Ruling the Board: SSHS February Board Game Bonanza: Home Stretch

If I was nervous about Tokaido, I was downright worried about Home Stretch.  Could a game about horse racing really be any good?

Well, the short answer is yes, good and very fun.

In the game, you are horse owners/gamblers.  You first do a pick one and pass to draw three horses that you own, you then bet and run a race, then pick and pass for two more horses, and then bet and race three more times for the end.

So, the race comprises of horses 2-12 (all combinations of 2d6).  Each player rolls the dice and chooses to move that horse 1 or 2 spaces of the 10 the track is comprised of.  If they chose 1, they can roll again and that horse must go 2 spaces.  Also, some horses are handicapped so their first roll they do not move, and others get a 2, 4, or 6 space bump when they are first rolled.  These usually go to the harder to roll numbers, but not always.

So, once you see the handicaps, players be from leader to last only placing chips of their rank in any given spot.  The bets are for winner, place, or show for each horse.  If your bet wins, you count up the number you bet times the number on the betting square and move that number of spaces, also, for each race the horse owners for first, second, and third split the winnings as listed on the card used for the race.  The player with the most points at the end of the four races wins.

It may seem like allot of rules, but in actuality, there aren't that many and the setup and rules teaching are pretty fast.

In our game, Bob started out with a commanding lead after the first race.  This allowed him to pay more in the 2^nd owner phase, but after having a couple bad races in a row he was lagging back.  I took the lead after two and three races.  In the final race it was a two owner race with Jack coming up strong late and John betting the house on one chance to come back.  In the end, Bob and I tied for the win.

Final Scores:

Me – 151

Bob – 151

Jack – 145

Dan – 131

Justine – 120

John - 54

Final Thoughts:

This was the most fun game of the day.  People really got into the racing around the track and pulling for their horses, both the ones they bet for and the ones they owned.

I would have never thought I would enjoy this game so much or that I could think about playing it with other crowds and them enjoying it as well, but the game play is really simple and fun and I could see it being played anywhere.

I was very pleasantly surprised with Home Stretch.