Sunday, May 19, 2024
Maze Racers is an interesting concept for a game…really it’s more of a toy than a game, but a toy that makes you think in a very strategic and creative way.
The main idea is that both players will get a magnetic board broken up into four different quadrants. Using the 76 magnetic maze walls of their own colour, players will race to construct a labyrinth for their opponents to solve. The maze walls come in a variety of shapes and sizes and it’s up to the creativity of the player how difficult they make the maze. Once they’re ready players swap their mazes and race a little ball through them. The first person to complete their opponent’s maze wins the round. Win two out of three rounds for the victory.
At the beginning of the game players agree what quadrant the maze must begin and end in. Other than that the make up of the maze can be as creative as you want. The construction can take as long as the players need, but as soon as one person is satisfied with their job, they shout out “Ready to Race” and turn over the timer. That leaves their opponent with only a minute to complete their maze.
Whatever pitfalls you put in place for your maze, there must be a path to complete it. 
There cannot be a choke point or dead end where the ball can’t pass through. Included in the game are wooden spacers to measure out the path and ensure that there is adequate enough space for the ball to pass through. Good thing too, because if your maze is ever deemed impassable you lose immediately.
There are a few variants included such as team play and fixed time for the construction phase. You can also visit FoxMind’s website for advanced play rules. There you can download a set out cards that can be drawn randomly at the start of each round. The cards depict a predetermined element that each maze must contain. From that starting point the construction can evolve however players want.
Maze Racers doesn’t feel like a board game in the traditional sense. It has more in common with dexterity games than anything else, but its free flowing rules don’t adhere to the idea of a general tabletop game. Not that it’s a bad thing in any way. It’s actually pretty neat to see a product like this on the market. Somewhere in between a tradition board game and a toy. I think it’s a perfect game to get kids thinking creatively and making them familiar with things like spacial reasoning. It might the perfect fit to get your kids into a gaming mindset. I’ve played it a bunch of times and it’s quite fun to challenge your friends to a duel of wits of sorts. Definitely give it a shot if you are looking for a two-player game that will challenge your perception and creativity. Maze Racers will get you thinking outside the box.
Wow, cool game! Looks like something that would be right up my alley.
It’s actually really fun…was that pun intentional? 😉