Thunder Alley Published

A solid 6. I got another play in tonight.

We talked about ways to change it afterwards, including team play and rotating start players. A good game, but not for me.

S.

Played Thunder Alley tonight after a long hiatus, and it was better than I remembered. I think five players is a good nuber since you only have three cars each.

I've complained that the Solo cards were largely junk in the game, but tonight I stumbled into a way to just completely screw someone with one. I'm considering that there may be more to discover in this title. So I'm holding onto this critter for now, especially since my buddies seem to like it so far.

S.

I've used the solo cards to change position in the pack, you get a good amount of MPs to shove your way back into a group.

The solo cards are also great for securing a Lap Lead marker near the end of a round, jump out in front and then next round pickup that car with the line.

In this case I busted in on a line, then "shoved" forward one space for three movement points to disconnect the last two cars from the line. They had already moved so I essentially left them abandoned while I hitched a ride from the remainder of the unspent cars. I ended up hurting them about 20 spaces each when I had been the car in a lane on its own before.

I think there's more for me to learn in this one, and last night I approached it very differently. I looked at it as a good old-fashioned brooding euro and it fit the bill. I'll say it again, it's not a racing game. With three cars each the linkage on the track wasn't so strong and the play was more flowing. Short track too -- most cars didn't pit once.

My buddy brought up the most recent Taladega on his eye-phone, so we had sound effects.

S.

Yeah, people see NASCAR and think "Formula D" but it's nothing like that. That's been a bit of a problem when I've introduced it, and some have played less than well, getting their cars abandoned because they don't see (or listen in some cases) that it's more about manipulating the pack and other players' actions.

I think if you're not familiar with team stock car racing strategies, it might take you a game or two to grasp that. It can be mitigated in teaching, but nothing teaches a lesson like getting lapped. I'm digging this game so hard, easily one of the top games of the year.

Thunder Alley is now my favorite racing game. Though that's not as bold as it sounds given my lack of interest in the genre.

Still, I do like it a lot.

I'm having the theme/setting debate on the GMT P500 Geeklist now, though I don't use the word setting. My original comment was that Thunder Alley doesn't feel like a racing game and the reply I received was that it was "the most thematic racing game I've ever played". I don't know if this is the same thing as the "setting/theme" argument you guys have here.

Here's the thing -- I look at games via my brain, and via my belly. My brain sees Thunder Alley as a game that bears a striking resemblance to NASCAR racing, where non-aerodynamic cars bunch up on tight tracks to cut down drag and get through tight spots. But my belly feels something different, a game about engineering a solution from the materials available. There's a coldness to it. It doesn't have you looking for openings to take a risk and hope for a break.

To some extent I see this kind of thing as an example of a game that is not comfortable in its own skin, but Thunder Alley has been very successful, and I'll admit there's good game at hand. It's just that it doesn't give me the go-for-it feel that I expect from a racing game. There's no run for the finish. Granted, much of auto racing is about managing technical details and sticking with the plan, similar to how the game plays. But at some point there's a go-for-it aspect in racing where you take chances to better your position.

That's missing. That's the part where the belly doesn't agree with the brain. I'll concede I warmed up to Thunder Alley last week with my most recent play, but that was largely because I set very different expectations.

S.

I think you're right on the money with your observation. That's probably the divide that makes people love or hate the game (I like it a lot, personally). My guess would be that the difference originates from managing a team of cars rather than being the driver of a single car. For the single car thrill, I really like RallyMan, but I know many dislike the lack of direct player interaction.

Pushing your car hard into a good position to leech free movement and not pitting when you're about to break down seem kind of go for it to me.

The races are short enough that pitting often doesn't come into play. Even when it does it's seemed like a pretty clear decision to me. Pitting is punishing as hell in a two lap race. You need to be on fire to make it worth going to the pits.

S.

Sagrilarus wrote: The races are short enough that pitting often doesn't come into play. Even when it does it's seemed like a pretty clear decision to me. Pitting is punishing as hell in a two lap race. You need to be on fire to make it worth going to the pits.

S.

Yes, you should really only pit if smoke is bellowing from the engine and you're driving on rims, unless there's a Yellow Flag. If there's a Yellow and you have 3 or more wear, definitely pit. The Speed Penalty can be very harsh.

The races can be as long as you want them to be. I think they missed a trick by only printing 2-3 lap boxes on the track boards. They could have put more on there, and called the basic game the "short" game.

We had some moments of tension in our game towards the end- not so much for me, as I was out of contention by then, but with the two prospective leaders. One realized he played too conservatively on the penultimate round, when he should have shot for Lead Car to get control of the final round as first player. The other player made that gamble, and managed to make it work.

The serial nature of the game mechanics mean it's never going to be a photo-finish kind of deal, but there was something more than herd management going on.

I really think all the tracks could use another lap so that pits become inevitable, but that of course will extend the length of the game and be a crisis for the short-attention-span crowd.

Last game was on the triangular track, and about a quarter of the cars went into the Pit. With a third lap on that triangular track a single pit for each car becomes more or less a must-have. At that point a mad-dash to the pits becomes a real possibility, and a very interesting aspect of the game because you want to get in on the conga-line that will form up as the cars return to the track. Pit timing becomes important, as it is in real racing.

I'll admit that in one of my races I got all the crap pulls off of the event cards because I had pitted less, and got all the bad breaks on the color bar. That's the disadvantage of staying out. But it was luck sufficient for a deluxe bitch-fest mid game. I think it was a pretty exceptional set of circumstances and I don't think I would do it differently in the next game. I got some real satisfaction out of the bitch-fest too, so all worked out in the end. Really cathartic.

S.