Shuffle Grand Prix Board Game Review:

In Shuffle Grand Prix, you are a driver in a chaotic race. The cars fly across the track as you interact with your opponents through various means, from weasels strapped to rockets to playing addictive cat videos. You try to steer around some of the more dangerous traps but are bound to still be hit by some, so you equip your car with various equipment to ensure your car stays together. When the dust settles from the chaos, will you be the one to travel the furthest, or will your car lie in shabbles from the laser beam?

Setup

1. Give each player a tire health card and a reference card.
2. Shuffle the deck and deal each player a card. The highest number goes first. Repeat until there is a clear winner. Reshuffle the deck and place it in the middle of the table.
3. Separate each of the drivers from the others. Starting with the first player and then rotating clockwise, each player chooses a driver, then starting with the last player and rotating counterclockwise, each player picks a second driver.
4. Set up your drivers by placing your co-pilot in front of you, then your tire health card on one of your drivers. This driver is now your co-pilot. Place your driver on top of the tire health card, and place it slightly askew to reveal the 4 tires symbol. This is how much health your tires have.
5. Take your driver’s decks and shuffle them together to create your deck. Place your deck in front of you and draw 3 cards from it.
6. Place the trophies in the middle of the table.

How to Play

At the start of your turn, draw a distance card and place it in front of you.

Then if any effects last for a set number of turns, lower their turn trackers.

The central part of your turn is when you play an action card. Each card has a type:

• Action (lightning bolt icon): Once the card’s effect is resolved, discard it.
• Trap (bear trap icon): a card that stays in play and, instead of resolving its effect instantly, resolves it when a trigger event happens.
• Equip (toolbox icon): you may have this effect permanently, but you may only have 2 of these effects active at a time.
• Nerf (broken chain icon): an equipment card you attach to an opponent’s vehicle.
• Anytime(clock icon): these cards can be played at any time, given the appropriate conditions have been met.

Each card does a variety of different effects, but some of the most common effects are listed below:

• Deal damage: decrease tire health by the damage dealt.
• Repair Tire health: increase tire health by the number listed.
• Absorb damage: completely stops or reduces damage taken.
• Draw distance card: draw a card from the distance deck.

If playing a card causes a player to have their tire health reduced to 0 or less, you gain a trophy. They must switch their driver and co-pilot, discard their hand, discard their most recent distance card, and discard all equipment and nerfs.

At the end of your turn, you may play trophies. If you spend 1 trophy, you may switch your driver and co-pilot; or you may spend 2 trophies you may play another card.

The game ends when all distance cards have been drawn. Whoever has traveled the furthest wins. If there is a tie, the player with the most trophies wins.

Pros

This is one of the cheapest board games out there. Costing as much as a game of Uno but with the features of a modern board game.

Cons

This game feels unfinished. for a game focusing heavily on card text, the text is often vague and unclear. An example of such a card allows you to look at another player’s and pick a card they are allowed to play. does that mean that they have to play that card? Is the card missing the word “not,” meaning they are not allowed to play that card?

Some cards are not made with the players in mind. They are cool effects. They just aren’t practical. Such as Proof-Of-Work (which lives up to its name), you must count every distance card played to determine if it’s odd or even. If odd, you may draw an extra distance card. This card stops the game to do something no one wants to do, count cards. While this is the worst offender, it is not the only card with annoying effects.

Accessibility

Color Blind: While you will experience slight disadvantages, it will not affect your game too much, though specific cards may be difficult.

Reading: This game involves not just reading each card but for some cards understanding the implied meaning behind cards, which can be a struggle for even native readers.

Children: There is a card called classified technology, featuring the art of a character holding a gun which is censored. It is not difficult to interpret this card as having a far darker meaning, given the gun’s position and the shooter’s pale skin. This game also includes magic, guns, dynamite, missiles, and poison.

Who would love this game?

This game is excellent for a group that wants a chaotically random game focused on targeting other players. It gives players the ability to build their deck by picking 2 halves rather than each individual card. This is a great introduction to deck building.

Final Thoughts

Shuffle Grand Prix is a great concept of a game. Once you get past the confusing cards and assumed rules, it’s an excellent light deck builder. If you are looking for a simple game you can play with anyone, a game other than Shuffle Grand Prix may be for you. But if you love heavy player conflicts and chaos in a board game, You may find Shuffle Grand Prix is just the game for you.

If you would like to purchase Shuffle Grand Prix and support Tabletop Game Source, you can purchase it from Amazon here.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.