A Mike Meeple Review - Titan Race

By Fun Forge

Race for Your Life

Every now and then, a game comes out that defines your childhood.  For my wife, it was Fireball Island.  For me, it was Mario Kart 64.  Sure, I was 14 when it came out, so not exactly a CHILD per se, and GoldenEye 64 came out around the same time, but there was something about Mario Kart that made that my go to game.  I remember staying up late with three of my friends, shooting turtle shells, dropping banana peels, and cussing each other out all night long.

Yo, Princess!  How you doin'?

Now, as an adult, I've tried to find other ways to fulfill the Mario Kart urges, but it usually comes back to me playing the newest version of Mario Kart.  Heck, my 2 year old at home knows how to play with me.  He really needs to get better.  He's no challenge at all, I beat him all the time, but I digress.

So, when I heard about a tiny game called Titan Race, where colorful characters maneuver their ways around an obstacle filled course, while hurtling different weapons and traps at each other, well, you can imagine my intrigue.

It's like Mario Kart, you say?

Double Dash

Titan Race is a two to six player racing style game, where players take on the roles of Titan Riders and their mythical mounts.  Each round, the First Player take dice equal to the number of Titans in play, and rolls them.  These dice have different actions on them, such as moving forward twice, or moving diagonally twice and attacking someone in front of them.  The players take turns choosing one of the rolled dice until there's only one left, when a new round begins, and that player rolls all the dice and a new round begins.  

Each Titan has a different ability that they can use once during their turn, and they can pick up new one time use weapons and items as they traverse the hazards of the race track, eager to be the first to complete three laps.  Although, use of the term "Lap" is generous.  It's more like three straight lines.  On a square board.  Each course is a square which operates with the physics of Pac-Man's world: if you leave one edge, you reappear on the other side.

Don't worry, P.M.  We've all been there...

No, this is not exactly the same as zooming around a figure eight track that launches you up a mountain past a yeti.  Yes, that is disappointing, but there are enough hazards built into the course, such as exploding flowers or slick ice that sends you sliding a few extra spaces that it starts to scratch the same itch.  Kind of.  Not really.  But it's still fun.

Overall, this gameplay is simple, fast, and satisfying.  You maneuver the board, bumping into each other, strategizing which die to choose, and just how mean you want to be, because just like in Mario Kart, part of Titan Race is being strategically cruel.  You're gunning for that first player, but you're also doing everything you can to punish everyone behind you, because you can't lose you're SO CLOSE to first.  And that's okay!  That's part of the game!  There is no unfair.  There is no mercy.  There is only Mario Kart Titan Race.

My biggest complaint is the 2-Player mode.  With just two players, each player plays two Titans, like they're on a team, and the first player's Titan to complete three laps win.  That is not a 2-Player mode.  That is a four player game played with only two people!  Game companies act like determining player count is some monumental mathematical task!  You don't have to be John Nash from A Beautiful Mind to figure it out!  It's basic arithmetic!  Hell, it's not even arithmetic, it's just COUNTING.

So, that's 6 Titans, divided by X players, factoring in X-1 Dice...

That is one of my biggest pet peeves in board gaming IN GENERAL, is when a game markets itself for a certain number of players, but it's not really designed for that!  I mean, I get why they do it.  Something that only requires two players is a lot more appealing than something that requires three, but it just screams to me that the designer is tacking it on for the sales, and not the quality of the game itself.  At least it's not as bad as Ghostbusters.

Not-So-Titanic Titans

The "Titans" are hilariously oxymoronic.  These are some of the smallest minis I have ever SEEN!  But the quality is great.  They're good sculpts, and the art on the cards and the boards is phenomenal.  Very easy to look at, and very distinct in terms of different designs, though I will complain that the "Brown/Orange" Titan/Die Result and the "Yellow" Titan/Die Result look a little too close in hue, so it can be hard to tell what's what.

As a bonus, this game comes with its own plastic insert to hold all the cards, minis, dice, and boards.  Take some notes Fantasy Flight Games!  Those stupid cardboard things do NOTHING.

Buy It!, Try It!, or Fly It!

Here's my ratings system:

Buy It! = Go buy this, right now!  It is fantastic and worth your hard earned money!

Try It! = Play it with a friend or at your local game store.  You might like it or you might not.

Fly It! = %&#! this game!

So, what to say about Titan Race.  Does it completely satisfy my need for a board game version of Mario Kart?  Well, no, not really.  The fact that the tracks are just squares bums me out a little.  There is a way to connect three tracks together to make a single SUPER TRACK, but then you're not making laps, and it makes traps pretty much if you're not in the front.  Besides, Mario Kart and kart racing games in general are about more than just crazy tracks.  They're about weapons, and hazards, and screwing over your friends!  Does Titan race do that?  Most definitely.

Hello, Darkness, my old friend...

This game packs a lot of fun into a teeny, tiny box.  This game may not be the deep strategy game that some are looking for, but it's good, and it's light, and dare I say, a good gateway game.  There's very little setup, it's easy to learn, and a whole game can be played in about 20 minutes.  Even on a gaming night where you're dedicated to playing Twilight Imperium 4, you could play a whole game of Titan Race in the time it takes one player to take their turn!

The Verdict...?

BUY IT!

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