At Gen Con 2024, I had a chance to demo REM Racers and thought it was a fun mix of Mario Kart and X-Wing, using templates to move cars along a track while also trying to blow your friends’ little remote-controlled cars up with various weapons. The game had a fun art style, but I passed on buying it out of concern that it was a game that would overstay its welcome and/or could be punishing to those with poor spatial awareness (like me, based on how often I fly into asteroids playing X-Wing).
REM Racers The Card Game is a smaller game that plays two to six players in about 60 minutes (per the box), but more likely under that, especially at lower player counts.
Gameplay Overview:
The Racers are randomly set up in a column, called the classification order, with a speed of one, and each player has a hand of three cards. The game is played over a series of turns constructed of six phases.
- Draw Phase – Draw up to three cards, shuffling the discard pile if more cards are needed.
- Circuit Phase – A player reveals the top card of the Curves deck unless the card before was either a wild zone or had a crossed-out eye on it, meaning it’s a blind curve, both of which are played face down. Each card has a large number on it representing the maximum speed you can navigate safely.
- Wild zones are a challenge where each player, in order of classification, pick whether to increase speed by two, to a maximum of four, or reduce speed to one and move to the last spot in the classification order.
- If the Finish Line card is drawn, the end of the round will be the race, with its speed to be determined later.
- Maneuver Phase – Each player will play one card face down on their remote. This can be done simultaneously. Each character has their own special ability that can be used once per game in addition to their maneuver.
- Execution Phase – Starting at the top of the classification order, reveal each player’s card where the player can choose between applying the text of the card or applying the +1, =, -1 icons to maintain their speed or adjust it up or down by one.
Players can also opt to go to the pits to repair a remote by setting their speed to zero and moving to the last place.
These are the action cards you’ll be drawing. No, your hand won’t be this big. - Over-braking Phase – If a curve card is face down, flip it over. If the finish line is showing, its curve speed is the value of the next card or four if it’s the last card.
- Starting in Classification order, compare each Remote’s speed to the Curve speed. If it’s the value or under, there’s no effect; otherwise, they overshot the track. If the difference between the Remote’s speed and the curve is one, then its speed is set to one, and it’s moved to the last position. If the difference is two, the speed is set to zero and it’s moved to the last position. If the difference is three, the Remote is damaged and moved to last position with a speed of zero. A damaged remote can’t use the text on cards or the Racer’s special ability.
- If you get a difference of four or more, check your math because you’re doing it wrong.
- Placement Phase – Remotes are placed in descending order of their speed by move lower speed Remotes behind faster ones in the Classification order. Vehicles that overshot or are in the pits are ignored (so they stay in last place). If the Finish Line is showing, the Remote in first position wins.
Gameplay Experience:
There’s a combination of luck of the draw, push your luck, and take that to work with REM Racers. Getting the right cards in your hand can give you options to deal with the various scenarios that will arise. For example, having three Nanorepair cards, while adorable, is not super helpful when you’re undamaged and in third place.
Meanwhile, with the Wild Zones and blind curves, it’s a guessing game, especially later in the game when the finish line could be coming up or even that blind curve you can’t see. The curve deck is five cards, each of speed one through three, with four speed four cards. To create the tension that imperfect information provides, only 12 random cards from the deck of 19 are used for the course.
You can’t build a lead in this game, which, while never allowing you to feel safe, also means you’re practically never out of a race. That last-place Remote can jump to first place in a single turn with a combination of smartly played cards and good fortune. But it does seem to be less likely as the player count increases, as a sixth-place remote could jump several places, but going last to first might be rare.
However, luck runs both ways, and there have been games where, between my placement and cards in hand, I knew I had no chance to win in the final round. Someone was in second place, that was matching the speed of the first player, who could use several cards, like Overtake or Hit, to move them ahead. There are also defensive cards that can prevent overtakes or impede the progress of other vehicles.
After the possible mayhem of maneuvers, there’s checking for overshooting, and then repositioning all the cars based on their final speed, resulting in the potential of the classification order changing multiple times in a turn.
Going down the classification order also allows players further down the lineup to make on-the-fly adjustments between using the text of their card and the +1/=/-1 speed values. Even if hit by some ability, you can adjust and possibly still jump ahead at the placement phase.
The game plays from two to six players, and having played at two and at four, it’s better at higher player counts with more opportunities to interact with each other. The heavy luck factor makes this a questionable game for ultra-competitive players, as the lack of control will drive them up the wall like that Remote taking a curve too fast. But if that doesn’t bother you, it’s quick and fun for those who can go with the flow.
Final Thoughts:
REM Racers, the Card Game is not a deep strategic game. It’s a pretty fast-playing game of semi-managed chaos. Luck of the draws for both your hand and the Curves deck will play a large factor in winning and losing. But smart, and well-timed, abilities and maneuvers can be impactful, and there will be opportunities to feel clever. It’s not for everyone, but I’m considering this a good option for a quick game at a brewery or some other casual setting.
Final Score: 3 Stars – REM Racers is a chaotic abstract racing game where no lead is safe.
Hits:
• Cards can be used for multiple effects, giving the ability to pivot
• Quick playing with small footprint
• You’re almost never out of a race but…
Misses:
• You can’t build a real lead
• Luck can make or break you
• Less interesting at lower player counts
