Heat PttM combines suspense, competition, replayability, and push your luck. It packages all these into a board game that rivals my top 10 games of all time and is as much fun as any legacy game I have ever played.
I know...it's too good to be true, right? Let me preface this by saying that this is a board gamer's game. Sure, the basic rules are easy to learn and it is family friendly. But, the game doesn't really show it's horsepower until you play by the advanced rules with the car modifications, drafting, and sponsorship. I would compare the complexity of the basic rules to a game like Ticket to Ride but with a more enjoyable competition aspect. Once you have the basic rules down, I recommend you quickly move on to the more advanced rules to fully unlock the best experience.
In my experience, you need a minimum of 4 people (the more, the merrier) to have the most opportunities for competition. The game also has a mechanism to add automated cars that add to the competition, especially if your playing a 2-3 player game.
In this game, the heat cards in your 'engine', a special draw deck, allow you to go farther each turn under certain conditions. But once you push your luck, these heat cards are shuffled into your draw deck and pulled into your hand. But, they aren't playable and limit your options. You may decide to use them only to later draw them and have your speed or options limited. At the same time, your competitors may have the same problem. The suspense keeps the game exciting and I have never seen such a balanced mechanism in a game before.
My group of board gamers and family have had so many hours of laugh-out-loud fun competition. I recently was gifted Heavy Rain, the first expansion for the game. I love the added dimension and variation the expansion brings. I highly recommend you add this game to your collection!
