CLEVELAND-DETROIT GRAND PRIX

 Back in the 1990s, my friends and I played a lot of Daytona 500 by Milton Bradley. The games were so cheap that we would buy up multiple games and we ended up hacking the game by combining decks and creating a variety of new tracks. (When I say "we" I mean my gaming group, since became an infrequent player due to other circumstances in my life.

Fun Fact: When Neil and I were graduate students at Northern Illinois University, we met Matt Leacock (designer of Pandemic) at Kinko's where he worked as an undergraduate. His field of study at the time was graphic design. HE created the monster track on which our group played Daytona 500 with multiple decks.

This is essentially the same game, with just one huge tweak -- the track itself. Both games simulate a racetrack. Daytona 500 is played on a regular oval track. Cleveland-Detroit on the asymmetrical track above.

How to Play: There are six colored race cars. You bid on which ones you want to play in a given race. To move your car, you have to play cards that have your color or a wild card dot on it. Now here's the catch: You have to move all cars with colored dots on your card, in the order they appear. The full amount -- unless it's impossible. The cars are awarded prizes by the order they cross the finish line. 

Simplexity: This my design principle-ideal for games. Simple mechanics that lead by their aggregation or choices present to produce complex behavior in actuality.

When we have played it, we have also 'ported over one rule from the original Daytona 500 -- namely, Drafting: If your car is located in the square directly behind another car, and that car starts its move, you also move directly ahead one square as a result.

A typical game is three races, alternating between the two tracks, whoever has the most money at the end of the series wins. That's it!

One Quibble: The money in the game is denominated in Monopoly -style paper bills, but with the color scheme running opposite from Monopoly. I find this highly confusing in the moment. I suggest playing with actual Monopoly money or with poker chips.

Grade: I love this game and will play it anytime, anywhere. Solid A.