Demo Derby: Saturday Night at the Track

Demo Derby: Saturday Night at the Track Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

Each copy of Saturday Night at the Track: Demo Derby contains:

One game board
Six lead car miniatures (1967 Chevys)
One six-sided die
Record sheets
28 special damage cards
This rulebook

Each player also needs a pencil or a pen. The use of the record sheets and the special damage cards is detailed below. The board has a hexagonal grid that is used to track the position and movement of the cars. These hexagons are called "hexes."

Game Flow

Each player takes a car and a record sheet. Players roll the die to determine who will be the starting player. The player with the highest roll is the starting player, and turn order passes clockwise. The starting player places their car on one of the starting spaces (the yellow dots on the board), and the other players follow in order.

Saturday Night at the Track: Demo Derby is played in rounds. During each round, players must:

First: Secretly record their moves. When all players announce that they have finished writing, then:
Second: The starting player, and the other players in turn, resolve their moves. In the first round, cars cannot crash into each other. After the first round, cars crash when they move into one another. The damage caused when two cars crash is determined and recorded immediately.

After all players have moved and all damage has been recorded, the round ends. If a player's car has not crashed into other cars, and no other car has crashed into it, for eight rounds in a row, it is disqualified and out of the game. The game continues round after round until only one player's car can move.

First: Record Your Move

Each player records their move on their record sheet, in the movement section, in the numbered box that corresponds to the current round. When recording their move, a player must write two things:

Direction: F for forward (Forward) or R for reverse (Reverse), to indicate the direction in which their car moves. Before a car can change from moving forward to moving in reverse, or from reverse to forward, it must first stop, either by using a turn to brake or by crashing.
Speed: The number of hexes the player wants their car to move during its turn (this will be the car's speed).
If the player wants to reduce their car's speed or stop it, they write B to brake (Brake).

All cars start the game stopped, with a speed of zero. A car may increase its speed from one round to the next by up to 3 forward (Forward) or up to 2 in reverse (Reverse). The maximum speed of a car is 8, but this maximum may be reduced by engine damage. When braking (Brake), a car may reduce its speed or stop. Each time a car crashes into another car, both cars are stopped.

Second: Move and Crash

Movement

When all players have recorded their moves, the starting player makes their move and the other players follow in turn. During their move, each player tries to destroy the other cars by crashing into them. The player moves their car according to the number of hexes they recorded (for example, if they recorded "F6," the player must move their car 6 hexes forward), or until it crashes into another player's car. Each player must follow these rules when making their move:

Distance. The player's car must move the full distance it recorded. The only cases in which a player's car does not move the full distance are when the car crashes, or when the car gets stuck in the mud or in the ditch.
Direction. The player's car may go from the hex it occupies to the hex directly in front of it (Forward), or to the hex directly behind it (Reverse), or to the hexes on either side of its path.
Flat tires. For each flat tire a car has, the car moves 1 hex fewer than its recorded speed. For example, if the player recorded a movement of 7 and their car has 2 flat tires, the car can only move 5 hexes.
Mud puddle and ditch. If a car heads into a hex of the mud puddle (the blue pond) or of the ditch (the brown hollow), it becomes stuck and cannot move. To be able to move again, the player must roll the die at the start of their turn and roll a 5 or a 6; otherwise, the car remains stuck.
Light pole and wall. If a car heads into a hex that contains a light pole, or into the outer wall, it crashes into them. The player rolls on the damage table to determine the damage the obstacle has caused to their car (without subtracting anything from the damage roll). If a car leaves the race by crashing through the wall at the access ramp, it is considered to have left and is out of the game.
Collision. If a car has been hit by another car before it has moved in the current round, its speed is zero. If the car can still move after the collision, the player, on their turn, may move the car up to 3 hexes forward or up to 2 hexes in reverse (reduced by flat tires or engine damage), without regard to what the player recorded at the start of the round.

(The original rulebook contains two diagrams here, captioned "A car can move like this" and "A car turns while it moves; it does not turn in place." They are not reproduced.)

A car crashes into another car by entering its hex. When a car (the "rammer") crashes into another car (the "target"), the rammer is placed on the hex it had just come from, before entering the target's hex. Only one car may occupy a hex at any time.

Crash Damage

When the rammer crashes into the target, both players must roll on the damage tables to determine the damage they have caused to the other car.

First, the damage to the target car is determined: the rammer checks its speed and rolls the die on the damage table to determine how many points of damage the target receives, and whether the target's driver must draw a special damage card. Next, it is determined where on the target car the damage falls:

Roll the die once for each point of damage on the hit location table, and cross off one circle on the target's record sheet for each damaged part of the car. For example, if the rammer's speed was 4 and the rammer's driver rolls a 5, the damage table result is "2 - S," which means the target receives 2 points of damage and the target's driver must draw a special damage card. If the rammer has hit the front right of the target, the rammer's driver rolls twice on the hit location table. If they roll a "2" and a "4," the target's driver looks in the "Front Right" column, and would have to cross off one box on their record sheet in "Body Right" and one box in "Right Front Tire."

After the damage caused to the target car has been determined, it is the target car's turn: its driver rolls the die, subtracts 1 from the result, and looks at the damage table in the column corresponding to the rammer's speed to determine the damage points the rammer's car receives. The hit location of the damage to the rammer's car is determined and recorded in the same way.

Record Sheet

The upper half of each player's record sheet shows their car. In addition to the "laps" (which are used in the Figure-8 Race), the car shows the different parts that can receive damage. The parts of the car and the effect that damage has on them are detailed below.

Tires

When all the boxes of a tire have been crossed off, the tire is considered flat. Each flat tire reduces the car's speed. When a tire is flat, any additional damage to a rear tire is crossed off in the trunk, and any additional damage to a front tire is marked on the body on the same side as that tire.

Body

The car's performance is not affected when all the body boxes on one side have been crossed off. Any additional damage to that side of the body is crossed off in the engine.

Engine

The engine boxes indicate the maximum speed at which the car can move each turn. When the engine receives damage, the box with the highest number is crossed off. The car's maximum speed is the uncrossed engine box with the highest number. When all the engine boxes have been crossed off, the car can no longer move and is out of the game.

Trunk

The trunk is the part of the car that can receive the most damage. When all the trunk boxes have been crossed off, the car can no longer move and is out of the game.

Radiator

When both radiator boxes have been crossed off, the car can move only two more turns before it stalls, can no longer move, and is out of the game. Any additional damage to the radiator is crossed off in the engine boxes.

Special Damage Cards

When a player draws a special damage card, they place it face up in front of them. When the player is eliminated from the game, or when the card has ceased to have an effect, the player returns the card to the bottom of the deck.

For each card that has a die, the player must roll the die each round before moving. If they obtain one of the results shown on the card, then:

If the traffic light is green, their car moves normally.
If the traffic light is red, their car is out of the game.

If they do not obtain any of the results shown on the card, they keep the card and must continue following the instructions on it.

A player may draw more than one special damage card in a game.

Note: The card Fenders Locked (Guardabarros bloqueados) causes the two cars involved in the crash to be unable to move. Each player, on their turn, may roll to unlock the fenders and move normally. When a player's car can move, then both cars can move on their turn.

Winning the Game

The last car that can move is the winner. When only the cars of two players remain, the disqualification rule for going eight rounds without a crash no longer applies. If, after 64 turns, more than one player remains in the game, it is a tie between the surviving players.

During the game, destroyed cars are left on the board as obstacles.

Figure-8 Race

The Figure-8 Race is run in the light brown area in the center of the board; the red line is the start/finish line. The rules for the Figure-8 Race are the same as the rules for the open-field Demo Derby race, except for the following:

Start: The cars line up behind the red start/finish line, in the light brown area.
Crashes: The cars are not required to crash.
Winning: The first car to complete eight laps in the shape of an 8 around the two light poles wins. Each car's laps are marked on its roof on the record sheet. If all other cars are out of the game, the last car to move wins immediately.

Cars may move both inside and outside the Figure-8 area, as long as they pass between the light poles.

Variants

If there are only two or three players, each player may control more than one car. To make things more fun, Mayfair Games sells additional cars so that more players can each field more cars.
The Figure-8 Race and the Demo Derby race can be played together: first run a short race (4 laps) on the Figure-8 circuit. After the race is finished, the cars that have survived run an open-field Demo Derby race, starting with the damage accumulated during the Figure-8 Race.

Damage Table

The table is read by speed (columns 1 to 8) and modified die roll (rows 0 to 6).

Modified die roll*	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
0	ND	ND	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	ND	ND	1	2	3	4	5	6
2	ND	1	2	2

S: The driver draws one special damage card. ND: No damage is applied. * Subtract 1 from the die roll to determine the damage received by the rammer.

Hit Location Table

Roll the die to determine the part of the car that is hit. Read the row for the die roll, then the column for the point of impact. The columns are: Front (the first column, headed "Frontal" in the source), Front Left, Front Right, Rear Left, Rear Right and Rear.

Die roll	Front	Front Left	Front Right	Rear Left	Rear Right	Rear
1	Engine	Engine	Engine	Left rear tire	Right rear tire	Left rear tire
2	Left body	Left body	Right body	Left rear tire	Right rear tire	Right rear tire
3	Left front tire	Left body	Right body	Trunk	Trunk	Trunk
4	Right front tire

Transcription notes: the table is reproduced as printed. In the source, the die-roll 2 row lists "Right rear tire" in both the Rear Right and Rear columns, and the die-roll 1 row lists "Left rear tire" for both Rear Left and Rear; both are reproduced without correction.

Optional Rules

The following section is a separate fan-made optional rules sheet for Demo Derby (BoardGameGeek file 1195, "Demo Derby Optional Rules"). It is not part of the official rulebook, and it is transcribed as printed.

Phased Moves

Instead of moving in turn sequence, the cars move one hex at a time, based on their speed, using this table. Each column is a phase (there are 15 of them). You call each column in turn, and within each column you call each speed going from top to bottom. Thus, on phase 1, the speed 8 cars move first, followed by the speed 7 cars. On phase 8, the speed 7 cars move, then the speed 5 cars, then the speed 3 cars, then the speed 1 cars.

Speed \ Phase	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
8	T		T		T		T		T		T		T		T

Vector Collisions

Collisions should depend on the cars' relative speed. This can be handled by extending the damage table and applying the following rules.

Rammer crashes into the Target from the	Speed used on Damage Table
Rear	Rammer's speed minus the Target's speed.
Left Rear / Right Rear	Rammer's speed minus half the Target's speed (round down).
Left Front / Right Front	Rammer's speed plus half the Target's speed (round down).
Front	Rammer's speed plus the Target's speed.

The target still rolls at –1 using the same column as the rammer's.

S2 means draw two Special Damage Cards.

Extended Damage Table

The table is read by speed (columns 0- and 1 to 16) and modified die roll (rows 0 to 6). The first speed column is headed "0-" as printed.

Modified die roll	0-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
0	ND	ND	ND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8S	9S

The target still rolls at –1 using the same column as the rammer's. S2 means draw two Special Damage Cards.