- rank: 228
- rating: 7.9
- published: 2023
- designers: Dave Chalker, Brett Myers, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobsen, Brian Neff, Jim Keifer, and Noah Cohen
Print Status
- in print
Why It's On The List
- A classic 80s roll'n'shoot received a substantial and extremely-thoughtful re-imagining to turn it into a game worthy of the moniker "a tabletop version of Mad Max's Fury Road". Plus, it's loads of fun.
Tips & Tricks:
- While randomizing the road boards is fine, it's not a bad idea to avoid some of the more vicious/difficult ones (I'm looking at you, Scenic Route... and you too, Bunker.)
- You can play with five players - we certainly have! If you do, I'd recommend using The Parking Lot as your starting board. (The Carnival of Chaos expansion adds a fifth "normal" team of cars.)
- The Big Rig is an absolute hoot to play - but we still haven't seen it win a game.
- Save the crew leaders and Choppe Shoppe cards - use them once you & your friends have a couple of games under your belts. The ability to evaluate how useful a crew leader or car modification will be based on the terrain you're facing is much easier once you have a feel for the game.
Extras
- This is decidedly NOT a Euro game – there are way too many die rolls, tile flips with potentially horrible consequences, chain reaction events that can hurt or help you in your quest to win, etc. Everyone I’ve taught the game to has – with that understanding – enjoyed it immensely… but if your gaming tastes run more in the “think-y/crunchy/puzzle-y” direction, this is probably not going to be a good fit for you. Thunder Road: Vendetta is a game filled with improbable events and great stories… and while there are tactical decisions to be made, the amount of random tiles and dice rolls definitely slide TR: Vendetta towards the “experience game” end of the scale.
- I wrote about Thunder Road: Vendetta (a review/commentary on my own preview of the game) for the Opinionated Gamers site.
- Back in 2010, I actually had the original game as #96 on my top 100 games list for that year.
- I like the Carnival of Chaos expansion a lot but given the choice, I'd rather play the road race version of the game.
- There is a simplified version on the way (Ignition!) as well as a second expansion with campaign elements (Interstate of Decay).
- If anybody wants to get me a decadent completely over-the-top stupidly expensive present, the 3D terrain pieces for Thunder Road: Vendetta from Adrena Creative are at the top of my wish list.
- This is the third of five (5!) games on my top 100 list designed by Rob Daviau, the second of three by Justin Jacobsen, and the first of two by Noah Cohen and Brian Neff.
2 comments:
It looks like a sentence got chopped off. Which board(s) do you consider difficult?
Fixed - I'd say any with substantial rockwork... I mentioned Scenic Route & Bunker specifically in the edited sentence, but there are others.
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