Hacker-Pilots race across the track, dodging attacks and planning their cunning tactics. Push your skills to the limit to see who will be the first across the finish line!
What Is REM Racers?
REM Racers is a racing and car combat game for 2–5 players, and takes about 60–90 minutes to play. Even though it’s rated 14+, the rules are easy enough to understand that it can probably be played with kids as young as 10. It is set inside the world of Corvus Belli’s long-running Infinity miniatures game. The MSRP is $59.99, and is currently available at Corvus Belli’s webstore, local game stores, or online game stores such as Miniature Market.
REM Racers was designed by Fernando Lago and published by Corvus Belli, with illustrations by Chester Ocampo.
REM Racers Components
The game comes with the following components:
- 1 Rulebook
- 5 Remote Miniatures
- 5 Control Panels
- 9 Hacker-pilots
- 9 Hacker-pilot Cards
- 5 Twelve-sided Dice
- 60 Equipment Cards
- 4 Teardrop Templates
- 13 Movement Templates
- 2 Collision Templates
- 46 Tokens
- 13 Racetrack Tiles
Let’s start with the vehicles, which are known as Remotes. These are made out of plastic, and each one is not only in a different player color, but also has a unique sculpt.
The Remotes have a fair amount of detail, and minimal mold lines, and would definitely look good with a paint job for those hobbyist board gamers that like to paint their miniatures. They are based on designs from Infinity, a critically-acclaimed 28mm scale tabletop miniatures game also published by Corvus Belli.
Each of the Remotes has a matching Control Panel, appealingly shaped like a video game controller. The players can track Structure (ie, health) and Speed on their Remotes via the integrated dials. I did find the dials unfortunately spun a little loose, and it was easy to accidentally shift the numbers.
As you can see from the above photo, all of the Remotes have different stats. This asymmetry provides some of the customization in the game.
Continuing with the asymmetry are the Hacker-Pilots, each of which has a different special ability. These are picked randomly during setup. The artwork shares a fun, kawaii style that feels like it came right out of an anime.
Also included are large Hacker-Pilot tokens, which plug into the top of the Control Panels. These don’t really provide anything play-wise to the game, but are a nice visual touch.
There are 13 double-sided racetrack tiles, which can be configured to make several different racetracks. The tracks are colorful, with a bright cyberpunk aesthetic.
To maneuver around the track, players choose a Movement Template matching their current speed, and move their Remote along the template. This is a movement method that will be instantly familiar to players of Fantasy Flight Games’ X-Wing Miniatures Game. There are also Collision Templates, to randomly determine the direction a Remote moves when it comes into contact with a wall or another Remote.
Throughout a race, players will acquire and use multiple Equipment cards. These cards are used to damage or hinder your opponents, or provide boosts to your Remote.
How to Play REM Racers
The Goal
The goal of the game is to be the first across the finish line.
Setup
Lay out tiles to create a race track, either following examples in the rulebook or creating your own.
Create a general supply of tokens, templates, and dice that are accessible by all players.
Shuffle the Equipment Cards deck and place it face down.
All players choose a Remote, the matching Control Panel, and a Turn Marker. Each player then randomly draws a Hacker-Pilot card, placing the matching Hacker-Pilot token on their Control Panel. The Control Panel should have Structure set to “3” and Speed set to “1” on the dials. The Player Turn Marker should have its green side facing up.
Finally, all players roll a die. The player with the highest result gets pole position (1st place) on the starting tile, the second-highest gets second place, and so on. Ties are re-rolled. Players place their Remote miniatures on the appropriate spaces.
Gameplay
Each round, determine player Initiative Order, based on track position. The Remote in the lead will go first in Initiative Order, followed by second place, and so on. Ties on a curved tile are won by whoever has the inside position on the track.
Player Turn
- Perform Actions: Move, and optionally play an Equipment card.
- Change speed.
- End turn.
Move
To move, you select a Movement template that matches the speed set on the Control Panel. Once you have chosen a template, you cannot select another.
Fit one end of the template into the front of the Remote’s hexagonal base. Note that you can use either orientation of the template.
In the picture below, the blue Zetta’s movement will go around the “Redirection Zone” as noted on the track by the reddish-orange soccer balls. The Redirection Zones’s use are optional, but when used, they halt movement, and the REM is placed inside and then oriented by the controlling player in any direction before the player’s next turn.
After the Movement template has been placed, the player then picks up their Remote, and places the rear edge of the base against the other end of the template to finish the move.
If, during movement, a Remote comes into contact with either another Remote or an edge of the Racetrack, a Crash occurs.
To resolve a crash against another Remote:
- Place the Remote in base to base contact with the rival Remote, following the trajectory of the Movement template.
- Fit the Collision template against the Rival remote opposite the vertex where the collision occurred.
- The rival player rolls a die, then moves the rear vertex of their remote into the notch of the Collision template which matches their result.
To resolve a crash into the racetrack edge:
- Place the Remote in contact with the edge following the trajectory of the Movement template.
- Turn the Remote in any direction.
- Turn over the top card of the Equipment deck.
- Check the Crash icon on the card to find out what effect is applied, and apply the effect.
- Discard the Equipment card.
Play Equipment Cards
Players gain an Equipment card each time they change Sectors, ie, each time they move from one racetrack tile to another. After their move, they may play as many Equipment cards in their hand as they meet the conditions for use as written on the cards.
After use, the Equipment card is then discarded.
Cards that attack other Remotes do one of two different types of damage: Energy or Physical. Energy attacks are defended by a Remote’s BP (Biotechnological Protection), and Physical attacks by the ARM (Armor). To resolve an attack:
- Attacking player rolls a number of dice as indicated by the card and compares the results to their Remote’s Accuracy rating. Any result equal to or higher than that rating is a hit.
- Defending players then roll one die and compare it to either their BP or ARM stat, depending on the type of attack. Any result equal to or higher than that rating cancels one hit.
- Each uncancelled hit inflicts one point of Structure damage to the Remote, and the value on the Structure dial is decreased appropriately.
If a Remote is destroyed:
- Remove it from the board.
- Place it next to the first edge of the sector where it was destroyed.
- Set the Speed dial to “1.”
- Set the Structure dial to “3.”
- Remove any negative effects previously placed on the Remote from Equipment cards.
Change Speed
At this phase, you may increase or decrease the speed of your Remote by exactly 1, adjusting it on the Speed dial. Players may also choose to maintain their current speed.
End of Turn
Flip your Player marker from the green side to the red, to indicate that you have finished your turn.
Once all players have completed their turns, everyone flips their Player markers back to the green side, and a new Initiative Order is determined.
Game End
The Last Round is triggered once one a Remote has fully crossed the finish line of the last lap. At this point, every other player will play out their turns in Initiative Order. Once all players have finished their turns, whoever is furthest over the finish line at the end wins.
Why You Should Play REM Racers
We’ve seen a real boom in racing board games over the last year. First we had the controlled chaos of Thunder Road: Vendetta, then the more strategic Heat: Pedal to the Metal, and now REM Racers, which falls right in the middle of the previous two. Much like with Thunder Road, you have weapons and crashes that can damage or even eliminate one of the vehicles. Though, an important distinction: there is no player elimination in REM Racers! The Remotes respawn after they have been destroyed, with only a minor penalty in track position.
As with Heat, you will be strategically adjusting your speed each round, doing your best to jockey for first position. In the case of REM Racers, your speed will determine which Movement templates you can use… and unsurprisingly, the higher the speed, the longer the template. Which means that, if you’re approaching a hairpin turn, you probably don’t want to be going at full speed, unless you’re looking to crash!
The use of Movement templates is arguably the best part of the game. It definitely provides a more cinematic feel to the racing, giving the players much more dynamic control of their vehicles than simply moving a certain number of spaces around the board. Drawing random equipment and playing them throughout the race provides a nice bit of unpredictability to each game.
If you’re looking for a “pure” racing game, REM Racers is definitely not it. An apt comparison is to a video game like Mario Kart. Yes, your ultimate goal is to get across the finish line. But you’ll also be using weapons and power-ups via the Equipment cards to help yourself and hinder your opponents.
There’s a high degree of replayability baked into the game. You can create multiple racetrack layouts by rearranging the included 13 track pieces. Each of the Hacker-Pilots has a different special ability, and each of the Remotes has a different set of stats, so players can choose to have a different experience each time they play.
There are a few issues with the production of the game which can take the experience down a notch. For one, you have to be very careful near the track and when moving the Remotes. The track pieces can easily be knocked out of place, as can miniatures and tokens sitting on top of the track. Setting REM Racers up on a neoprene game mat can mitigate this somewhat, but it’s something to be aware of. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, the dials on the Control Panels are very loose, and easy to rotate accidentally. Had Corvus Belli used a slightly thicker cardboard, that issue probably could have been avoided.
However, while those flaws can be annoying, they don’t get too much in the way of the players having fun. And REM Racers is definitely a lot of fun! The rules are easy to learn, and there’s a nice blend of strategic racing coupled with combat. If you’re looking for a visually appealing, Kart-style racing game that’s competitive but not overly punishing, then REM Racers is ideal for a family game night.
For more information, visit the Corvus Belli REM Racers Page!
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
