Gaming Notes: Moto Grand Prix #3

Moto Grand Prix

I got to play in a six player game of Moto Grand Prix the other day. It was quite exciting! Each of us had two bikes in the race.


The entire first lap the bikes continued to bunch up, not flatten out into a long drafting line. The track set up may have had much to do with this as it had several brutal corner exchanges. Over the course of the race there were several cases where the leaders found themselves coming out of a 3 or 2 corner with a five, six or seven on the dice. Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Welcome to fourth place!

I could never seen to get ahead. I always hung around third or fourth place and that's where I finished despite grinding my engine down six times (the maximum).

The race featured a large number of burnouts with only one player, Jarred, finishing with both of his bikes!

In a highly competitive race, Kevin was the victor, Sam came in second, and I took third. Although in points, Jarred was the overall victor because his "team" finished both of his bikes.

Moto Grand Prix - Gaming Notes #2

Once again, a bunch of guys got together at Kevin's house and we played Moto Grand Prix. Food and good conversation about restaurants, movies, and technology were enjoyed by all. In the racing game Moto Grand Prix, Chris, Sam, Kevin, Stacy, and myself each had two bikes that we raced around the track making a total of ten bikes! We laid out track #6 from the rulebook - Free Speedway. We raced for five laps. It turned out to be a nice track to race on. Just the right level of difficulty.

The game started out with Scott's #1 bike in the pole position. The race started out in a tightly packed field but it soon stretched out as the bikes raced around corners. In turn six of the first lap Scott's #19 bike blew it's engine and he was out of the race! 

Lap 2 passed uneventfully. Both of Kevin's bikes and Scott's one remaining bike were battling for the lead while everyone else fell behind in a pack. Both of Sam's bikes struggled to keep up as he remained in last place.

In Lap 3 Stacy's #62 bike blew its engine trying to pass on the big straightaway. Kevin and Scott remained neck and neck. Sam made up some ground, battling Chris and Stacy to see who would be left in the dust.

Lap 4 saw a clear leader pull ahead. Scott's only bike took a sizable lead on everyone else when Scott rolled a 10 and Kevin was forced to slow down from a 12 to a 7 in a no-drafting situation to avoid his engine blowing up. After that point, all the rest of the racers saw of Scott was his taillight. Chris blew the engine on bike #52 on corner 8.

The final lap, lap 5, saw Scott cruise to victory while the rest of the pack fought over second and third.

The final standings were as follows (with seasonal points earned):

1 - Scott #1      (30 pts)

2 - Chris #39    (27 pts)

3 - Kevin #9     (24 pts)

4 - Sam #8       (21 pts)

5 - Kevin #14   (18 pts)

6 - Stacy #68   (15 pts)

7 - Sam #27     (12 pts)

8 - Chris #52 (burnout, unable to finish - 5 points)

9 - Stacy - #62 (burnout, unable to finish - 5 points)

10 - Scott #19 (burnout, unable to finish - 5 points)

Seasonal standings after the first race were:

1 - Kevin -    42 points

2 - Scott -     35 points

3 - Sam -      33 points

4 - Chris -     32 points

5 - Stacy -    15 points

Everyone had a great time. Even Stacy who lagged behind with his only remaining bike managed to stay with it and beat Sam out to not come in last place in the race. All agreed to meet again sometime in October and race again! Next time we'll have to use a different track...

Moto Grand Prix - Gaming Notes

At a recent gathering, I was able to play Moto Grand Prix, the motorcycle racing game. This game is really well designed and a lot of fun. Gameplay is smooth and does an amazing job of actually simulating real motorcycle racing. I've played it before, but this was no normal game.

Typically this game can play up to six players but we played with ten thans to Sam's homebrewing some extra bikes and instrumentation panels. Kevin, Spencer, Chris, John, Sam, Jay, Miguel, Stacy, Joe, and I all picked our bikes and set off. The game started out slowly simply because most folks hadn't yet played and nobody was "drafting" yet. But about halfway through the first lap, engines were revving and the action got tight and we all struggled to gain the slightest advantage in such a crowded field.

Multiple times one or more bikes would break away from the pack only to be passed. I, myself, found myself in a situation where I was unable to modify the dice and I rolled a "3." For the next lap and a half I vainly burned my engines trying to catch up but never did. I joined the other five racers who blew their engines and were out of the race. That's right - only four bikes finished this race! The winner was Kevin, followed by Joe, Miguel, and Spencer.

Everyone really got into it, especialy when a bike's engine blew or when there was a lead change. Although not designed to be played with ten people, Moto Grand Prix proved itself capable of handling that many players. The quickness of the game kept everyone involved. Perhaps we'll get together again soon for another game of Moto Grand Prix or another similar game capable of handling a large number of players like Wings of War.