Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Sarah V.: Hey Pete, I have a new game for you to unbox and then for us to play as a group.

Pete: Oh, yeah? What is it?

Sarah V.: It's got decks of cards, and comes with four different game boards.

Pete: That sounds awesome. What’s the game?

Sarah V.: The art and theme include elements of historical accuracy as well as bits of retrofuturism.

Pete: I love retrofuturism! And historical accuracy is typically good. What’s the game? What’s the game?

Sarah V.: It’s also for 1–6 players and you can play it as a one-off game or as a campaign.

Pete: Where’s the box? Let’s get into it! What is the name of this game?!

Sarah V.: You promise we play it after you unbox it?

Pete: Sarah!

Sarah V.: Fiiiine. It’s Heat: Pedal to the Metal (2022), designed by Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen, and published by Days of Wonder.

Pete: Absolutely freaking not.

Sarah V.: What? Why not?

Pete: Because, Sarah, you are actually an absolute terror when it comes to all things driving.

Sarah V.: What are you talking about?

Pete: It doesn’t matter if it’s in actual cars or in boardgames: you and any kind of combustion engine, real or abstract, does not work. Whenever I ride with you, it doesn’t matter what anyone else around us is doing. You spend more time screaming and leaning on the horn than you actually do moving forward. 

Sarah V.: I don’t need to spend very much time moving forward. I’m efficient.

Pete: You mean you do 75 in a 30 on the regular. Also: you have the odd habit of insisting on listening to NPR or a podcast when you drive. What happened to putting on some good driving music and chilling?

Sarah V.: Wow, nitpicking, much?

Pete: Your standard operating procedure is to cut through corner parking lots to circumvent red lights at intersections.

Sarah V.: Is that wrong? Should I not do that?

Pete: Sarah, I have seen you use the emergency vehicle pull-over law as a way to vie for  position, peeling out in front of other vehicles that were previously ahead of you.

Sarah V.: Well that’s just part of the rat race, dude.

Pete: The last time the gang got together to play a racing game, Downforce, you rules-lawyered Keegan to the point of making him cry.

Sarah V.: See, that’s just not true at all. Also: his rules interpretation was wrong.

Pete: That’s not the point. The point is that Keegan has the ability to compartmentalize to the point of almost sociopathic behavior. The one and only one time I have ever seen Keegan cry was at Downforce game night.

Sarah V.: He cried because he lost.

Pete: Wow.

Sarah V.: I’ll let you pick the thematic driving music while we play the game.

Pete: Take On Me by A-ha?

Sarah V.: Done.

Pete: Done. Let’s get to unboxing.