Raceway 57

Raceway 57 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Contents

1 Gameboard (A)
5 Resource Dashboards (B)
5 Race Cars (C)
2 Dice (D)
1 Deck of Cards (E)
5 Reference Cards

Quick Start Guide

Choose someone to read this Quick Start section aloud. Use this guide to get you started and refer to the detailed rules for clarifications and to answer questions.

Objective

Race your car around the track three times, first car across the finish line wins! During the race you will manage resources – Fuel, Tires, Suspension and Chassis Damage, making pit stops as necessary.

Set Up

(Players, follow set up instructions as you go)

Car, Dashboard & Reference Card – Each player chooses one of each.
Lane Placement – Roll one die. Highest die begins in lane one, next highest die is in lane two, third highest die is in lane three, etc.
Redline Dial – Make sure your speedometer dial is not in the red area.
Gauges – Rotate your Lap gauge dial to 1. Set your Car No. dial to match your car. Set your Pit No. to match your pit placement (determined by lane position). Set Chassis, Tires, Fuel and Suspension dials to 7.
Cards – Shuffle Raceway 57 cards and deal three to each player. The two character cards can be set aside or used as Wild Cards.
Turns – Roll one die, highest roll goes first, turns proceed clockwise.

Movement

To move, players roll one die or play a card. (For basic play with younger players, we suggest limiting movement options to only rolling the die.)
You cannot use a playing card on your first movement.
Your position in the race determines which playing card you are allowed to play. Your cards specify when they can be played. When playing a card, you can move up to the amount displayed on the card.
Wild cards (W) allow you to avoid depleting any of your resources during movement OR allow you to repel chassis damage. Wild cards can be played in conjunction with another card or when rolling the die.
Cars are allowed to move forward, side to side and diagonally according to the amount on the die or card. A car must move one space forward in between direct sideways movements. Consecutive forward and diagonal movements are allowed. (See pages 6-7 for clarification.)
At the appropriate track space a car may "Drop Down" from the outside lane to the inside lane (see page 10 for clarification) at the cost of only one movement space.
All racers may "Red Line" one time during a game. A successful "Red Line" will allow you to move a good distance without using too many resources. When using the "Red Line" you may continue to roll and move as long as each consecutive roll is less than the previous one. The best roll is a 6-5-4-3-2-1. (See page 10 for clarification.)
On a turn, a player may elect to move only two spaces and trade one card for a card off the top of the deck.

Resources

Each time you move your car, you must take away resource points (unless you play a Wild Card.) If you end your turn on a white space you will be using gas resources. If you end your turn on a gray space you will be using suspension resources. If you end your turn on a black space you will be using tire resources. The number of resource points you expend during a turn is determined by how far you move. (See Reference Below).
If you expend all your resource points in any given category you can not play a card or roll the die and can only move two spaces. You will not burn remaining resources.

Resource Reference

Move 1-3 spaces (deduct 1) • Move 4-6 spaces (deduct 2) • Move 7+ spaces (deduct 3)

Type of resource expended is determined by the color of the space you land on: tires, suspension, fuel.

Chassis and Chassis Challenges

Each car begins with 7 chassis points. Unlike the other resources, once a player has 0 chassis points they are out of the game.
If you end your turn in the space directly in front of another car by using a diagonal movement you may wish to issue a "Chassis Challenge" to the opposing driver. In a "Chassis Challenge," after completing your movement, you and the opposing driver will each roll one die. If your opponent loses the roll off then they must deduct 2 Chassis points. If you lose the roll off you must deduct 1 Chassis point.
A Wild Card may be played to avoid Chassis damage.
You can still issue a chassis challenge if you are out of resources.

Pit Stops

You may replenish your resources and improve your playing cards by making pit stops. Use the pit stall that corresponds to your lane position.
After entering a pit stop, a player must wait until their next turn to conduct pit stop business.
During every pit stop turn, a player receives 4 resource points to be applied to any resource category including chassis. You may apply the points to one or more resource categories. Players may also replenish or exchange any number of cards (up to three.) A player can not have more than three cards.
A racer may conduct pit stop business for as many turns as they wish.
After completing pit business a player must wait until their next turn before leaving.
You cannot end your turn in another player's pit.

Winning

After completing three laps, the player that crosses the finish line first is the winner; however, all racers must have an equal number of turns. (See page 10 for clarification on ties.)

Basic Game

Object of the Game

Be the first player to race around the Raceway 57 track three times and cross the finish line! Just like real racing, you'll have to manage valuable resources like fuel, suspension, tires and chassis damage while contending with other drivers determined to do anything to win.

Start Your Engines (Getting Started)

Car, Dashboard & Reference Card – Each player chooses one of each.
Lane Placement – Roll one die. Highest die begins in lane one, next highest die is in lane two, third highest die is in lane three, etc.
Redline Dial – Make sure your speedometer dial is not in the red area.
Gauges – Rotate your Lap gauge dial to 1. Set your Car No. dial to match your car. Set your Pit No. to match your pit placement (determined by lane position). Set Chassis, Tires, Fuel and Suspension dials to 7.
Cards – Shuffle Raceway 57 cards and deal three to each player. The two character cards can be set aside or used as Wild Cards.
Turns – Roll one die, highest roll goes first, turns proceed clockwise.

Racing (Movement)

Movement is determined by rolling one die or by playing a card. (For basic play with younger players we suggest limiting movement to only rolling the die.) All players must roll the die to start the race; after all the cars have moved once, players can move by either rolling the die OR by playing an appropriate card from their hand. (See Playing Cards on pages 7-8.)

Cars can move forward or diagonally in any order up to the total reflected on their die or card. (See diagram #1 and #2.)

Cars can also move side to side, but cars must move one square forward in between direct sideways movement. (See diagram #3.)

Diagrams #1 through #6 are figures in the printed rulebook and are not reproduced here; the text above describes the movement they illustrate.

Playing Cards

A player's position in the race determines which playing card he or she is allowed to play. Note: Do not use Skeeter Knight or Annie Purty cards during gameplay.

Player Position	Cards Allowed
First	2 – 4
Middle of the Pack	2 – 7
Last	2 – 10

A car is considered to be in the middle of the pack if there is at least one car ahead and one car behind its position. If two cars are tied for first or last place then they may both play the corresponding cards.

Movement is equivalent to the number on the card. Wild Cards (see diagram #4) are not movement cards. Playing a Wild Card can negate the effects of any resource-depleting action like fuel, suspension, tire, or chassis damage (see Bumping and Damage pages 8-9).

Wild Cards are the only card that can be played with another action (die rolling or playing another card).

Example: If you are in last place, you can play a 10 value card, move 10 spaces (landing on a fuel spot), and then play a Wild Card to avoid paying the fuel resource.

Players can play a Wild Card in response to taking chassis damage from anyone, even out of turn. A player can only have three cards in his or her hand at any given time.

A player can choose to move only two spaces on his or her turn and trade in one card for a card off the top of the deck.

Resources

There are three different types of spaces on the racetrack: fuel, suspension and tires. Movement around the track uses these three resources. Each driver starts the race with 7 points in each of the three resource categories; these are tracked on your Resource Dashboards. Before the game begins you will set your fuel, suspension and tire gauges on your Resource Dashboard dials to 7.

The number of resource points a player expends is determined by the number of spaces he or she has moved.

Movement	Resource Cost
1 – 3 spaces	1 Resource Point
4 – 6 spaces	2 Resource Points
7 or more spaces	3 Resource Points

The space in which a player's movement ends determines from which category the point(s) is deducted. If you end your turn on a white space you will be using fuel resources. If you end your turn on a gray space you will be using suspension resources. If you end your turn on a black space you will be using tire resources.

Players can only move up to the amount of resources they have available. If a player has 0 points in any of the three resource categories, he or she cannot roll the die, cannot play a card (see Playing Cards pages 7-8), and is forced to move only two spaces. Players cannot exchange a card when they are out of a resource.

Bumping and Damage

Players begin with 7 chassis points. These are tracked on the Resource Dashboard with the other three resources. Unlike the other resources, if a player has 0 damage points left, he or she is knocked out of the game and must turn their car upside down on the track.

If a player ends their turn in the space directly in front of an opposing car by using a diagonal movement then that player may choose to "bump" the opposing car as they cut them off. (See diagram #5.)

To bump another car, players will enter a chassis challenge. After completing the movement each player will roll one die, highest die wins. If the player that issued the chassis challenge loses the roll-off then they will deduct 1 point from their chassis. If the defending player loses the roll off then they will deduct 2 points from their chassis. If there is a tie, players keep rolling until one of them wins.

Note: You can use a Wild Card to avoid taking chassis damage!

Pit Stops

A player has to enter his or her corresponding pit stop (signified on your Resource Dashboard) to conduct pit stop business.

If a player starts a turn in their pit stop, he or she can spend their turn to refuel, adjust suspension, replace tires, or repair chassis damage. For every turn a player spends in the pit stop, he or she is given:

Four points to distribute any way they wish to fix their car. (Add points to one or more resources.)
The opportunity to exchange any number of playing cards (up to three) in their hand. If a player has less than three cards, he or she can draw back up to three.

There is no limit to the number of turns you can stay in your pit, although you can never accumulate more than 7 resource points per category or more than three cards.

After entering the pits a player must wait until their next turn to conduct pit stop business. After conducting pit stop business a player must wait until their next turn to exit the pits.

Note: Entering a pit still burns fuel resources since you are ending your turn on a fuel space. If you spend more than one turn in the pit stop, the extra turn(s) do not burn fuel.

Red Line

Each player may "Red Line" once during the race. To do this, the player will roll the die and then declare he or she is going to "Red Line It" and proceeds to move their Resource Dashboard speedometer needle to the red line. The player then moves as normal. But before depleting his or her resources, the player rolls again. If this next roll is less than his or her previous roll, movement continues. The best possible combination is a sequence of 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 for a total movement of 21 spaces!

Please note: The number of resources you lose is equal to your total movement. For example, if you rolled a 5, 2, and 1, total movement would be 8 and you would have to pay three resource points from the corresponding category.

Other than Wild Cards, playing cards cannot be used while "Red Lining."

Drop Down

There are two special spaces on the board from which a car can "Drop Down!" If a player lands on this space at any time during a turn, he or she can drop down from the outside lane to the inside lane at the cost of only one movement space. (See diagram #6.)

If another car occupies any space along the arrow then a car can not drop down.

A car can drop down from the outside lane to the inside lane by using the Drop Down lane. If an opposing car is blocking the Drop Down lane, the car can not drop down.

Winning the Game

Each game consists of three laps around the track. (Be sure to keep track of which lap you're on!) The racer that crosses the finish line first is the winner; however, all racers must have an equal number of turns. If more than one car crosses the finish line then the car that finished its final turn the farthest number of spaces past the finish line is the winner. If cars tie (finish an equal distance past the finish line on their final turn) then a "photo finish" is in order. Those racers that tied for the win will roll off. The racer with the highest die roll will win the race.

Note: Cars do not move or deduct points during a photo finish.

Alternate Rules

Two Player Rules

When playing with two people, each player controls two race cars instead of one. This symbolizes a racing team. Since each player is in control of two cars, new strategies arise as each player now has six playing cards in their hand to control and another car to manipulate!

Advanced Rules

After you've participated in several races, it's time to graduate into the world of aggressive, no holds barred racing. We suggest the following changes to the basic game:

If a car moves from the space directly behind an opposing car using a diagonal movement then they may issue a chassis challenge.
When any resource is at zero, the player must move one space instead of two.
Players have 3 points to distribute in the pit stops instead of 4.
Initial starting resource values can be five or six, instead of seven.
Change the length of the race to four or more laps instead of three.
Add multiple legs of the race where your placement in the previous race determines your initial order in the next race.

Raceway 57 Glossary

Chassis – The steel structure or frame of a car.
Drafting – The lead car, by displacing the air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the following car's nose, which causes the second car to be pulled along behind it at the same rate of speed. This allows cars to save fuel.
Field – The entire group of cars on the racetrack.
Grid – The order that the cars start in.
Infield – The area in the middle of a racetrack.
Inside Line – The shortest distance around the track.
Pack – A group of race cars on the track.
Pit – The area near the track where the crews service the cars during the race.
Pole Position – The most desirable place to start a race. The front car on the inside line as the cars approach (or Pole) the green flag at the beginning of the race.