Tacara
Tacara Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
As in every car racing game, the point is to be the first person to cross the finish line.
Contents
- 1 playing board
- 10 race cars
- 30 wooden chips (3 x 10 colors)
- 30 turbo chips (white)
Setup
Playing time depends on the length of the chosen race. A race from Start 1 to Finish Line 1 will take about 15 minutes per car. Racing from Start 1 to Finish Line 2 with 4 cars will take about 45 minutes.
Depending on the number of players and the length of time you want to play, each player takes 1 to 3 cars. For each car, he also takes 3 wooden chips in the car's color. He places one chip immediately on the center square of the shift table: this is the neutral gear square. The other two are used for determining and recording the turn sequence. Each player also receives 3 turbo chips (white chips) marked with the point values 1, 2, and 3, shown by the dots on their faces.
Start positions are determined using the position markers (the colored chips). Put one chip per car into the bag and then draw them out one at a time. The first chip drawn determines which car takes start position 1, the second start position 2 and so on.
After drawing all the chips, put them back in the bag, and place the cars on the board in starting order: this is the first turn. Draw the chips out of the bag again and place them on the "Current Turn" row; this determines turn order for turn 2. Put the chips into the bag a third time and draw them out to determine the turn order for turn 3. Once the chips for the current turn have been used up, the chips in the "Next Turn" row are moved to the "Current Turn" row and new chips for the "Next Turn" row are drawn.
Setup is finished; now the race can start.
Play
In order to move a car, the player must move the car's color chip away from the neutral square in the shift table. Each turn, he may move his chip 2 squares on the shift table, either horizontally or vertically. One diagonal move thus costs 2 squares.
The chip's position on the shift table determines the movement of the car it controls. Each turn, the player either moves a car's shift chip or leaves it where it is.
First think, then shift and drive, since the chess rule "touch it, move it" applies. When you let go of the shift chip or the car, your turn is over.
Agreements between players are possible but not binding. You cannot jump over occupied spaces, whether it's your own car or someone else's.
Example 1: Movement on the shift table (excerpt)
[Diagram omitted: shows the shift table across three turns, with the shift chip on the neutral square 1 moved to position 2 in the first turn, to position 3 in the second turn, and to position 4 in the third turn.]
In this example, in the first turn the shift chip is moved from the neutral square 1 to position 2. The car represented by the chip moves two spaces forward.
In the second turn, the shift chip is moved to position 3. The car's driver can now choose whether he will move 1 space up and 3 spaces forward or 3 spaces forward and 1 space up.
In the third turn, the shift chip is moved to position 4. The car is already moving 4 spaces forward and two spaces up, the player determining in which order these moves occur. You cannot, however, split the move, to move two spaces forward, two spaces up, then another two spaces forward. The move in each direction must be taken in its entirety. No diagonal movement is allowed, only horizontal and vertical movement.
This wouldn't be a problem, if there weren't any other players. It's clear that maintaining a steady speed isn't everything, since you must also consider negotiating the curves, given that the curve can switch back on itself and the shift chip can be moved only so fast, so your car is still speeding almost as fast as before in its original direction.
Example 2: Moving the cars on the track (following the red car)
[Diagram omitted: shows the track with the red, yellow, white, green and blue cars positioned on it.]
Clarification of Example 2:
If the shift chip in Example 1 had just been placed in Position 3, where the cars must move 4 spaces forward and 2 spaces up, the car would only be able to first move up and then forward.
If the shift chip was placed at 3 over and 4 forward, the car would have to either not move or else crash.
In the example, the player has already moved the shift chip.
Crashing
Such opportunities can also cause a crash. If a car moves into a space it cannot enter, hits the walls or another car, it suffers damage. Flip the car over in the last legal space it can enter. Over the course of the next few turns, move its shift chip back to the neutral square as quickly as possible. When the chip reaches the neutral square, flip the car back on to its wheels; it can begin to accelerate away from the neutral square again. The faster you go, the longer you stay put after you crash.
Depending on the number of cars in the race, you can use different spaces. With 3 to 4 cars, only the gray spaces can be used; with 5 to 6 cars, the yellow fields may be used and with 7 or more you can use the red spaces. The blue squares represent the pits, but otherwise count as gray spaces.
Free Start
When starting, the cars move in the order of their start positions. After the first turn, determine the turn order of the next two rounds randomly (see Setup), by gathering all the turn chips and drawing them out of the bag. They're laid out in the order drawn, so that everyone can see when his turn is in the current turn and the next turn. Determine the turn order in the third and following rounds the same way.
Winning
In our example (Start 1 to Finish 1) the race lasts about 30 turns. The winner is the first person to cross the finish line. If because of turn order, there are still cars left to move after someone crosses the finish line, they still take their turns. If any of the remaining cars also cross the finish line in that turn, the car furthest past the finish line wins. If two cars are tied, the car closest to the inside wins.
In general, the last turn must be played out completely. If a car crashes before it crosses the finish line, it must stop until it is ready to go again, that is, when its shift chip is on the neutral space again.
Turbo Chips
At the beginning of the race, each car received three turbo chips. These are used to vary the car's speed.
By playing a chip, a player can, in addition to his normal turn, move the car the number of spaces indicated by the dots on the chip. The turbo chips can be used before or after the player's move. After using a chip, it must be put back in the pool. If a player uses two or more chips, he can combine these special actions in any order.1 This can be very useful during acceleration, braking and especially when negotiating curves.
How do you get new chips?
During a car's turn, if neither the car nor the car's shift chip is moved, you can take a turbo chip and place it under the car. There are only two exceptions:
- Each player can only choose not to move once per space and take a chip. On the next turn after taking his chip, the next turn he has to move on as dictated by the shift chip.2
- If there are chips in the pool, the player can draw 3 turbo chips by stopping in the refueling spaces, which are the spaces marked "T" in the pits. When making a pit stop, the shift chip is placed in the neutral square. Cars can only refuel once during a race.
Game Variations
If the game is not tactical enough, the drafting rule can be used.
Drafting
If the car directly in front of you moves before you, you can move out of turn and go next.
If another car passes a car that is directly in front of you, you can take advantage of the draft and accelerate one square faster. That means that in your turn you can either move the shift chip one space further or move one more space after your regular turn in any direction (except diagonal).
Speed
If you feel the game is lasting too long and you've got nerves of steel, try reducing the turn time, to 30 seconds per car, for example. As the game speeds up it also becomes more hectic, allowing more mistakes to creep in, and increasing the joy in another's agony, if you can stand it.
Points
Tournaments can be run using the Formula One model, in which points are awarded for the first 6 finishers.
The author is happy to answer your questions and suggestions. Otherwise, I hope you have fun!
Footnotes
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For example, you might first move the number of dots shown on the chip, then shift and move as usual, and then use another chip or chips to move more spaces. You can never shift more than once in a turn. — Clarification by Peter Eggert. ↩
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If your shift chip is in the neutral space, you can still choose not to move that turn, but you cannot draw any more turbo chips for that space since it has already been used for that purpose. — Clarification by Peter Eggert. ↩