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Game Info
Year
2016
Collection
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
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Description
Drivers, start your engines! Will you cross the finish line first? Now is your chance to find out!
Automobiles is a deck‑building game in which the fun is cubed — because instead of using cards to build a deck, you build with your collection of cubes. These cubes not only allow you to race your car around the track, but they also allow you to improve your handling, optimize your pit crew, and boost your speed, all of which are your keys to victory!
The goal of the game is to cross the finish line first! You accomplish this by customizing your race car and surrounding yourself with the best crew. Your race car and crew are represented by a collection of cubes garnered from various options available to you. Starting with the same small set of cubes, each player builds their collection as they play the game. Use these cubes to enhance your performance, train your pit crew, and ensure your race car runs as effectively as possible. Be the first to cross the finish line and watch that checkered flag wave!
Designed by David Short, Automobiles is the third title in AEG's Destination Fun series! Continue your travels in the acclaimed Trains and Planes board games.
Online Play
Yucata (turn-based)
BoardGameArena (real-time & turn-based)
Featured Videos
Review
Automobiles Review
Playthrough
Automobiles Full Playthrough
Ask a Rules Question
All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 1 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 2 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video 5NLY-Fj6Kqs
Getting Games Playthrough at 0:03 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 63621 · mention_pk 157093
Click to watch at 0:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- Blue cube reusability (place two cubes from discard into active area) and wear mechanics
- Purple discard-thinning action
- Green Nitro cubes allow drawing more cubes from bag
- Clear sense of track progression with wear/decline
Cons
- Wear cubes can clog engine and slow progress
- Brown wear cubes are largely useless
- Early game draws can be very limited due to discard/inertia
Thematic elements
- Racing and resource management
- Racing track with bag-building cubes
- live, explanatory playthrough
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bag building — Players assemble a bag of colored cubes and draw from it to perform actions.
- bag_building — Players assemble a bag of colored cubes and draw from it to perform actions.
- buying_and_upgrading_cubes — Players spend money to buy new cubes to add to their bag and upgrade existing cubes.
- cube_activation_on_track — Cubes are placed on track slots to determine movement; actual car moves occur after the decline and drafting rules.
- purple_discard_thinning — Purple actions remove cubes from discard pile to thin the bag.
- wear_and_decline — Cubes generate wear when used; wearing reduces performance, and drafting behind others provides wear benefits.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I think this is a pretty great deal
- remove up to six cubes from their discard pile
- these green Nitro spots are really good because they let us draw cubes out
- the blue cube you're going to gain a wear but it lets you pull two cubes from your discard pile and put them back into your active area
- that was a full game of automobiles
- Blue was unfortunately able to win but we were able to pull off a second place finish
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video fGpWK3zCUxc
Getting Games Review at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 63603 · mention_pk 157063
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Centralized and elegant bag-building mechanic
- Great variety of action cards and high replayability
- Engaging card combos that vary by play
- Two race maps and strong track variety
- Smooth engine-building experience
Cons
- Run-away leader syndrome due to luck and engine-building dynamics
- Two-player games may have reduced interaction; fewer drafting/blocking opportunities
- Five-player games can feel long
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bag building — Draw cubes from a bag to determine movement and actions.
- buy phase / bag economy — Spend money to add cubes to your bag during a buy phase.
- cleanup and redraw — End of turn; draw seven cubes and replenish the bag as needed.
- Color-coded action cards — Each color has associated action cards; players purchase and activate them for effects.
- drafting — End your turn behind another car to avoid taking cubes and potentially hinder others.
- gear cubes and upgrades — Gear cubes upgrade via card effects and interact with the discard pile.
- movement and track layout — Cubes placed on the map determine movement along a track with various paths.
- wear and tear — Wear cubes are added based on speed and slow down engines.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I think automobiles is a great package of some really good ideas
- replayability of this game is way above average
- the game is a really neat bag-building racing experience
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video _n-_KwavI60
Tabletop Turtle Discussion at 0:00 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 6606 · mention_pk 19610
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- was fun on Tabletopia
Cons
- feels a little generic now
- many games fill the same space
- previously played extensively online but lost interest
Thematic elements
- car manufacturing
- auto industry
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm very Cutthroat here - I much rather save budget for a new game, save space for new games
- not all games are forever games - sometimes it's totally okay to buy a game with the expectation of playing it for about five years and then not wanting to play it again
- I can still respect I played a lot of Steam, but I just don't want to play it anymore
- there's so much hate on like oh you can't be like dipping your chosen to miniature games - but as adults there's so much hate on that
- when you own a lot of games there's a lot of rules up here and the tough thing is that when there's so many rules up here you need some games that you teach or play later to be a little intuitive
- the difficulty I have with it is that when I explain it to new players it's tough to explain - each player has a different ruleset
- I think that's one of the first games that if it didn't invent that concept at least popularize it
- if the game is going to warrant me having to do separate explanations for everybody, extra effort - it's got to be really damn good and Vast isn't really damn good
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–3 of 3