Dirt & Dust Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• List of Components
  • Shared Components
  • Player Components
• Game Overview
• Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Description of Components
  • Player Board
  • Racing Team Board
  • Stage Board
  • Starter Racing Team Cards
  • Racing Team Cards
  • Driver Cards
  • Stage Cards
• Gameplay
  • Resources
  • 1. Dice Roll Phase
  • Special Dice
  • 2. Driving Phase
    • Play a Card
    • Purchase a New Racing Team Card
    • Resolve an Active Card
    • Card Effects
    • Map Out a Stage
    • Perform a Special Action
  • Hazard and Damage
    • Take a Hazard Die
  • 3. Stage Evaluation Phase
  • 4. Preparation Phase
• End of the Game
  • Scoring
• Difficulty Adjustment
• Game Mode: Trial Stage
  • Game Setup
  • Course of the Trial Stage
  • Winning
• Game Mode: Solo
  • Game Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Changes in the Dice Roll Phase
    • Changes in the Driving Phase
    • Changes in the Stage Evaluation Phase
  • Difficulty Adjustment (Simplification)
  • Difficulty Adjustment (Challenge)
• Round Example
  • 1. Dice Roll Phase
  • 2. Driving Phase
  • 3. Stage Evaluation Phase
  • 4. Preparation Phase
• Drivers
  • Harry Jordan
  • Sofía Fernández
  • Aiko Yamamoto
  • Ferenc Kovács
• Permanent Damage Tokens
• Game Icons

List of Components

Shared Components

• 1 Stage board
• 10 red Boost dice
• 1 Popularity die
• 5 decks of Stage cards (each containing 10 cards)
• 20 Passive Effect tokens
• 1 deck of Trial Stage cards (5 cards)
• 9 Base Game Racing Team decks (each containing 8 cards)
• 9 Extended Game Racing Team decks (each containing 8 cards)
• 1 Ghost Driver card for solo game mode

Player Components

• 4 Racing Team boards
• 4 Sets of 3 Player dice
• 4 Player boards
• 4 Sets of 3 black Hazard dice
• 4 Sets of 7 Permanent Damage tokens
• 4 Car figures
• 4 Speed point markers
• 4 Popularity point markers
• 4 Damage markers
• 4 Sets of 10 Navigator tokens
• 4 decks of Driver cards (each containing 5 cards)
• 4 Starter Racing Team decks (each containing 5 cards)
• 4 Player Aid cards

Game Overview

Dirt & Dust is a rally-themed card game where players build their ultimate support team and fine-tune their cars to perfection by acquiring new cards. The game is played in rounds, with players simultaneously completing 4 phases in each round. Players purchase cards, use dice to activate their effects, and control the Speed of their cars, balancing acceleration and deceleration to maximize the benefits of card effects. They choose their lane carefully to earn points for Speed and fan Popularity. Players map Stages to collect Speed points, repair their cars when needed, and push their runs to the limit to impress spectators with their daring maneuvers.

Goal of the Game

The aim of the game is to get as many Speed points as possible. The player with the most Speed points wins.

Game Setup

1. Place the Stage board in the centre of the table where all players can easily see it. Choose one of the race Stages. For your first game, we recommend the Trial Stage. This easier and shorter trial will help you familiarize yourself with the main mechanics (for the setup of the Trial Stage, see page 14). Later, you can select Stages either randomly or by agreement. However, the Sea Camp Stage is a great place to start your rally career.
2. Each standard Stage consists of exactly ten Stage cards, arranged face-down into a deck in descending order. The card marked "10" (in the bottom-right corner) should be at the bottom of the deck, followed by "9" and so on. Place the Stage deck on the highlighted space on the Stage board. Then, reveal the top six cards (one by one) and place them face-up on the corresponding empty spaces on the Stage board, starting from the farthest slot (card "1") and finishing with the slot next to the Stage deck (card "6").
3. Place each player's Speed point marker on the Speed point track and their Popularity marker on the Popularity track.
4. Create a display of Racing Team cards consisting of nine stacks, each containing eight copies of the same card. Lay the cards face-up on the table, accessible to all players, and arrange the stacks in ascending order. For the first game, use all cards marked A (Base Game Racing Team decks). In future games, you can replace the A set with the more advanced B set (Extended Game Racing Team deck) or you can experiment by swapping out only some of the cards from the A set for those in the B set. In any case, the supply must always contain exactly nine card stacks (each with eight cards), numbered 1–9 (no number should appear twice).
5. Place the red Boost dice within reach of all players. Place a Popularity die on the Stage board.
6. Each player takes a Racing Team board and places a Player board above it. Place your Car figure onto the Position section of your Player board — on the central slot marked 4 on the top row of the board.
7. Place Permanent Damage tokens on your Player board in ascending order (1–7), black-and-white side up. Leave the last slot empty. Place three black Hazard dice (oriented in any way) below the Permanent Damage tokens.
8. Under the Hazard dice, you can find the Damage track. Place a Damage marker on the leftmost space of this track (marked with 0).
9. Set the Wrench and Traction dials to zero.
10. Each player places their Navigator tokens and Passive Effect tokens near their Player board. For each player, prepare a pool of three Player dice in their colour.
11. Place the Player Aid cards within the play area for future reference.
12. Each player creates their starting draw deck by shuffling their Starter Racing Team deck marked with the letter S in the bottom right corner (consisting of the following cards: 2× Prepared, 1× On the road, 1× Tightening screws and 1× Engine tuning) with their chosen Driver deck (consisting of five cards). For your first game, drivers can be assigned randomly. In future games, you can choose which driver you prefer. Each driver encourages a distinct playstyle, offering a new game experience.

Description of Components

Player Board

Each player has a board where they track their car's position, any damage sustained, and the amount of resources they have. All Player boards are identical.

• Red zone: scoring Popularity points
• Yellow zone: scoring Speed points
• Grey zone: scoring Speed points
• Position section
• Permanent Damage token slots
• Hazard dice slots
• Wrenches
• Accelerating
• Decelerating
• Traction
• Damage track

Racing Team Board

Each player has a Racing Team board where they keep their draw deck, active cards, and discard pile. This is also where they place Player dice and it serves as their main playing area.

• Value of the die
• Player dice slots
• Active cards slots
• Draw deck
• Discard pile

Stage Board

The Stage board is used to track Speed points and Popularity points. It also has space for a deck of Stage cards and displays six face-up Stage cards.

• Stage card deck
• Stage cards slots
• Popularity die slot
• Speed points track
• Popularity track

Starter Racing Team Cards

Each player starts the game with a deck of five starting cards, which provide basic effects they can perform. These cards have a grey title background and an S symbol in the bottom right corner. All sets of starting cards are identical.

A starting card shows: an unconditional effect, an effect activated with a die, an effect when accelerating, an effect when decelerating, and the starting-card marker.

Racing Team Cards

Racing Team cards are placed in a shared display consisting of nine stacks, from which players can purchase cards during the game. These cards provide a variety of effects, and some may also contribute Speed points at the end of the game. There are two types of Racing Team cards: Base Game Racing Team cards, marked with an A symbol, and Extended Game Racing Team cards, marked with a B symbol, both featuring a turquoise title background for easy identification.

A Racing Team card shows: the Speed points received at the end of the game, the cost of the card, the number of the card, and whether it is an Extended Game card or a Base Game card.

Driver Cards

Each player starts the game with 5 Driver cards in their deck. These cards provide unique effects that a player can perform. Driver cards have a yellow title background. All drivers are unique.

A Driver card shows: a passive effect and a mandatory discard effect.

Stage Cards

There are five decks of Stage cards, each containing ten cards. Stage cards represent the racing track, and players who participate in the Stages will have the opportunity to use special effects or may be forced to take a punishment while making turns with their car. Participating in the Stages brings Speed points.

A Stage card shows: the cost of placing a Navigator token, the adjustment of Car Position, the card effect, whether the card effect is mandatory, the Stage symbol, and the number of the Stage card.

Gameplay

Dirt & Dust is played over several rounds. The number of rounds is determined by the number of cards in the Stage deck. Each round consists of four short phases, with players able to perform each phase simultaneously. Once all players finish a phase, they proceed to the next – until all four phases are completed. Repeat all phases until the final Stage card leaves the Stage board, which triggers the end of the game. The four phases are:

1. Dice Roll phase
2. Driving phase
3. Stage Evaluation phase
4. Preparation phase

Resources

In Dirt & Dust, you will manage two basic resources and one additional resource.

When players gain Wrenches or Traction, they track these on the Wrench or Traction dial on their Player board. A player can have a maximum of 10 Wrenches and 10 Traction resources at any time. Both resources carry over between rounds and do not need to be used in the round in which they were gained.

Wrenches. These represent the skills of your support team, including tuning the car, adjusting suspensions, selecting and inflating tyres, modifying the differential, and so on. In the game, Wrenches are used to purchase new cards, trigger various effects, and manipulate dice (see Perform a Special Action on page 11).

Traction. This represents the navigator's efforts to interpret test-drive notes, work with the tripmaster, and precisely guide the driver for the smoothest passage through each section. Traction is needed to map a Stage where the communication between your driver and your navigator ensures a seamless drive. Traction can also be used to adjust your car's position, but only when decelerating (see Perform a Special Action on page 11).

Popularity. Audience favour serves as an additional resource. When a player gains Popularity points, they move their marker up the Popularity track on the Stage board by the corresponding number of spaces. Popularity points can be used to pay for certain card effects. The player with the most Popularity points during the Dice Roll Phase gains a special Popularity die to be added to their dice pool. A player can earn a maximum of 15 Popularity points.

1. Dice Roll Phase

First, the player with the most Popularity points gains the Popularity die. If two or more players share the same amount of Popularity, none of them will gain the die.

Example: The yellow player has the most Popularity points, so they take the Popularity die this round.

All players roll the dice in their personal dice pool. The dice pool always includes three Player dice, any black Hazard dice acquired in previous rounds, and the Popularity die (which is only available to the player with the most Popularity points).

If you have any black Hazard dice in your dice pool, you must resolve their dice results immediately after rolling (see Hazard and Damage on page 12).

Assign all remaining dice to the Racing Team board according to their rolled values. It is possible to have multiple dice with the same value on the board. These dice are now active and can be used by players to resolve active cards during the next phase.

Example: The yellow player rolled dice with the values 4, 3, 1, and 1. They will place each die in the slot matching its value. They immediately lose one Popularity point due to the Popularity die (see Popularity die below).

Special Dice

Popularity die. This die is considered as a Player die in all respects, but has only values of 1 and 2, so can never be changed to any values of 3 or higher. The blank side means that this round, the player does not resolve the die. Perhaps the audience was looking elsewhere …

Important: Immediately after you roll the Popularity die, you lose as much Popularity points as the rolled value.

Boost die. When you receive a red Boost die, roll it immediately and use it as a Player die. It is only available for one round and must be returned to the shared supply during the Preparation Phase.

2. Driving Phase

During the second phase, players may freely choose between several actions that are essential for a smooth drive. Players may perform these actions simultaneously, at any time during this phase with no limit on repetitions and in any order. These actions are:

• Play a card
• Purchase a new Racing Team card
• Resolve an active card
• Map out a Stage
• Perform a Special Action

Play a Card

A player can play a card from their hand onto any empty space on their Racing Team board. Once placed, a card is immediately considered active, regardless of whether the player resolves its effects. The card remains active until it leaves the Racing Team board and is discarded onto the discard pile. Playing cards doesn't cost any resources. You can repeat this action as long as you have cards in your hand and empty space on your board.

Purchase a New Racing Team Card

Players may purchase Racing Team cards at any time during the Driving Phase. The cards in the display always show their cost in the top-left corner. The player spends the required number of Wrenches and places the purchased card face-up on their discard pile. It is possible to purchase multiple copies of the same card. If you run out of a type of card in the display, it can no longer be purchased. If several players want to purchase the last card of one type from a deck, priority is given to the player with more Popularity points. In case of a tie, the player with fewer Speed points has priority. If still tied, none of these players may purchase the card this round.

Note – The Golden Rule: The effects of cards override the rules outlined in here. If a card conflicts with any rule during the game, its effect is still carried out in full.

Resolve an Active Card

At any time during this phase, even in between playing other cards, a player may resolve an active card as long as there is a die placed above it. To resolve a card, the player moves the die placed directly above the chosen card from the upper section of their Racing Team board below the board, and then resolves the effects listed on the card in any order. All effects on the card must be resolved at once, without being interrupted by other actions.

Players can have multiple dice with the same value on their Racing Team board. This allows them to resolve a single card multiple times. All effects on a card must be fully resolved before the player activates the card again by transferring another die from the top section of the Racing Team board to the area below it.

All card effects are optional (except those marked with a warning symbol) and a player may choose not to resolve them. However, if you want to use an effect on a card, you must resolve it in full.

Example: If a card states "Discard all active cards", you may choose not to use this effect and leave your Racing Team board unchanged. However, if you choose to use the effect, you must do so in full and discard all active cards from your Racing Team board onto the discard pile on the right side of your board – you cannot choose to discard only some of the cards.

Note: It may happen that players roll dice values corresponding to spaces already occupied by cards from previous rounds. In such cases, the player can either resolve those cards again or perform a Special action to adjust the value of the dice (see page 11).

Card Effects

All effects are optional, unless marked with an exclamation mark. In that case, they must be resolved.

There are 6 types of card effects: unconditional, conditional based on the car's position, conditional based on the colour-marked zone of the car, conditional based on a specific die or a certain value on the die, and passive (see Perform a Special Action below).

Effects on the right side of all playing cards depend on the car's position on the Player board: The top row is resolved only if your car is accelerating, meaning it is located in the top row of the Position section on your Player board. The bottom row is resolved only if your car is decelerating, meaning it is located in the bottom row of the Position section on your Player board.

Some effects require a specific die (e.g., a red Boost die) or a specific value to be resolved. If an effect shows a die with the value 5, only a die showing that value can resolve it.

Card effects may refer to specific colour-marked zones on the Player board.

Example: This Harry Jordan card states: "If you are in the yellow zone, gain 1 Popularity point and 1 Wrench." The yellow zone is marked on the Position section of the Player board and applies regardless of whether the car is accelerating or decelerating (i.e., whether it is in the upper or lower row).

A complete list of icons can be found at the end of this rulebook.

Map Out a Stage

Each Stage card on the Stage board shows its cost in Traction in the top-left corner. Players may spend the required amount of Traction and then place their Navigator token on the chosen Stage card. Every player whose Navigator token is on the card when it is being resolved, has this part of the track well-mapped and clearly communicated between the driver and navigator (see Stage Evaluation phase on page 12).

Example: The blue player pays 4 Traction to place a Navigator token on this Stage card.

There may be only one Navigator token per player on each Stage card (unless otherwise stated on specific cards).

Example: Each Stage contains one card with this icon. Once a player places their Navigator token on that Stage card, they can have up to 3 tokens on each of the Stage cards. When evaluating a Stage card with multiple Navigator tokens belonging to the same player, this player receives a reward for each token.

Players may map out Stages in any order. Once a player places their token on a Stage card, they must resolve its effects, one by one, from top to bottom. Stage cards include the prompt to adjust the car position on the Player board and other effects.

Adjust Car Position. The arrows on Stage cards always indicate how many spaces the car must move left or right on the Player board. If the car cannot move in the indicated direction (because it is already at the edge of the board), the player must suffer a Hazard (see Hazard and Damage on page 12). Regardless of how many more movements the card requires, the player suffers Hazard only once.

Effects. Unlike Adjust Car Position, which is mandatory, other effects are optional, unless marked with a warning symbol (these must be resolved when placing the Navigator token).

Example: When a player places their Navigator token on this card, they must first move their car two spaces to the right. Then they must resolve the effect of the card as it is marked with the warning symbol. The icon says that the player must flip the two leftmost active cards on their player board face-down.

Perform a Special Action

Adjust Position. If your car is decelerating (i.e., your car is placed in the bottom row) you may adjust its position left or right by spending one Traction. You may spend multiple Traction resources to make more moves. However, you cannot use Traction to move between rows.

If you are accelerating (i.e., your car is placed in the top row), spending Traction to adjust your position is not possible. At such speeds, there's simply no time for fine manoeuvres!

Adjust Dice Values. For one Wrench, you may adjust the value of a die by 1 up or down during the Driving Phase. This can be done repeatedly, as long as you have enough Wrenches. It is not possible to adjust a die showing value 1 to value 6, or a die showing value 6 to value 1 for just one Wrench. If you really need to, you will need to spend five Wrenches.

Example: You roll dice with the values of 1, 3, and 5. Unfortunately, all these slots on your Racing Team board are occupied by not ideal cards from the previous round. You decide to first resolve the card in position 3, which grants you one Wrench. You immediately use this Wrench to increase the value of the die from 5 to 6 and place it on the corresponding space. You then play a card from your hand on this space, which, when resolved, allows you to discard any active cards. This action clears the space under the die with a value of 1. Now you just need to decide which card you will play there, and resolve it afterward.

Evaluate Passive Effects. Passive effects are indicated by the yellow helmet icon on the yellow background. They may be resolved freely once per round, as long as the card is active (i.e., it is on the Racing Team board), even if there is no die above it. These effects can never be activated multiple times in a single round, and dice have no impact on them. To keep track of what passive effects you have already used in this round, place a Passive Effect token on the corresponding card once you activate it.

Hazard and Damage

Players may suffer a Hazard and incur car damage during the game, most commonly as a result of Stage card effects, voluntary strain on the car, leaving the track, or risky manoeuvres. When a player is instructed to suffer a Hazard, they take a black Hazard die from the supply on their Player board, immediately roll it, and resolve its effects. Afterwards, the die is added to their dice pool and will be rolled in subsequent rounds along with the other dice until it is repaired through game effects. Hazard dice are not used to resolve cards.

Hazard dice generally represent the potential strain on your car, which affects its technical condition. On the Player board, you can find a Damage track, which counts down the time towards the car's irreversible destruction.

A player can sustain a maximum of three Hazards (i.e., a maximum of three Hazard dice in their dice pool). If they are required to take a fourth Hazard die, they instead roll and resolve one Hazard die they already have in their pool.

The Hazard die has two types of symbols: Hit and Popularity.

For each Hit symbol, you must advance the Damage marker one space to the right on the Damage track on your Player board. Once the marker reaches the final space on the track, immediately flip over the leftmost inactive Permanent Damage token and place the Damage marker back at the start of the Damage track. An important part of your car has just broken down. From now on, you will be affected by the Permanent Damage described in the table on pages 18 and 19. If you still have some Hits to take after you flipped the Permanent Damage token, continue moving the Damage marker again from the start of the Damage track.

Important: If you have to flip the 8th token, it results in complete destruction of your car, removing you from the game. You lose all your Speed points and Popularity points!

Hazard dice can be repaired during the game by an appropriate effect (see Game Icons on page 20), but permanent damage will stay with you until the end of the game and significantly impact your car's abilities.

For each Popularity symbol on your Hazard die, you advance your Popularity marker one space forward on the Popularity track.

Example: Your Damage marker is on space 2 of the Damage track. You have sustained 4 Hits. After three moves, your token reaches the end of the track, and you must immediately flip over the leftmost Permanent Damage token on your Player board and place the Damage marker back at the start of the Damage track (marked with 0). Then, advance it by one more space.

Take a Hazard Die

At any time during the Driving Phase, you may voluntarily take a Hazard die from your supply, roll it and immediately resolve its effects. Then add the die to your dice pool for the next rounds. It will stay there until it is repaired through some in-game effect and thus returned to your supply on your Player board. This represents pushing the car to its limits. Once you voluntarily take a Hazard die, you immediately gain 2 Traction. You may repeat this action as long as you have any Hazard dice available in your supply.

Note: If you already have all three Hazard dice in your pool, you cannot perform this Special Action.

3. Stage Evaluation Phase

At the beginning of this phase, move all Stage cards on the Stage board one space down. A Stage card that moves off the Stage board is resolved immediately.

When resolving a Stage card, players check if they have their Navigator token on that card. If they do, they immediately gain as many Speed points as the number indicated on the space beneath their Car figure on their Player board.

If a player's car is in the red zone on the Player board, they gain Popularity points instead of Speed points, as indicated on the board. The crowd is bound to go wild, if you hug the curve real tight!

Example: The blue player receives 3 Speed points. The yellow player receives 5 Popularity points.

Important: Speed points or Popularity points are awarded based on the car's current position at the moment the Stage card leaves the Stage board, not at the moment when the player placed their Navigator token on it.

If a player does not have their Navigator token on the Stage card, they did not map out the section properly and receive no reward. Return all Navigator tokens from the resolved Stage card to the players' supply and place the card onto the Stage card discard pile. Place a new Stage card from the top of the deck into the empty space at the top of the board.

4. Preparation Phase

At the beginning of this phase, all players move the cards on their Racing Team board one space to the right. If any card moves from the rightmost position, the player places it face-up on their discard pile. Players return their Passive Effect tokens to their supplies.

The Popularity die and all Boost dice are returned to the shared supply. All other dice are returned to the players' personal dice pools to be rolled again in the next round.

Each player may discard any number of cards from their hand to their discard pile and then draw new cards up to five cards in hand. If their draw deck is empty and they need to draw more cards, they must first shuffle their discard pile and place it face-down to the left of their Racing Team board as a new draw deck.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately after the last (tenth) Stage card leaves the Stage board. Once the card is resolved, the game ends.

Scoring

Players now tally their points. To the Speed points earned during the game, they add points from their cards and points for the position on the Popularity track, and subtract points for Hazard dice.

• Each player takes their entire deck, which includes their draw deck, discard pile, hand and active cards. They review all the cards in this deck and add (or subtract) the Speed points shown in the top-right corner of each card to (or from) their total score.
• For every Hazard die in their dice pool (not on their Player board), players lose one Speed point.
• The player with the most Popularity points gains 3 Speed points, the one with the second-most gains 1 Speed point (they must have at least one Popularity point). If players share the same position, they all receive the Speed points.

If you reach more than 50 points, flip the Speed point token to its other side and continue counting from 1 on the track. The player with the most Speed points at the end of the game wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most Popularity points wins. If the tie persists, the player with the fewest flipped Permanent Damage tokens wins. If the tie remains unresolved, all tied players share the victory.

Example: The blue player has 41 Speed points after the last round. Then, they gain 4 Speed points for the cards they have. As they have two Hazard dice in their pool, they lose 2 Speed points. Finally, they gain 1 Speed point for the second place on the Popularity track. The final score of the blue player is 44 Speed points.

Difficulty Adjustment

If you're playing with children or just want a more relaxed gaming experience, reveal only five Stage cards during the game setup. If, on the other hand, you want a bit of a challenge, start the game with one or two Permanent Damage tokens already flipped face-up.

Game Mode: Trial Stage

If you are playing your first game or want to present the game to a new player, you may play this short mode.

Game Setup

The Trial Stage is played over five rounds. Place five Trial Stage cards on the Stage board in the order from 1 to 5, starting from the farthest slot (card 1) and continuing toward the last card (5). One slot next to the Stage deck space will remain empty. The available action cards for purchase consist of the 1(A), 3(A), 5(A), and 6(A) decks.

Each player starts with 5 Start cards (marked with the letter S), two 1(B) cards, two 3(B) cards, and one 8(B) card – for a total of ten cards. Shuffle the deck and have the player draw five cards according to standard rules. Driver cards are not used in the Trial Stage; they can be left in the box along with any remaining cards.

Prepare the other components as per the standard game setup rules.

Course of the Trial Stage

The course of the game follows the same rules as the standard game, the only difference being the player order. Decide who goes first (for example, the player who last drove a car). This player will complete their entire Driving Phase, followed by the next player in clockwise order. Once all players finish their Driving Phase, the Stage Evaluation Phase and the Preparation Phase for the next round follow, which are completed simultaneously by all players as is the Dice Roll Phase at the beginning of a round.

Winning

Naturally, you can celebrate the winner of the Trial Stage, but all players who score at least 15 points qualify for the first real Stage.

Game Mode: Solo

Dirt & Dust can also be played solo. Can you outpace your opponent, the Ghost Driver, and reach the finish line faster, or will you score less Speed points and end up being the loser?

Game Setup

Prepare the game according to the standard rules. Set aside three extra Hazard dice and three Player dice in any colour you choose. This supply of dice will represent the Ghost Driver on the track. However, these dice are not yet available to your opponent; he will acquire them progressively.

Place one of each of the Ghost Driver's Hazard dice on the first three cards of the Stage. Prepare the Ghost Driver's card next to the Stage board. Leave his Player dice nearby for now.

Gameplay

The Ghost Driver does not play the first round of the game. However, at the end of the first round, during the Stage Evaluation Phase, his first Hazard die is unlocked when the first Stage card leaves the board. Add this Hazard die to his dice supply, along with one Player die.

At the start of the second round, the Ghost Driver has exactly one Hazard die and one Player die in his supply. Both will be rolled in the Dice Roll Phase and placed on the Ghost Driver's card.

At the end of the second round, again add one Hazard die and one Player die. Do the same at the end of the third round. In the fourth and all subsequent rounds, the Ghost Driver gains no more dice and plays with three Hazard dice and three Player dice until the end of the game.

Changes in the Dice Roll Phase

The player always rolls the Ghost Driver's dice first; after the roll they are always split into random pairs of one Hazard die and one Player die.

Changes in the Driving Phase

At any time during the Driving Phase, the player may place one active (not used) die from their pool on a Ghost Driver's Hazard die, as long as the die matches the value of the Ghost Driver's Player die in that pair.

Example: You have decided to eliminate the greatest danger by sacrificing your blue Player die with a value of 6.

Changes in the Stage Evaluation Phase

In the Stage Evaluation Phase, the Ghost Driver always gains as many Speed points as the sum of the red Hit symbols on his dice. Symbols on covered dice do not count. The Ghost Driver also gets one Popularity point for each uncovered blue Popularity symbol on his dice.

Example: The Ghost Driver (the purple driver) would gain 1 Speed point and no Popularity point. However, if the player did not sacrifice a die with a value of 6 on their turn, the Ghost Driver would gain 4 Speed points and 2 Popularity points.

Difficulty Adjustment (Simplification)

• Amateur – During game setup, place the Hazard dice one card further back. The first card on the board will have no dice, so you will play two preparation rounds before the Ghost Driver starts chasing you.
• Rookie – Place the Hazard dice two cards further back.
• Newbie – Place the Hazard dice three cards further back, on the three outermost cards on the board.

Difficulty Adjustment (Challenge)

• Challenger – Place only two Hazard dice on the Stage cards during game setup. The Ghost Driver starts the game with one Hazard die and one Player die in their supply and starts to race ahead in the first round.
• Veteran – Place only one Hazard die on a Stage card. The Ghost Driver starts the game with two Hazard dice and two Player dice in their supply.
• Beast – The Ghost Driver starts with three Hazard dice and three Player dice in his supply right from the first round.

Round Example

It is Nick's turn. He has 3 Wrenches and 5 Traction resources available, and his car is in the bottom row of the Position section on his Player board. He has already turned two Permanent Damage tokens.

1. Dice Roll Phase

Nick rolls all the dice in his dice pool. In addition to his 3 Player dice, he has 1 Hazard die and, since he currently has the most Popularity points, he takes the Popularity die as well.

On the Hazard die, Nick rolls 3 Hit symbols and 1 Popularity symbol. He advances the corresponding tokens forward on their respective tracks. On the Popularity die, he rolls a value 2, places it on position "2" of his Racing Team board, and subtracts 2 Popularity points on the Popularity track.

2. Driving Phase

• First, Nick uses the Passive effect of the 9(A) (Racing Line) card, marks its use with a token, and takes a Boost die, which he rolls immediately. He rolls a value 1 and places it on position 1 on his Racing Team board, where he already has another die.
• Nick plays the card 5(A) (Roadbook) on position 1 and activates it using both dice on that position – resolving the first activation completely before using the second die. This grants him a total of 4 Traction resources, which he records on his Traction dial. He chooses not to use the effect that discards all active cards from his Racing Team board.
• Nick spends 6 Traction resources to place his Navigator token on the last Stage card, which has an effect allowing him to place up to three Navigator tokens on each Stage card. After placing the Navigator token, Nick must move his car 4 spaces to the left (3 for the Stage card + 1 for Nick's Permanent Damage).
• Nick spends 1 Wrench to modify a die with a value of 5 to a 6 and moves it to the corresponding position.
• Next, Nick activates the card 6(A) (Shakedown), which allows him to remove a card from his Racing Team board (5(A) Roadbook) and place it aside to his pile of removed cards. Since Nick's car is in the bottom row, he gains 2 Traction resources.
• Nick then plays his Driver card on position 4 and uses its Passive effect – he takes the card 5(A) (Roadbook) from his pile of removed cards and places it on position 2 on his Racing Team board. Additionally, by using the Passive effect of this card, Nick gains 1 Popularity point.
• Nick decides to activate the Roadbook card again, gaining 2 Traction resources. He now has a total of 7 Traction resources.
• Nick spends 3 Traction resources to place his second Navigator token on Stage card 5. He moves his car 3 spaces to the right (2 for the Stage card and 1 for his Permanent Damage). Since Nick's car drives in the lower row, the mandatory effect of the Stage card does not apply to him. If Nick drove in the upper row, he would have to take a Hazard die and immediately roll it and resolve it.
• Nick spends 4 Traction resources to place his second Navigator token on Stage card 8. This moves his car 2 spaces to the right. He also uses the card's effect that allows him to repair 1 Hazard die.
• To maximize his Speed points gain, Nick voluntarily takes a Hazard die, gaining 2 Traction resources. He must immediately roll the Hazard die, and rolls 2 Hits, which he records on his Damage track. Since his Damage track has reached the final space, Nick must flip the next inactive Permanent Damage token: As a result, placing a Navigator token on a Stage card will cost him 1 additional Traction resource for the rest of the game.
• Using a special action for 2 Traction resources, Nick moves his car 2 spaces to the left. At the end of the round, Nick does not have any Traction.
• Nick plays the card 2(A) on position 6 and activates it immediately. First, he moves his car into the upper row to gain more Speed points during the Stage Evaluation Phase. In the upper row, he also gains 2 Wrenches.

3. Stage Evaluation Phase

During the Stage Evaluation Phase, Stage card "5" leaves the Stage board. Nick had two Navigator tokens there.

For each Navigator token on the card, Nick gains Speed points based on his car's position on the Player board. Since Nick's car is in the upper row in the middle section, he gains 4 Speed points per Navigator token. Therefore, in this round, Nick gains a total of 8 Speed points.

4. Preparation Phase

• Nick moves all his cards on the Racing Team board 1 space to the right. If a card were moved from the rightmost position, he would discard it.
• He returns the Popularity die to the Stage board and the Boost die to the shared supply.
• He removes all tokens marking the use of Passive effect and places them next to his Player board.
• Nick decides to discard a card from his hand to the discard pile to draw up to five cards in his hand. However, his draw deck contains only three cards, which he takes. Then, he shuffles his discard pile to form a new draw deck and draws the remaining two cards.

Drivers

Harry Jordan

• Passive effect: Pay 2 Popularity points and set all your unused dice to a value of 6. Then discard this card to the discard pile.
• If your car is in the yellow zone (no matter if top or bottom row), gain 1 Popularity point and 1 Wrench.
• Set one of your unused dice to a value of 5 or 6.

Sofía Fernández

• Passive effect: Treat all your Hazard dice from one roll as blank. Then discard this card to the discard pile. Note: You may use this effect for any roll of Hazard dice (e.g. in the Dice Roll Phase). Remember that when performing the Special Action Take a Hazard die, you take and roll only one Hazard die at a time.
• If your car is in the yellow zone (no matter if top or bottom row), suffer a Hazard and gain 3 Traction. Note: You may perform this action even if you already have all Hazard dice in your pool. In this case you must roll and resolve one of them again (see Hazard and Damage on page 12).
• Gain Traction equal to the number of Hazard dice in your pool.

Aiko Yamamoto

• Passive effect: Choose one of your removed cards and play it on your Racing Team board. Gain 1 Popularity.
• If your car is in the yellow zone (no matter if top or bottom row), remove any of your active cards of your choice from the game.
• Gain Wrenches equal to the number of your removed cards to a maximum of 3.

Ferenc Kovács

• Passive effect: Gain a card that costs 1 or 2 Wrenches free of charge and place it on top of your draw deck.
• If your car is in the yellow zone (no matter if top or bottom row), gain 2 Traction and then discard this card to the discard pile.
• Discard all your active cards to the discard pile.

Permanent Damage Tokens

Listed in order from 1 to 7:

1. Add +1 to the number of spaces your car must move left or right on your Player board when placing Navigator tokens on Stage cards.
2. Add +1 Wrench to the cost of cards (does not affect the cost of dice adjustments on the Racing Team board).
3. Add +1 Traction to the cost of placing a Navigator token on a Stage card (does not affect the cost of adjustment of position of your car).
4. Your hand limit is reduced to 3 cards.
5. See Permanent Damage #1 (the effect is cumulative).
6. Passive effects on player's cards have no effect.
7. Reset Traction and Wrench dials at the end of every round – your resources are no longer carried over to the next round.

Game Icons

• Speed points during the game.
• Speed points at the end of the game.
• Traction: Used to pay for card effects, place Navigator tokens on Stage cards, or adjust the position of a player's car on their Player board (if decelerating).
• Wrenches: Used to purchase new cards, pay for card effects, and manipulate dice.
• Popularity: The Popularity track is on the Stage board. During the Preparation Phase, the player with the most Popularity points gains the Popularity die.
• Red outline means paying resources.
• Pay all your Popularity points.
• Mandatory effect. This effect must be resolved.
• Passive effect: Can be triggered once at any point during a round. Not affected by a player's dice.
• Car movement on the Player board.
• Car in the red zone of the Position section of the Player board.
• Car in the yellow zone of the Position section of the Player board.
• Car in the grey zone of the Position section of the Player board.
• Acceleration: The car is in the upper row of the Position section on the Player board.
• Deceleration: The car is in the lower row of the Position section on the Player board.
• Centre your car: Place your car on the centre spot of the front row, marked with the number 4.
• Popularity die: Referring to a player with this die in their pool.
• Hazard die in your pool.
• Suffer a Hazard: Take and immediately roll and resolve a Hazard die. If your supply is empty, you must roll and resolve a die you already have in your pool (see Hazard and Damage on page 12).
• Special Action – Take a Hazard die: Only if you have any Hazard die available in your supply, you may voluntarily take and immediately roll and resolve a Hazard die, to gain two Traction.
• All faces of the Hazard die are considered blank.
• All Hazard dice in a single roll.
• Repair one Hazard die (return it to the supply on your Player board).
• Speed adjustment: Players can move their car forward or backward on the Player board. When moving to the bottom row, they may choose which of the two corresponding spaces to place their car in.
• Player die.
• Red Boost die: Available to the player for one round. At the end of that round, during the Preparation Phase, return all red Boost dice to the shared supply.
• Take a red Boost die, roll it immediately and use it as a Player die.
• Any die: The icon refers to the Player dice, the red Boost dice, and the Popularity die.
• All active dice in your pool.
• Any die with a value of 6.
• Any die with any value.
• Set an active die to a specific value.