Genres

Strategy Game Card Game Cooperative Game See more

Themes

Fantasy Fighting Science Fiction See more

Mechanics

Hand Management Variable Player Powers Dice Rolling See more

Quick access

Short Games (< 30 min)2 Players Games Light Playstyle Games

Race

Understanding the "Race" Mechanism in Board Games

The "race" mechanic in board games refers to a competitive dynamic wherein players strive to be the first to achieve a certain goal or reach a particular end state.

Characteristics:

Goal-Oriented: Players must reach a specific target, such as a physical location or a points threshold.
Simultaneity: Often all players are competing at the same time, rather than taking turns to advance.
Speed: Quick decision-making is generally rewarded.
Direct Competition: Players might be able to directly or indirectly affect each other's progress.

Examples:

Ticket to Ride: Players race to complete train routes.
Carcassonne: Players hurry to complete cities, roads, and monasteries.
The Quest for El Dorado: Players push to be the first to reach the legendary city.

Benefits:

Adds tension and excitement through direct competition.
Encourages strategic planning to outpace opponents.

In summary, the "race" mechanic in board games is central to gameplay that revolves around being the first to reach an objective, fostering a tense and engaging experience for players.

Race and Network and Route Building games

1941: Race to Moscow

Rajas of the Ganges

Silver Line: Drakon (4th Edition)

Get on Board: Paris & Roma

Magic the Gathering: Heroes of Dominaria Board Game Premium Edition

Race games published by Galápagos Jogos

In Wacky Races, players take control of their own racer from the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon such as The Slag Brothers, The Gruesome Twosome, Penelope Pitstop, or Peter Perfect. Each one has their own unique stats and special abilities. The goal is...

Splendor Duel is a two-player-only standalone game based on Splendor that retains some of the main gameplay mechanisms of that design, while being a bit more complex, dynamic, interactive, rich, tense, and mean.The game features a main board shared by...

Bring together a team of super heroes and prevent Thanos from ending the world! The Infinity Stones are scattered throughout the Multiverse. Use their essence to recruit heroes and villains and gain Infinity Points.Assemble the Avengers, acquire locations...

"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too."- Marcus AureliusCivilization: A New Dawn recreates the best-selling computer game series as a strategy board game. In this fast-paced and approachable...

Nautical themed games with Race

An exhilarating adventure awaits you, where you must outwit and outmaneuver your fellow pirate captains as you race around the islands.Using cunning strategy, a touch of fortune, and a healthy dose of deceit, can you navigate treacherous waters to secure...

In the first Cartagena game, the players, as pirates, attempted to flee prison by making their way through a tunnel to a boat waiting for them at the end of the tunnel. But simply reaching the boat does not mean they have escaped as re-capture is always...

Early in the age of discovery, daring sailors risk life and limb to journey across the vast Atlantic ocean, and discover a giant island off the coast of North America: the New Found Land.Now, the mightiest nations of western Europe compete for the riches...

Food, Drink & Cooking themed games with Race

Race and Push Your Luck games

Disney Space Mountain - All Systems Go

First in Flight

Rallyman GT Core Game

Joyride - Survival of the Fastest

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Dead Man's Doubloons

Baron von Zom's Dice of the Undead

Key to the Kingdom

Michael Strogoff

Breaking Bad - The Board Game

Racing themed games with Race

Chariot Race: Take a trip through time as a chariot racer during the age of Rome. The competition is fierce and all contestants will stop at nothing to win the day! Tactical movement and combat is used to great effect in Chariot Race, but be warned ...

Will you cross the finish line first? Now is your chance to find out! Automobiles is a deck-building game where the fun is cubed. Instead of cards, you’ll be building your collection with cubes. Your cubes not only allow you to race your car around ...

Embark on an adventurous race around the world in Expeditions: Around the World! Discover extraordinary destinations, immerse yourself in new cultures, encounter exotic wildlife, and marvel at stunning landscapes!Three expeditions depart from Northern...

Science Fiction themed games with Race

Cooperative Game with Race

Card Game with Race

Win: Micro Card Game

1911 - Amundsen vs. Scott

Ultra Tiny Epic Galaxies

Race and Grid Movement games

Powerships (Crowdpower Edition Kickstarter)

Quest for El Dorado, The: Quest of El Dorado, The - The Golden Temples

Santorini - New York

Fantasy themed games with Race

Race and Player Elimination games

Race to eliminate series of cards before your opponents. Use strategy, quick thinking, and even sabotage to pull ahead in each round. Can you be the first to eliminate all of your cards and dominate the competition?

The dreaded Black Death has descended upon the town of Bristol. You are racing down the streets, desperate to escape into the safety of the countryside. If your cart is the first out of town you and your cart-mates win! Or do you? Some villagers on your...

Outrun the Bear is an award-winning family board game that’s easy to play, but with just the right amount of crunchy puzzle for strategy fans!Lace up your hiking boots and get ready to run… Outrun the bear, or outrun your friends!Pick your runner from...

Race games published by Ігромаг

CIV is a strategic and interactive race to victory. Triumph by combining cards and developing your civilization carefully. Team Game rules included. Mechanisms:• Deck, Bag, and Pool Building• Hand Management• Set Collection• Variable Player Powers 104...

Build a galactic empire...In the depths of space, the alien races of the Cosmos vie with each other for control of the universe. Alliances form and shift from moment to moment, while cataclysmic battles send starships screaming into the warp.Players...

Gentle-Robots. . . Start Your Microprocessors!And while you're at it, turn on the conveyor belts, fire up the wall-mounted lasers, and charge up those batteries. It's closing time at the factory, but the racing and combat action is about to begin!Robo...

Race games published by Winsome Games

Now it is time to go railroading in Europa. Just like Transamerica, players work together building a railroad network, but this time it is across Europe instead of the United States. The first to have their five cities connected winds the round - the...

Trans Europa (2018 Edition)

America in the 19th century: railroads are booming! Pioneer spirit and vision are everywhere. Everyone wants to be the first to build a railroad network across the country. Each player has five cities and tries to connect them with a shared network ...

Trans America (2015 Edition)

Race and Pattern Building games

Race games published by White Goblin Games

In New York Zoo, you are constructing an animal park. Build animal encounters, introduce new animals and raise their offspring. The first player to cover all the construction spaces on their zoo board with Enclosure Tiles and Attractions wins the game...

Assert the Strength of Your City-State!In Ancient Greece, City-States (or Polis) competed for wealth and power, drawing strength and resources from their Khôra: the surrounding countryside.As the leader of your Polis, you must develop your Economy, your...

Cartagena takes as its theme the famous 1672 pirate-led jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena. Each player has a group of six pirates, and you want to be the first to have all six escape through the tortuous underground passage that connects the ...

A New Moon, a new beginning...Nova Luna is a game for building connections. In every round of this tile-laying game, you must optimize your choice and plan for the future based on the dwindling supply of tiles available on the moon wheel. And with every...

Prehistoric themed games with Race

Thousands of years ago, near the end of the ice age, humans once again dwelt on fertile land. But a new challenge awaits!The ice is still melting, and that fertile land will soon be flooded. All living creatures must escape to the mountains. Your engravings...

Discover the Secrets of El Dodorado!The best dexterity-racing game is back with this sequel that be can be played on its own or integrated with the original game of Dodos Riding Dinos.Keep racing through the jungle that leads to the temple of El Dodorado...

Dodos Riding Dinos: Dodo Dash

Race games designed by Roberto D. Rivera

Panda Panda

In Panda Panda, players carefully manage their cards to try to make specific hands. On a turn, players can discard a card, draw from the deck, or draw from an opponent's discard pile. If a player discards an "A" card, everyone has to pass one card to...

mostly positive, 70%

Hand Management

Puzzle themed games with Race

Gear up and be the first to make your way through the research lab! Jetpack Joyride is a fast-paced, real-time, crazy puzzle race!1. Puzzle Through the Labs - Use tiles to mark your path through the lab!2. Explore & Score - Avoid obstacles and collect...

Jetpack Joyride

Some people just want to get from point A to point B. For others, the journey is the destination. In Twisty Tracks, players are rewarded for both!As you build your twisty tracks around towns, through tunnels, and over bridges, you can race to be the...

Race and Action Queue games

Invented exclusively by IELLO, the 8Bit Box puts the best video games at your fingertips in board game form. Enjoy technology so cutting edge that it doesn't need wires, screens, or even electricity. Don't wait, start playing today with the first three...

Tiny Turbo Cars is a frantic race game for 2 to 4 players where you program the movements of your tiny toy car in advance, with a sliding puzzle acting as your remote controller.• Choose your racing car! Select 1 of 8 different racing car abilities.•...

Enter the world of mad machines and dangerous schemes in the Robo Rally board game. Players control their robot with game cards which reveal directions on how the robots can move through the hectic Robo Rally automobile factory. Use strategy to outsmart...

In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the ...

Dice Game with Race

Thunder Rolls is a fast paced dice placement action stock car racing game for 1-8 players. There are two phases to the game; the Rolling Phase and the Thunder Phase. In the Rolling phase the players roll their dice pool and place sets of dice on matching...

Complete the challenge from the bottom to the top!In this game you try to be the fastest climber. Use the dice to fill in numbers in all your squares. In each next higher square the number must be higher or equal to the numbers underneath. Combine the...

Roll to the Top!

Race and Point to Point Movement games

Bring the Woodland to life with landmarks, which add a unique power to their clearing. Mechanisms:• Area Majority / Influence• Area Movement• Dice Rolling• Hand Management• Variable Player Powers 4 Wooden Landmarks ‣Black Market ‣Legendary Forest ‣Lost...

Shards of the Jaguar is a competitive “dungeon-deduction” game, which requires both strategic and tactical thinking. It is about an initiation trial where you and your fellow initiates have to prove that you are worthy of your tribe’s legendary animal...

"Old World" is a narrative-driven board game where players assume the roles of witchers, skilled monster hunters from different schools, navigating a fantasy world filled with adventure, danger, and moral decisions. Each game session unfolds on a vast...

A Scrawling Adventure for the Whole Family!The dungeons of Undermountain have drawn you and other heroes from all over the world to challenge their contorted mazes of doom.Ten different dungeons await your marker. Race against your fellow heroes to fight...

Race games designed by Rüdiger Dorn

Their ultimate goal is the tomb of the pharaoh, but many treasures can be collected as they search. As they explore, the challenge unfolds: The player who manages to quickly get their team of adventurers to the tomb, while salvaging as many treasures...

As players in Mercado, you assume the roles of wealthy members of upper-class society. To raise your social status, you must buy luxury goods. So you shop around the market for expensive baubles, finery, shoes, jewelry, and perfume — anything that will...

Children's Game with Race

All good things come in threes...In Spinderella, players race to get their three ants across the forest floor as quickly as they can, but spiders await in the branches above and - with a little help from opponents - one might swoop down to scoop up ...

Top A Top is a great and fun game for everyone, that will liven up every party and make everyone laugh hard. Simple rules that can be thought in a minute and very addictive game-play are it’s biggest advantages! The first print has become a Polish best...

Bring the adventure to life with Jumanji The Game, the latest edition of the legendary board game. You and your band of brave adventurers suddenly find yourselves deep in a mysterious jungle full of secrets and surprises. Danger lies along your path...

Race games designed by Florian Fay

In the Footsteps of Marie Curie

Embrace the world of Marie Curie's laboratory and assist the renowned scientist in her quest for a double Nobel Prize! Engage in experiments, enhance your workshop, and race against fellow players to fulfill Marie Curie's research objectives.In the Footsteps...

Race games published by Dire Wolf

Dune: Imperium - Rise of Ix Expansion

Control the Spice. Control the UniverseThe struggle for control of the Imperium continues! Technological innovations from the planet Ix offer strategic advantages to those able to acquire them. The spreading reach of the CHOAM corporation provides trade...

overwhelmingly positive, 96%

Solo / Solitaire Game

Science Fiction

Movies / TV / Radio theme

Card Play Conflict Resolution

Deck, Bag, and Pool Building

Race games published by Fantasy Flight Games

En Garde!Challenge your closest frenemy to the fast-paced hilarity of Cosmic Encounter Duel! You'll go head-to-head with your opponent, racing to win control of five planets.Colorful ships, hidden tactics, and your alien's unique abilities might tip ...

Cosmic Encounter Duel

Build a galactic empire...In the depths of space, the alien races of the Cosmos vie with each other for control of the universe. Alliances form and shift from moment to moment, while cataclysmic battles send starships screaming into the warp.Players...

Cosmic Encounter (2009 Edition)