays the 4 suit with 'Beans the Possum'. Rowan can play any card, so long as it is not the 5 or 'Beans the Possum' 4 suit. Rowan can even play the other 4 suit with 'Jelly the Raccoon'.

   If you do not want to or cannot play a card face up, you must play a card face down and skip steps 2 and 3. This is known as a 'Tune Up' (explained below).

2. You may spend gas by placing it on your card. You can only spend gas that is currently in front of you. Each gas spent increases your card number by +1 for this trick.

3. If you have gained speed (from winning previous tricks), it automatically increases your card number by the value where your speed token is on the racetrack.

If you played a card face up, you must determine your final card number by adding the printed card value, your spent gas, and your speed together.

Example: Fern plays the 2, spends three gas, and has a speed of +1. Fern's final card number is 6 (2+3+1=6).

The next player, in clockwise order, completes the above steps until all players have taken a turn.

Tune Up

On your turn, if you do not want to or you cannot legally play a card face up (all suits in your hand are face up in the trick already), you must declare "I need a Tune Up!" and play a card face down. You can play any card face down, including a card that has already been played face up in the trick by another player.

During a Tune Up, your played card has no value, you cannot activate its special effect (if any), you cannot add gas or speed to your card, and most importantly you are unable to win the trick.

However, a Tune Up is the quickest way to gain gas (at the end of a trick) that was spent during previous tricks.

Resolving a Trick

After all players have taken their turn, resolve the trick by completing these five steps in order:

1. Any player that declared a Tune Up will gain gas from the middle of the table, if there is any. When gaining gas, first determine the total amount of gas that is in the middle. Do not count any gas currently on face up cards! Split all of the gas as evenly as possible. Any gas that cannot be split evenly is removed from the game and returned to the box.

   Using a PGC Variant? Put removed gas near the box instead to keep it separate from unused gas during setup.

   Example: Rowan and Fern declared a Tune Up this trick. There is five gas in the middle. Both players gain two gas and one gas is removed from the game.

   Additionally, each player can only have a maximum of five gas at any time. If a player were to gain more than five, all gas over five will be removed from the game.

   Example: Fern and Jaron declared a Tune Up this trick. Fern has four gas, Jaron has two gas, and there is five gas in the middle. Both players gain two gas and the other gas that was not split evenly is removed from the game. After gaining one gas, Fern now has five gas total. Therefore, Fern must remove the second gas from the game. Jaron gains both gas and now has four gas total.

   If all players declare a Tune Up, no one gains speed that trick and the lead player of the current trick leads the next trick. If this happens on the final trick, start the next round with no one completing a lap for the current round.

2. Discard all cards that were played face down, without looking at the number on the front.

3. From the remaining face up cards, compare all final card numbers. The highest final card number wins the trick. If there is a tie, the earlier played card wins.

   Reminder: Final card number is your printed card value, any spent gas on your card, and your current speed.

   Example: Fern plays the 2, spends three gas, and has a speed of +0. Fern's final card number is 5 (2+3+0=5). Jaron plays the 3, spends two gas, and has a speed of +2. Jaron's final card number is 7 (3+2+2=7). Vernon plays the 5, spends two gas, and has a speed of +1. Vernon's final card number is 8 (5+2+1=8). Vernon has the highest final card number and wins.

End of Round

The winner of the final trick gains one lap token. If that player now has two lap tokens, proceed to 'End of Game'. Otherwise, place it on the lap section of the racetrack matching their player color and play another round.

Shuffle the deck and deal six cards to each player.

Next, return all speed tokens to the 'Start' spaces on the racetrack, but keep all gas where it currently is! Any gas in the middle stays in the middle, any removed gas stays removed, etc. This means players may have less than five gas in front of them at the start of a new round.

The player who most recently gained a lap token leads the first trick of the next round.

End of Game

If a player has two lap tokens, the game is over and they win the game!

Card Special Effects

When played face up, the 1 and 2 cards will immediately activate a special effect:

1: Any 4 or 5 Face Up in the Trick Becomes a 0

It does not matter if the 4/5 is played before or after the 1, they will become a 0 value when calculating your final card number. This only applies to the printed card values of 4/5.

Gas and speed will still be added to the final card number.

Example: Fern plays the 5, spends two gas, and has a speed of +0. Fern's final card number is 7 (5+2+0=7). Rowan plays the 2, spends no gas, and has a speed of +2. Rowan's final card number is 4 (2+0+2=4). Vernon plays the 1, spends three gas, and has a speed of +1. Vernon's final card number is 5 (1+3+1=5). Vernon played a 1 which changes all cards with a printed value of 4 and 5 to 0. So, Fern's final card number is now 2 (5→0+2+0=2). Vernon has the highest final card number and wins.

2: Gain One Gas from the Middle of the Table

If you already have five gas, remove the gas from the game. If there is no gas in the middle, the effect does nothing.

You may spend the gas you gained from this special effect.

Example: There's five gas in the middle of the table. Fern has 0 gas and +0 speed. Fern plays the 2 and gains one gas from the middle of the table. Fern spends that gas. Fern's final card number is 3 (2+1+0=3).

Example Trick

Vernon leads: 4+4+0=8 (card+gas+speed). Rowan: 2*+0+1=3. Jaron: Tune Up**. Fern: 5+2+2=9 — Trick Winner!

*Immediately: Rowan gains one gas from the middle. **End of trick: Jaron gains two gas from the middle, giving them five gas. The last gas is removed from the game.

Original Speed and Lap Tokens

You may use the speed and lap tokens in the same manner as the original game, My Favorite Carrera. To do so, return the racetrack to the box and place all tokens near the middle of the table. When a player wins a trick, they place a speed token in front of themselves. For every speed token in front of a player, they add +1 to their final card number. The winner of the final trick places a lap token in front of themselves. At the end of the round, return all of the speed tokens to the middle of the table.

PGC Variants

All variants are modular and we recommend using them only after playing the base game a few times first! All game rules are the same, unless stated in the variant.

Larger Hands

During step 1 of Setup, prepare the deck by adding one additional copy of each suit.

• 3 players: 24 cards, four copies of each suit
• 4 players: 30 cards, five copies of each suit
• 5 players: 36 cards, six copies of each suit

During step 2 of Setup, deal seven cards to each player. Then, set all undealt cards (three at 3 players, two at 4, and one at 5) aside, face down. They will not be used this round.

Each round will still consist of six tricks. However, during the sixth trick, players will have two cards left in hand. Whichever card is not played into the trick will be held onto and carried over to the next round.

Example: At the start of the sixth trick, Fern has a 2 and a 3 in hand. Fern leads the trick by playing the 3. The 2 that is still in hand will be carried over to the next round.

If the game is not over, shuffle the discarded and undealt cards together. Then, deal each player six new cards, giving them seven cards in total (six new and one carried over).

New 0 Suit

During step 1 of Setup, replace all cards of an agreed upon suit with the 0 suit. In this way, there will still be six suits in the deck. However, if you use this variant with 'Larger Hands', instead of adding one additional copy of each suit to the deck, add all six 0 cards. Do not replace any suits. In this way, there will be seven suits in the deck.

When you play a 0 on your turn, immediately choose one of the special effects to activate:

• Gain one gas that was removed from the game.
• Gain +1 speed for the round.

If no gas has been removed yet, you must choose +1 speed.

Removed gas from game ≠ unused gas from setup.

0/5 Cards

During step 2 of Setup, after dealing all cards to each player, give a 0/5 card to each player. Players should place the 0/5 card on the table in front of themselves.

Once per game, on your turn you may choose to play your 0/5 card into the trick instead of a card from your hand. You cannot play this card if you have five gas, if no gas has been removed from the game, or if another player has played their 0/5 card that trick. After activating the special effect, add any gas and speed as normal. After playing your 0/5 card, discard a card from your hand, face down. After the trick, return your 0/5 card back to the box.

The number you can play (0 or 5) depends on how many laps you have completed when you play your 0/5 card.

• 0 Laps: You can only play the card as a 0.
• 1 Lap: You can play the card as a 0 or as a 5.

Based on the number you play, immediately activate the special effect:

• 0: Gain two gas that was removed from the game.
• 5: Gain one gas that was removed from the game.

The 5 suit on the 0/5 is different from the 'Slippy the Salmon' 5 suit. The 5 will become a 0 when a 1 is played in the trick.

Meet the Racers

• Lichen the Sasquatch & the Bookmobile — Signature move: Paperback Powershift. Card features: changes all 4 and 5 value cards to 0 value.
• Cap'n Salty the Puffin & the S.S. Haystack — Signature move: Starboard Swerve. Card features: gains one gas from the middle when played.
• Chippy the Beaver & Ol' Stumpy — Signature move: Timber Twist. Card features: none.
• Beans the Possum & the Java Jalopy — Signature move: Power Percolator. Card features: drops to 0 if the 1 is played.
• Jelly the Raccoon & the Sprinkle Express — Signature move: Doughnut Drift. Card features: drops to 0 if the 1 is played.
• Slippy the Salmon & Rapid Transit — Signature move: Fishtail. Card features: drops to 0 if the 1 is played.

Game Recap

• Shuffle the deck and deal six cards to each player.
• Each player will play a card face up or face down.
  • If you play face up: cannot play a suit already in the trick; may add gas, must add speed.
  • If you play face down: may play any card; will not win the trick, will gain gas from the middle of the table.
• All face down cards evenly split all gas in the middle of the table. Any player with excess gas (max. five) or gas not evenly split is removed from the game.
• Compare face up cards, highest final card number wins. Determining final card number: printed card value + spent gas (each gas adds 1 value) + speed (value of speed token on the racetrack).
• Move all gas played on cards to the middle of the table.
• Trick 1-5: Trick winner gains +1 speed, leads next trick. Trick 6: Trick winner completes one lap (gains lap token).
• If a player has completed two laps, they win the game! If not, play another round.
• 1: Any 4 or 5 (printed value) face up in the trick becomes a 0. Gas and speed on those cards still add their value.
• 2: Gain one gas from the middle of the table, if possible. If you have five gas, remove the gained gas from the game.