Dexterity Racing Game

Flickin' Cars With Guns looks sweet. It's definitely very different from my game, but that doesn't make it less interesting.

The differences are:

• It's pure combat, and no racing. I want mine to primarily be a race, with power-ups being secondary.
• There's no defined track. My idea, b/c it's racing, is there is a defined track.
• There's no primary action/resource selection mechanic. (Sure, you choose where to flick and maybe who to target, but you only have one action, ie flick the car. My thoughts are to have players either choose to flick or use a power-up card for their turn. So when you use the power-up cards could have a major implication to the game outcome. (Like you may want try to get further ahead to target someone with a power-up.)

FCWG looks sweet, but in terms of analogies, that's more like the Battle Mode of Mario Kart, and I'm looking more towards the Racing Mode of Mario Kart.

I'm glad to hear that you also prefer the actual vehicle pieces. I agree that it would make the game feel so much more real.

Thanks Quest for the input! Those are good references. I haven't played Formula D yet, but really want to. It looks awesome.

I watched reviews for Street Kings and Nitro Dice, which neither look that interesting to me.

Have you played Downforce? It's a fantastic game.

So my plan is to make a racing Dexterity game, where you Flick your car down the track or play a power-up card (hopefully an interesting decision). It wouldn't be that difficult to have race track tiles that lay together, so you could customize the track. Also, I would like the vehicles to be different from one another, and players draft their vehicle at the beginning of the game. The vehicles could be different sizes, shapes, and weight densities.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a campaign-style racing game, where you earn money and can buy upgrades (I could actually see that working well in a game like Downforce, where money is a real element to the game). That's just not what I'm looking to design right now.

I hear you loud and clear. Many people aren't into dexterity games. Personally, I'm a huge fan and they make up a sizable portion of my collection, but many of my friends aren't fans of them either.

However, the dexterity element is what I want to try with this game. If I find that it's not that interesting of a mechanic, I could see a Action Selection/Resource Management being a good style for a racing game.

While the flicking element is the core of the racing, I want the Power-Up Cards to be a major feature. Not only would they (theoretically) be interesting abilities, but my idea for utilizing them would (also theoretically) propose an interesting decision to the players. On their turn, they either Drive (ie flick their vehicle), or use a Power-Up.

Power-Ups will be things like:

• Give to the player in front of you. Their next three flicks must be made with their off-hand.
• Take a random Power-Up from another player.
• You take three flicks immediately, but they are with your off-hand.

Another strategy/interesting decision would be the drafting of vehicles and power-ups at the beginning of the game. The vehicles would all be different (in size, shape, weight, speed), so the vehicle you choose matters. Maybe you go with the tank or bulldozer, because it's bigger and other vehicles won't be able to move you so easily. Or maybe you with the motorcycle or sports car because those vehicles are smaller and can maneuver around turns more easily.

A little off-topic, but the main issue I see with most dexterity games are very few interesting decisions or player strategy. My goal would be that at the end of a game, players really feel that their decisions had a major impact to the game's outcome, and that the game wasn't just won by the person who could flick the best. (Although, I know that will be a huge part of it, for sure.)

TL;DR I appreciate your input and feedback. While I know not everyone likes dexterity games, I hope to have a significant element of strategy/interesting decisions for the players so that it's not just a game of who can flick the best.