Apart from at the full player count of 6 there will be neutral racers – though they are not only there to cause congestion, they are there to ramp up the chaos. Unlike most dummy players the rules are extremely simple, as to not drag out a long amount of time between the people around the table actually having a turn. The neutrals are needed so that tiles get full at the beginning of races – though rarely do they seem to get close to even a podium position. I can't remember the exact moment, but I think in season 2 he just really lets his anger get the best of him, beating people up on the sidewalk for the most trivial stuff. Just his explosive temper,... If a player's Racer cannot cancel a Trap, it suffers the consequences fully and the player's turn ends. The player may still draw Movement cards to refill their hand as normal. After resolving the Trap card, or if it is canceled, the Trap card is always discarded afterward. Although he could play a 3rd card, he doesn't have another Prairie in his hand. Thus, his movement is done for the turn. Gas Station: When the Racer in last place moves onto this tile, all players unexhaust 1 of their facedown Special Power cards.

Races are simple, yet strategic, as players place cards indicating the terrain tiles to which their racer will move, with the last card played indicating where Dastardly and Muttley will end up. The Starting Player receives the Neutral Racers Activation Card, placing it faceup in front of their Racer Dashboard. On your mention of Skat that is similar to the game 500 (pretty common in New Zealand and Australia and the Northern US and Canada from what I hear - well, at least in the 70s & 80s) where there are... Example: Professor Pat Pending begins his turn on a Forest Terrain tile. For his first Movement card, he plays a Desert, and since the first card does not have to match the Terrain tile, he moves ahead to the open space on the next tile, which is a Prairie.The 3rd card is finally revealed and it's a Desert, which also moves no one. Now, the Starting Player can begin a new round.

These Neutral Racers won't use their Racer Dashboard or Special Power cards. Those can be returned to the game box, along with the remaining 4 unchosen Racers, their Racer Dashboards, and Special Power cards. When a player uses a Special Power, they flip over the matching Special Power card on their Racer Dashboard, exhausting that card. Exhausted cards cannot be used until unexhausted. Special Powers do not get unexhausted easily.Once a player selects their racer (all 10 are here), they take the miniature and character dashboard, plus the four character-specific special ability cards and place them in the corresponding slots on their dashboard. The next player places Rufus's car in the next available slot, and the last player follows up with their car as well (Ant Hill Mob). The remaining Neutral Racers are randomly placed in the remaining slots, leaving the Starting Board full of Racers who are ready to begin! If a player has an unexhausted Special Power card for that specific type of Trap, the Special Power card must be flipped facedown and the Trap card is discarded without further consequences. The individual special abilities of each racer sets them apart from each other. They can be used at any point on a player’s turn to give them an advantage or boost. This can vary from simply moving a number of spaces ahead, to switching positions with a nearby racer, to swapping terrain tiles around and stealing cards from other players. Some attempt has been made to make the abilities fit the character of the racers, although sometimes this fits really well and other times it’s a bit of a stretch thematically.

Oho! New to Stardew? Keep me posted on what you think. It can take time to earn things, but other avenues open up (mining, fishing, interacting with townsfolk) to keep you engaged as the in-game days... Railroad Crossing: When a Racer moves onto this tile, the Racer(s) in last place move ahead 1 tile.

After revealing the third card for the Neutral Racers and moving them, also move Dastardly's car according to his normal movement rules.

Example: With 2 Forest and 1 Desert cards in hand, Rufus decides to exhaust his Special Power card Sawtooth to swap a Forest tile with the tile in front of his current tile (a Prairie). After all, the Players have played their turn and before the Starting Player starts their next turn, all Neutral Racers move. Skip this for the very first round of the game. The second card he plays is a Prairie. This would move the Professor to the Farm tile, but it already has 2 Racers on it. So, instead, the Professor moves to the next open space, which is a Prairie. While the game is simple to play there are some… actually no, it’s just simple. You do have to plan your turn and use your abilities to best use the cards you have but that’s it.

Racers on these tiles do not change positions, but any Trap cards move along with their tiles, possibly forcing a Racer at the tile's new location to trigger it immediately, if there are 2 Racers on the tile, the active player chooses which one triggers it! Having a bit of lighter fun with people at the local club playing Forgotten Waters. The only disappointment is that because there's around 20 people playing different games in a pub's function room... Each Movement card shows 1 of the 4 basic Terrain types: Desert, Forest, Prairie, or Farm. Players must use these cards to move from each type of Terrain. The Racer that triggers this Trap switches places with the closest Racer behind them, up to 3 tiles away. If there are 2 Racers tied for last place, the player whose Racer landed on the Railroad Crossing can choose which Racer moves first.