We’ll admit it – we like this game! It’s one that, as soon as you open the box, you’ll say “Oh, I gotta try this!”

As the pieces are pulled from the box, I imagine Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, or Talladega – engines screaming, the smell of burning rubber, the checkered flag waving in front of me… something about racing does that to me.

The 16 well-made track pieces (10 turns, 16 straight-aways along with guardrails) exhibit superior craftsmanship, while the interlocking design of the parts allows for many different track layouts. The “cars” are perfectly machined wooden disks that are pitched (”flicked” with a finger) around the course. And although the game is recommended for ages 6 and up (due to small parts), with proper supervision, younger children will be able to play a simple track layout, too.

Despite its simplicity, this game is intriguing to play, and allows for many different playing styles. There’s the bold and reckless style – high risk to gain the big lead… or end up in a spectacular crash and burn! Or perhaps the smooth and steady, no errors approach might be the better tactic.

The instructions included with PitchCar are straighforward, but again, the simplicity of the game lends itself to many variations. That’s what really makes it intriguing!

Here are a few of our favorite games that we have created for PitchCar:

Last Man Standing – A normal game of PitchCar is played, with one exception: If your car is pitched off the track, or bumped off the track by another player’s car, your car is out of the race. The last car left on the track is the winner.

Bumper Car – In this game, all eight cars are used, divided equally among the players. On your turn, you pitch one of your cars. The important rule is that your car must bump another car after being pitched! If it does not touch another car, then your pitched car goes back to where it was, and the next player takes their turn. Object is to get all your cars across the Finish line first! HINT: Keep your cars close together – a bump off one of your own cars counts!

Traffic Jam – All eight cars are used, divided equally among the players. The object is to get all of your cars around the track and across the finish line before your opponents. On your turn, you may only pitch one of your cars. All other normal PitchCar rules apply.

Golf Car – Who can maneuver their car around the track in the fewest number of pitches to set par? Keep track of how many pitches it takes to make one complete circuit. You can either alternate turns, with each player taking one pitch at a time, or let one player “play through”, pitching their car all the way around the course – followed by the next player, and the next. The person with the fewest pitches after the race, wins. Just like in real golf, if your car goes “out of bounds”, you must place it back where it started, and count one stroke or pitch as a penalty. If you establish a par for the course, you could score each racer based on par, one over par, etc.

Endurance Race – This is a race where caution can pay off. Each player gets one car. The race is five laps, and all normal PitchCar rules apply, except: if your car goes off the track, you must go back to the Start/Finish line and start all over again! If you hit an opponents car and force them off the track, their car is placed back on the track where it was before the “accident”. Don’t get discouraged if you crash an dhave to start over – we’ve had many come-from-behind wins due to unexpected wipe-outs by the leader! Five laps not long enough? Try 10, or 20 for a real challenge of patience. I can picture the 24 hours of Daytona…