Turbo (2003)
Turbo (2003) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 12 track cards (including 1 start card and 1 finish card)
- 48 speed cards in 4 different colours
- 5 light cards with a double function: light / speed limit for the chicanes
- 1 speed limit card "60" for the chicanes
- These rules
Players: 2 to 4. Recommended age: 10 and up. Playing time: 5 minutes.
Idea of the Game
The lights are still red. The car engines begin to howl. As soon as the lights turn green, the race starts. All racers accelerate to be the first to cross the finish line, without missing the bends in the chicanes.
Object of the Game
The race starts. All players place their speed cards in front of them, as quickly as possible. However, they must respect the speed limit in the chicanes. A player who drives too fast is eliminated from the race, even if they are the first to cross the finish line.
Setup
- Form a track of any shape using the track cards. The track begins with the start card and ends with the finish card. If you form a circuit, the start card and the finish card must be placed next to each other (see the examples in illustration 1).
- Each player receives a set of speed cards of the same colour. Any sets that remain are put aside; you do not need them in this game.
- Each player shuffles their speed cards and forms a pile, which they place face down in front of them.
- If there are three players, remove one light card that has no speed limit.
Note: on the track, introduce chicanes during the light phase.
Light Phase
- Place the speed limit card "60" on any track card, but never on the start card or the finish card.
Note: 4 of the 5 light cards are red and one is green. In addition, 3 of the light cards also show a speed limit.
- Shuffle the 5 light cards (only 4 if there are three players) and place one (two if there are two players) in front of each player, face down. Set aside the remaining light card, face down.
- Once the start has been given, the youngest player begins and turns over their light card. The card must be turned over so that the other players are the first to see its colour.
- The player immediately places their light card on a free track card, but never on the start card or the finish card.
- If the lights are red, the other players in turn turn over their light card and place it on a track card, one at a time, following the direction of the clock hands.
Interruption of the Start and New Start
- If all the light cards have been turned over and all the lights are red, the start is interrupted and the light phase is repeated (new start). All the light cards are collected, including the card set aside at the beginning of the light phase. They are shuffled and dealt out again among the players, leaving one card aside face down. The players turn their cards over one after the other.
The Start and the Race
- As soon as a player turns over the green light card, they place it on a track card and the race begins immediately. If any light cards are still face down, they no longer matter for this game.
- Now all players take their speed cards in hand and simultaneously try to drive the track as fast as possible.
- They must move from one track card to the next, from the start card to the finish card. For each track card, a player uses one speed card from their own pile and places it face up on the table in front of them, building a speed row (see the example).
- At the start, each player begins at speed "0". They add the value of the card they have just placed on the table to their current speed (+ value), or subtract it (- value). If a card showing an arrow pointing to the right is used, the speed is not changed.
- A player must never drive at a speed lower than 30. Exception: at the finish, players must drive at a speed of "0".
- In the chicanes, players must not exceed the speed limit shown on the corresponding cards (for example "90").
Example (see illustration 2)
At the start, the player accelerates and reaches a speed of "150". With their second card (-30), they brake to drive at "120". To avoid exceeding the speed limit of "90" in the chicane, they brake with a "-60" card and drive at "60". Next, they keep this speed by playing a card that shows an arrow to the right. Now they could not use the "-150" card, because their speed must not fall below "30".
End of the Game and Prize Giving
- If a player thinks they have correctly arranged their speed cards, they say: "I have crossed the finish line." The other players may continue to arrange their cards until the last player has crossed the finish line.
Note: as long as a player has not announced that they have finished, they may still change the order of their cards to correct any mistakes.
- Then the players check each other's speed rows together, in the order of their arrival.
- If a player exceeds the speed limit in a chicane, or brakes too much (drives at less than "30"), they are removed from the evaluation (engine failure).
- If the speed rows satisfy all the requirements of the track, the players' places correspond to their order of arrival.
The Rules for Champions
Forced Braking
Players must neither place one card next to the other, nor place 2 "arrow to the right" cards, nor 2 cards of identical value in their speed row, even if the sign (+ or -) is different.
Note: this rule is best suited to a game between fast players and slow players, on condition that only the fast players apply it.
Translator's note: in the French, the phrase "one next to the other" is not explicitly tied to a specific pair of card types; it is transcribed here as printed, and the two prohibitions are read together as the printed sentence gives them.
Intermediate Times
This variant is recommended if experienced players want to play several games.
The course of the game follows the same rules as the normal game, with the following changes.
Setup
- Set aside 2 track cards (neither the start card, nor the finish card, nor a track card showing a stopwatch). The track is therefore made up of only ten cards.
Light Phase
- In addition to the start, the finish, the speed limit "60" and the light cards already on a track card, you must not cover any track card showing a stopwatch.
The Start and the Race
- Players try to keep their speed as high as possible, including at the moment they cross the finish line.
End of the Game and Prize Giving
- Players receive points for the intermediate times and for their arrival.
- The player who drove fastest on a track card showing a stopwatch receives 2 points each time. The second player on that card receives 1 point.
- Points are also given for the order of arrival. The first player to reach the finish and say "I have crossed the finish line" receives 4 points. The second receives 2 points.
- Players with an engine failure receive no points, even if they drove fastest on a track card showing a stopwatch.
- If two players tie, all the players concerned receive the corresponding points. In that case, however, the following players do not receive any points.
Fragment of the English Text (as printed)
The English section of the scanned booklet survives only in part. The following is the last part of the English rules, reproduced as printed:
...receive any points, neither for finishing nor for split times.
- In the case of a tie, all involved drivers receive the full number of points. Players who obtain further places (2nd, 3rd, etc.) do not receive any points.
The English text is consistent with the French translation above on both points (engine failure receives no points; a tie gives the full points to all tied players and no points to the following places).