I saw Rallyman being played couple of years ago, and finally got a used copy for myself (actually the very same copy I saw back then). This seems like an interesting racing game. I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but this one seems interesting, and of course being a Finn, the rally theme is a big plus.
It’s quite interesting. I find it a bit odd to have dice that don’t mean much – when you roll a die, you move one step, no matter what the result is or which gear you’re using (there’s one dice per gear). That’s odd, but actually works really well. The catch here is a push-your-luck mechanism: each roll can result in a danger symbol and three of those means loss of control: in the worst case, damage to your care, and in any case loss of speed.
Rally is not about who’s in the goal first; it’s about the time you spend. Every time you end your move, you get a card matching your last gear. Gear 5 adds 10 seconds to your total time, gear 4 adds 20 seconds and so on. So, in order to do well, you need to minimize the number of turns you take and maximize the gear you use.
In addition of the danger symbols, the other critical limiting factor is that you can only roll each gear once. There are two white acceleration dice, which lets you use the previous gear.
Of course, the track has corners and bumps, which force you to slow down. Figuring out the fastest way to run the course is interesting.
All in all, pretty good game. My son – soon eight – can play, though he needs some help figuring out the moves, but the basic idea is pretty straightforward. Very nice. Of course I had to buy the dirt road expansion as well… Suggest.