Q&A: Vehicle

What is Vehicle?

Vehicle is a fast-paced, card and dice game that takes players on a race through constantly changing conditions like terrain and weather. It's a short strategy game; four players can finish a game in less than thirty minutes. The game action is any combination of racing, dueling, and delivering. Delivering what? Pizza! It has to be Pizza.

Why the driving theme?

Real driving combines elements of strategy, skill and chance, like a game. Driving is a major aspect of American culture and I’ve taken many, many road trips in my life. I’m concerned about the environmental impact of cars. Driving a Tesla recently confirmed my idea that my basic game vehicles have battery powered electric motors. There could be expansion packs with internal combustion or even cold fusion vehicles...

Whose “love child” is Vehicle?

The grandparents would be Mille Bornes, Car Wars, Fluxx, and Magic: The Gathering. So, Mille Wars got together with Flumagixx and had Vehicle. Vehicle is more strategic than Mille Bornes, much quicker and less meticulous than Car Wars, and ever-changing but less random than Fluxx. The flow of play is like Magic in that the choices you make about the cards in your hand and on the table affect the success of your vehicle.

What inspired me to start making games?

I’ve always enjoyed modifying the rules of existing games. My first exposure to this was probably the common “house rule” in Monopoly where you put all the tax money under Free Parking and whoever lands there gets it. Then, Dungeons and Dragons was a real watershed for me, especially when I was Dungeon Master. Although D&D has a thorough structure, the DM is always free to change anything. That really sparked my imagination. Since then I’ve added creative twists to many games and made up my own new games.