Thunder Alley Board Game Review

In case you don't know....I am a NASCAR fan, and collect any NASCAR games I can get my hands on.  So when I found out there was a board game inspired by NASCAR, I was all over it!

I was sent a copy of Thunder Alley to check out and I can't wait to tell you all about it!  Hubby and I have never played a board game like this before, just the basic types of board games, so we weren't sure what to expect.

When I opened the box the first thing I noticed was the Rules of Play Booklet.  It is a 15 page manual, I joked "it's almost as long as the NASCAR rule book" LOL. RPG books are normally manuals, I just wasn't totally prepared LOL

Each player gets a team of cars to manage, just like in NASCAR with the mega teams.  The scoring in the game is similar to NASCAR in that you get points for winning, and points for a lap lead, and most laps led.  The game rules are pretty much the same as NASCAR races.  So if you are familiar with those you will get the basics, and if not, but you like this type of game then you will figure this our fairly simply.

The game also comes with 2 double-sided race track boards, so you have 4 race tracks to play on (basically 4 different game boards).

Here is the basics from the website:

Thunder Alley is a stock car racing game for 2-7 players with the feel and flexibility of a card-driven simulation. Drafting, teamwork, accidents, yellow flags, pit strategy, working to lead laps, and sprints to the finish are all included and bring the feel of racing to the game. Players control not one car, but a team of 3-6 cars. Thus, each race is not only a run for the checkered flag but an effort to maximize the score for every car on your team. Winning is important, but if only one car crosses the finish line, your team might end up outside the winner's circle looking in.  Included in the game are four different race tracks: a tri-oval super speedway for wide-open free-wheeling racing and a short track for a tight wheel-to-wheel bumper car duel. Each track uses the same deck of racing cards but the cards that work best on one may be useless in the other. The game also includes a second board with a road course and and 3 turned (triangle) raceway. Most racing games call for a large number of players to play the game at its best. An unusual bonus for Thunder Alley is the very playable and exciting two-player version with six cars on a side.

Since we had no idea of how to play a a more complicated board game we weren't ready for all the rules, and for the first turn it was quite a bit of "wait wait wait hold on...let's check the manual" LOL but after that it started getting easier and more fun.

I wouldn't recommend trying to play this with kids until you really know what you are doing.  I couldn't imagine trying to teach the boys how to play when we were figuring it out.

I can't wait to invite a few of our good friends over to play, as it is a fun game, and would be more fun with more than 2 players.  Once you figure out the strategy it starts getting very interesting.  If you are looking for a more challenging game then your basic run of the mill game than this is a great one.