A rival is just ahead, but catching it could leave you too fast for the next corner. Heat: Pedal to the Metal turns that chase into choices from a hand of cards. You can push your engine to gain ground now, then deal with the Heat cards that return to your hand later.
How it plays
Each player controls a car on a racetrack. Every round, everyone chooses a gear and cards from their hand. Your gear determines exactly how many cards you play, from one to four; their combined value sets your speed and how many spaces you move. Once cards are chosen, players resolve their cars one at a time, starting with the leader. Played cards go to your discard pile, and you refill your hand to seven. When your draw deck runs out, you shuffle the discard pile to use those cards again.
Corners have speed limits. If you cross a corner above its limit, pay one Heat card for each point of excess speed. Your engine is a reserve of Heat cards; payment moves cards from that reserve into your discard pile. When those cards eventually reach your hand, they take up space without providing movement and cannot normally be played or voluntarily discarded. First and second gear let you cool down, returning Heat from your hand to the engine. If you cannot pay a corner’s Heat cost, you spin out: move back before that corner, take extra Stress cards and drop to first gear.
Stress cards add uncertainty to your speed: playing one makes you reveal cards from your deck until a basic speed card appears, adding its value from one to four. You can also spend Heat to boost for extra speed. Nearby rivals matter too: ending beside or just behind another car can let you slipstream two spaces forward. That extra distance does not increase your speed for corner checks, so following another car can help you cross a bend without paying extra Heat for the slipstream itself.
Complete the track’s required laps and cross the finish line ahead of your rivals. If several cars finish in the same round, the car furthest ahead wins; for a side-by-side tie, the car closest to the marked racing line wins. You cannot slipstream across the finish line. The base box also includes optional car upgrades, weather and road conditions, and a championship across several races. Its Legends module controls automated opponents for solo races or extra competition in multiplayer.
Learning the game
The gear-to-card relationship is straightforward, but a first teaching needs to connect speed, corner limits and the circulation of Heat cards. Show how Heat moves from the engine to the discard pile, then into the hand and back through cooling. Start with the core race; the separate advanced booklet introduces the optional modules.