CHARIOTEER IS A GAME FOR 2-6 PLAYERS

RACING CHARIOTS IN ANCIENT ROME.

PLAYERS SPRINT, ATTACK EACH OTHER,
& OVERCOME CHAOS AS THEY COMPETE
FOR THE FAVOR OF
THE EMPEROR & THE CROWD.
 Set Up Damage cubes begin in a pile near
the board. They’re used to mark the
Each player takes a set of five white damage done to each chariot.
player tokens. (One each of the
five types.) Tilt them so that only
Fan tokens begin the game in the the owner can see their identity.
draw bag. After a great move,
players will draw a fan token from
the bag. Fan tokens grant players
special abilities.

ce The primary deck in this game is labelled

‘Charioteer’. Shuffle and place it face down
to form a draw pile. If the stack is too tall,
keep half of it on the side of the board.

The lap counter begins

the game on side 1

Regular spaces

Outer spaces
Each color makes a different
kind of move.
Shuffle the deck and deal Icons (on cards and tokens)
8 cards to each player. can offer bonuses.
2
 Draw three cards and place them face up in the three slots of the crowd card track.
The card in the rightmost slot is the active crowd card, and the cards in slots 2 and 3
will become the crowd card, in later turns.
This card is the crowd card.
Roll the emperor die and place it on the board.
The die announces the kind of move the emperor
wishes to see this turn.

3
3

Each player selects a display to

Place a chariot for each player match the color of their chariot.
in the start space, pointing
counterclockwise.

Each player draws one skills card

before the game begins. It tells what
skills a charioteer is good at: speed,
cornering, or even attacking other
players! After everyone has drawn
The skill track shows a
one, put all the skills cards away for
charioteer’s skill in each
the rest of the game.
of the four types of move.
The damage boxes show
how much damage is done
to the chariot.

The damage box contains damage

cubes, which represent the damage
the chariot has sustained..

The attack boxes contain new damage

Each player takes four skill markers.

Place the skill markers on the start

spaces of the skill track, in the order
specified on the card. 3
 TURN CYCLE
Charioteer is played in a series of turns in this order: Elaine also holds the card shown below
• Select moves in her hand.
• Move chariots; collect rewards The symbols on this card do not
• Check for end of lap (or game) match and cannot be played as part
• Set up the next turn of this move.
SELECT MOVE CARDS
PLAY A TOKEN
Charioteer is a game about moving forward. Every turn
Players may add a token to their move by placing it
offers a new opportunity to move chariots around the
face-down on top of the face-down cards they play. Only
track.
one token can be placed on each move. If the token has a
Moves are made by playing matching sets of cards. The color, it must match the color of the move.
better the set, the farther the move will travel.
Some tokens add to the distance of the move.
Every turn, each player selects up to three cards from Others offer special abilities or protection.
their hand that share a common symbol. Tokens will be discussed in more detail in the
In the center of the board is a card designated the crowd ‘Tokens’ section below.
card. Players may include the crowd card in their move,
if it has their symbol on it. Every player may use the CALCULATING MOVEMENT
crowd card, if they wish Calculate the base distance of a move by counting the
number of matching symbols. Add this count to the
Moves must include at least two matching cards. Counting
number printed on the symbol to find the base rate of
the crowd card, a move can have up to four.
movement.
All players choose their cards at the same time and place
them face down on the table. Once every player has se- Example
lected their move, reveal the moves simultaneously. Continuing to use
Elaine’s cards as an
SYMBOLS example: she has 6
Symbols appear on cards. Every symbol is a color-and- matching symbols
number combination. These are the twelve symbols in and the number on
Charioteer: the symbols is a 5.
This gives her a base

2 4 6 move of 11 for the

turn.
A set of three 4s

1 3 5
would move 7 (3 matching symbols + 4 is
the number on the symbol = 7). A set of six 2s
would move 8.

0 2 4 Final movement distance is also affected by three other

factors: the token played, the charioteer’s skill, and the
current damage to the chariot.

0 1 2 If the token played grants a bonus to movement, add

that bonus now.
Add the skill bonus from the player’s Skills Track in the
color corresponding to the move.
Every move features exactly one of these twelve sym- Subtract one point of movement for each cube in the
bols. That symbol must appear on every card in the player’s Damage Box.
move, and all other symbols on the cards will be ignored.
The more matching symbols, the better the move. Count total movement like this:

Example
5 5 4

For this turn, Elaine plays three cards with

red-5s along with
some other symbols. 123 107

Elaine’s move has a

total of six matching CARDS TOKEN SKILL DAMAGE
red-5 symbols. Movement can never be less than zero.
The other symbols
(green-2, yellow-4,
4 black-2) are ignored.
 Example inside of the space to the outside. A chariot closer to the
Continuing the example from above, inside of the track is always considered ahead of one to
imagine that Elaine played a +3 red token with the outside.
her move, and that her Player Board looked like When a moving chariot enters a space occupied by one or
this: more other chariots, place it to the outside of the oth-
SKILLS BONUS BOX ers, furthest from the center of the track. If the moving
STARTING SPACES
ATTACK
+9 chariot has more movement points, it spends one point
to move to the inside of its closest rival. If the chariot
Y CORNER +7 passes all rivals in its space in this manner and has move-
+5 ment points remaining, it can continue its movement to
+1
PLAYER TOKEN

+3
AN TOKEN

the next space.

WHIP -3
DAMAGE
DISCARD

SHIELD
DAMAGE BOX
ECOVERY
MOVEMENT
MINOR
MAJOR
Example
ATTACK BOXES
ICONS /2 RECOVERY David has a movement of 5 and is approaching
two rival chariots a few spaces ahead. David
Elaine’s red skill marker is in the +1 zone (the starts his move by advancing into an empty
broad middle of the Skills Track is all ‘+1’) so space. As David enters his second space, he
add one to her movement for skill in red moves. moves to the outside of the green chariot. He
She has two cubes in her Damage Box. (There needs to pass both rivals before moving to the
is another one in the Attack Boxes, but this next space, so he spends his third point to move
doesn’t count against the move.) to the inside of the green chariot and then a
Subtract two points of movement for the two fourth point to move to the inside of the yellow.
cubes. David has one more movement point and so he
Her total move is the sum of all these factors: moves forward to the next space.
11 points of movement from the cards,
+3 for the token
+1 for skill in red
-2 for damage.
The total move is 13. 4 5

13 1
3

CARDS TOKEN SKILL DAMAGE RESULT 2

MOVING THE CHARIOT

The chariot in the lead moves first, followed by the char-
iot in second place, and so on until every chariot has had A chariot cannot leave its space until it has pulled ahead
a chance to move. of all other chariots in the space.
For each point of movement, a chariot moves forward Chariots that don’t need to enter an outer space (because
one space on the board. When a chariot has used all of its they are making a cornering move) don’t need to spend
movement points, it stops moving. movement points passing the chariots in those outer
spaces. (See the cornering section for an example.)
Example
Elaine has 13 points of movement. She moves RESET MOVE
13 spaces along the track. A player may choose to bring their chariot to a halt on
the track in order to calm their horses and regain their
The two curved sections at each end of the track feature bearings. This is called a reset move. It removes all dam-
an additional set of outer spaces in between the regular age from a chariot. In hectic races it can sometimes be
spaces. The outer spaces are colored darker than the reg- necessary.
ular spaces. Most of the time, chariots will have to enter To make a reset move, play 1-3 cards face-down as nor-
every space as they proceed around the corner, both the mal, except that the cards need not match and will not be
regular spaces and the outer spaces. Each space should counted for movement.
be entered in order. (Only chariots making a cornering
move, explained below, will skip the outer spaces.) When revealing cards, announce that this is a reset
move. When it is time to move the chariot, do not move
PASSING ANOTHER CHARIOT it. Simply discard all cards played and remove all cubes
from the damage box and attack boxes on the display. Do
Each space on the track can hold multiple chariots. When not accumulate cubes to the attack boxes this turn for
this happens, arrange the chariots in a row from the any reason.
5
 REWARDS FOR A MOVE considered a minor attack. All rival chariots must place
After every move (except a reset move) the player can one damage cube in an empty attack box on their dis-
gain rewards. play, if possible.
There are two kinds of rewards:
Skill can increase
MINOR
A move that matches red symbols across four cards is
A fan token can be earned considered a major attack. All rival chariots must place
INCREASE SKILL LEVEL two damage cubes in empty attack boxes on their dis-
Each player has four skill markers, to indicate their play, if possible.
degree of skill in each of the four colors. Each marker
advances along the skills track during the course of the MAJOR
game.
Players gain skill in the color of move that they make. Example
After making a move, increase skill in the color of move Eliot plays a move of four matching red cards
played by advancing the corresponding skill marker one (three from his hand plus the crowd card) to
space forward on the skills track. execute a major attack. All other chariots place
For more detail, see the ‘Skills Track’ section below. two damage cubes on empty spaces in their
attack boxes.
GAINING A FAN TOKEN
Impressive moves win the support of new fans.
Any move that matches six or more symbols (including
DAMAGE
those on the crowd card) awes the spectators and earns
the player a new fan token. The player draws a fan token
at random from the bag and places it in front of them-
ATTACK BOXES RECOV
selves so that other players cannot see its front side.
There is no limit to how many fan tokens a player can
have.
YELLOW IS A RECOVERY
Recovery moves reduce the damage that has
Example been done to a chariot.
David’s move matches a total of seven symbols:
five in the three cards he played and two more
on the crowd card. After the move, David will
draw a new fan token. When making a yellow move, reduce by half the number
of damage cubes in the damage box. Make this reduction
before counting damage points against the length of the
move. If there is an odd number of cubes in the damage
box, round in the player’s favor. (For example, if there
are five cubes in the damage box, remove three.) A recov-
ery move does not affect cubes in the attack boxes.
BLACK IS FOR CORNERING
A cornering move travels more quickly around
the ends of the track. When making a corner-
COLORS OF MOVEMENT ing move, do not enter any outer spaces. (Out-
Symbols come in four colors, representing four kinds of er spaces are darker than regular spaces and do
move. When a move is made, the color of the matching not extend to the inner ring of the track.) Instead move
symbol determines the kind of move. only through the regular spaces around the corners.
Skipping outer spaces makes a cornering move twice as
GREEN IS A SPRINT
fast through the corners.
Sprint moves have the highest numbers but no
special abilities.

RED IS AN ATTACK
Attack moves cause damage to rival chariots.
Every possible kind of disruption is considered
an ‘attack’: making distractions, jostling char-
iots, throwing things, shouting, leaving obsta-
cles on the track, etc. All other players (not just one) are
affected when a player makes an attack.
6 A move that matches red symbols across three cards is
 Example Example
Alec makes a cornering move and enters only A turn is ending. Discard the crowd card (from
regular spaces around the corner. He skips the slot 1 at the right) and move the other cards
darker outer spaces, marked here with an ‘x’. forward on the track. The card in slot 2 moves
to slot 1 and the card in slot 3 moves to slot 2.
Draw a new card to fill the empty slot 3.

It is possible for a cornering move to begin in an outer

space, but it does not enter any more of them during the
course of the move.
THE EMPEROR DIE
Example Every turn, the emperor makes a new request of the
Emily and Eliot are rounding the corner.Emily players. Roll the emperor die before each turn to deter-
makes a 5-space cornering move using black mine that request. Roll the emperor die before each turn.
symbols. She starts on an outer space but does If the result is a color, this is the type of move the em-
not enter another one for the length of her peror wants to see. Racers who make this color of move
move. During her move she enters only regular will advance an extra space on their skills track.
spaces. Eliot makes a green move of 8 spaces
Sprint Attack Recover Corner
and must enter each regular and outer space
along the way.

All If the result is all four symbols, the play-

ers will get an extra skill advancement for
whichever color of move they make.

If the result is “Disrupt” the emperor tries

Distrupt to damage the players. He is not literally
attacking them, of course, but rather
inciting the crowd to throw things, make
noise, scare the horses, etc. Add damage
cubes to each player’s attack boxes, ac-
CROWD CARD cording to the number of players:
The crowd card is the card in slot 1 of the crowd card NUMBER OF NUMBER OF DAMAGE
DAMAGE
track. This card is available to all players as part of their PLAYERS PLAYERS
moves.
Two more cards are visible in the crowd card track. These 2 5 None
will be the crowd card in the next two turns. Players can
see them in advance and plan ahead, but these future 3 6 None
crowd cards are unavailable for matching in the current
turn. 4
At the end of every turn, discard the crowd card and
slide the two remaining cards forward on the crowd card In games with more than four players, the emperor’s
track. Deal a new card into slot 3.
DISPLAYS
Each player has a display to track their skills and the
damage done to their chariot. The color of the display
should match the color of the player’s chariot for easi-
er coordination. Displays have two major sections: the
skills track and the damage boxes. 7
 SKILLS TRACK After each move, advance the skill marker of the match-
The skills track measures the player’s abilities in each of ing color to the next space on the skills track. (After a
the four types of move. The advancement of these skills red move, advance the red marker; after a green move,
is represented by skill markers, one in each of the four advance the green marker, etc.)
colors. If the color of move played matches the color requested
The skills track begins with the starting spaces, proceeds by the emperor (on the emperor die) move the skills
through the middle section (where every space is worth marker forward a second space.
‘+1’) and finishes in the bonus box. Each space on the track, including the starting spaces,
Before the game begins, each player draws a skills card can hold more than one skill marker at a time.
and places their four skill markers on the four start The bonus box is the end of the skills track. When a skill
spaces of the skills track, accordingly. The higher starting marker reaches the bonus box, place it in the lowest un-
spaces are more advanced, so the skills listed higher on occupied space in that box. It does not move again, for
the skills card will be better developed when the game the rest of the game. Multiple skill markers may not be
begins. in the same space inside the bonus box.
When a player makes a move, they gain skill in that kind The first skill marker to arrive in the bonus box will
of move. After the move is complete, advance the skill remain at +3 for the remainder of the game; the second
marker of the corresponding color to the next space on marker to arrive in the bonus box will remain at +5 for
the skills track. (After a red move, advance the red mark- the remainder of the game, etc.
er; after a green move, advance the green marker, etc.)
If the color of move played matches the color requested Example
by the emperor (on the emperor die) move the skills Emily’s yellow skill marker advances and
marker forward a second space. moves into the bonus box. Her green skill
The bonus box is the end of the skills track. When a skill marker is already in the +3 space, so the yellow
marker reaches the bonus box, place it in the lowest marker is placed in the +5 space.
unoccupied space in that box. It does not move again for When Emily makes another yellow or green
the rest of the game. Each space in the bonus box holds move, her yellow and green skill markers will
only one skill marker. not advance.
The first skill marker to arrive in the bonus box SKILLS
will BONUS BOX
remain at +3 for the remainder of the game, the STARTING SPACES
second
FAST ATTACK
marker to arrive in the bonus box will remain at +5 for +9
the remainder of the game, etc.
RECOVERY CORNER
Every space on the skills track prior to the bonus box
+7
can hold multiple skill markers at once. This includes the
starting spaces.
FAN TOKEN PLAYER TOKEN
+5
+1 +1 +3
FAN TOKEN

LEARNING

Example ! WHIP -3
DAMAGE
DISCARD
!

WILD
David has drawn this skills card. It indicates DAMAGE BOX
+ 3 SHIELD
APPLYING A SKILL BONUS MINOR
that his charioteerMOVEMENT
is stronger at sprinting but
MOVEMENT

weaker at cornering. RECOVERY

-2 He will place his green Skill bonuses increase the length of a move. MAJOR
ATTACK BOXES
(sprint) marker highest onICONS The skill bonus added to any given move /2isRECOVERY
indicated by the
DISCARD
the start spaces,
followed by red, yellow, and black (cornering) in skill marker in the color of the move. (For a yellow move,
that order. check the location of the yellow skill marker, for a black
move, check the location of the black skill marker, etc.)
In the starting spaces, the skill bonus is zero. In the main
body of the skills track, the bonus is +1. In the bonus box,
the bonus ranges from +3 to +9.

Example
This is Alec’s Skills Track. If he makes a red
move, he will get no skills bonus. If he makes
a yellow or green move, he will get +1 to the
length of his move. If he makes a black move,
he will get a bonus of +3.
SKILLS BONUS BOX
STARTING SPACES
RECOVERY FAST
+9
ATTACK CORNER +7
When a player makes a move, they gain skill
+3 in+3 that No New kind
+3 +3 +5
+1 +3
Attack Recover Damage
of move. +3 +3
8 +3
Corner
+3
Fast
Emperor
Attack Die

+1 ! DAMAGE
+1 Skill Wild Card ‘All’Wild Die
MINOR
DAMAGE BOX ICONS ON CARDS
The damage box tracks the amount of damage a chariot An icon is part of the move when it appears on a card that is
has sustained. (This ‘damage’ includes anything that part of the move. If there are symbols on the card, the sym-
might slow movement, including all forms of disruption, bols must match the move in order for the card to be played.
as well as physical damage.) If there are symbols, the symbols must match.
The damage box (one large rectangle) is separate from
the attack boxes (three small squares). Only cubes in the Example
damage box affect movement. David plays these three cards, matching the
red-1 symbols. The shield icon is part of the
EFFECT OF DAMAGE ON MOVEMENT move.
Every damage cube in the damage box reduces the chari- If he had chosen to match black-1 symbols, he
ot’s rate of movement by one. (Cubes in the attack boxes could not have played the card with the shield
have no effect.) The rate of movement cannot drop below as part of his move.
zero.

ATTACK BOXES
The three spaces to the left of the damage box are called
the attack boxes. When a chariot sustains damage, place
the incoming damage cubes into the attack boxes.
New damage does not affect the distance of a move on
the turn it arrives. At the end of each turn, all players
move the contents of their attack boxes into their dam-
age box.
A chariot cannot take more than three points of new
damage in a turn. To emphasize this limit, there are only
three attack boxes. Ignore all new damage beyond the
third in a turn.
ICONS ON TOKENS
There are two kinds of tokens. Player tokens are given to
REDUCING DAMAGE: RECOVERY & RESET each player at the start of the game, and never replen-
Cubes in the damage box remain there until removed.
ished. Fan tokens are earned every time a player makes a
A player can remove damage by making a recovery move 6-symbol move. Both kids of tokens are played the same
or a reset move. way.
Recovery moves (yellow moves or moves that include To play a token, place it face down on top of the move
recovery icons) remove half of the cubes in the damage cards before moves are revealed. When all players show
box. their moves, reveal cards and token together.
Reset moves remove all damage cubes and prevent new Icons on a token can be played only when they match the
ones from being collected that turn. color of the move. Uncolored icons (with a white back-
ground) may be played with any color of move.
ICONS
Icons are shapes that can be found on player tokens, fan When the move is complete, discard any tokens played in
tokens, and cards. Icons convey a special advantage when the move.
played.
Example
Icons and symbols are completely different! Symbols are
This black token can be played with this move
color/number combinations played in matching sets to
(a set of black-1 symbols) because both are the
move the chariot. Icons are played individually, for a
same color.
bonus or special effect.
Here are the icons of Charioteer:

PLAYER TOKEN -3 +5
CARD &
FAN TOKEN

FAN TOKEN +1 ! +3 A shield token is colorless and can

Color may vary. (For example, the red +5 player token be played with any move.
shown above also comes in green, yellow, and black.) 9
 SHIELD
A card or token showing a shield icon tokens all new Note
damage for that turn, whether from the emperor or Whips appear alone on cards, without symbols.
other charioteers. It does not affect cubes in the damage Whip cards can be played as part of any move,
box. as shown in this example.
When the shield is revealed, empty the attack boxes on
the display and don’t add to them during the course of
the turn.

Example
When Eliot attacks, all players are instructed
to add two cubes to their attack boxes. Alec has
a shield, however, so he does not. Alec’s attack
boxes will remain empty throughout the turn
in which he has the shield. At the end of the
turn, he discards the shield.

WHIP
A card or token showing a whip adds up to RECOVERY
5 extra spaces after the end of the regular A recovery icon removes half of the damage
move with some restrictions: cubes from the damage box. (Round in the
player’s favor in case of an odd number.)
1. A whip adds no benefit to a chariot Remove the damage cubes before calculating
that is leading the race or that passed another movement for the turn.
chariot during the current move.
If more than one recovery applies to the same move,
2. A whip cannot be used to pass another chariot. If remove all cubes from the damage box. (Recovery can be
the next movement point would carry the moving triggered by a yellow move, an icon on a card, or an icon
chariot past a rival, the whip stops working at that on a token, so it’s possible to have multiple recoveries on
moment. the same move.)
WILD
Example A wild icon changes any one card into a
Emily is 2 spaces behind David when she matching card. The card that is changed loses
finishes her regular move. She has not passed every characteristic it had beforehand (all
anyone so far in the move. symbols and icons). Instead, it now counts for two of
She played a whip, which allows her to move up whichever symbol the player chooses.
to 5 additional spaces, but not to pass another The two symbols created by the wild icon contribute
racer. She advances 2 spaces, into the space toward the six symbols needed to earn a fan token.
with David’s chariot, but must stop before
pulling ahead of him. Example
David plays two cards with red-3s, another
card that does not contain a red-3 (but has a
shield) and a red wild token.
He uses his wild token to change the third card
to match the red-3 symbols. The shield is lost.

3. When a cornering (black) move is augmented by

a whip, the whip’s additional movement skips the
outer spaces, just as the regular move did. Howev-
er, if there is a chariot in the outer spaces, and the +3 OR +5
next step forward would cause the moving chariot A token showing +3 or +5 adds
to pass that rival, whip-based movement must that number to the length of
instead stop. the move.
A move that would have had 7
10
movement points, when played with a ‘+3’ icon, would (The first lap is slightly longer than the others, because the
instead have 10 start line is a few spaces behind the finish line.)
When the third lap is complete, the race ends. Read the
LEARNING ‘Last Turn’ section below to understand how to finish the
After making a move with a learning icon, game.
advance the corresponding skill marker an
additional step. PREPARE FOR NEXT TURN
This bonus is in addition to the bonus granted by the At the end of the turn, discard all cards and tokens used
emperor die. by each player.
Never advance a skill marker that is already in the bonus All players move any cubes in their attack boxes into
box. their damage box and refill their hands to 8 cards.
Discard the crowd card and slide the cards in slot 2 and 3
DISCARD TOKENS forward. Draw a new card and place it face-up in slot 3.
Discard icons appear only on tokens. They
allow the discard of up to 2 or 3 cards, de- RESHUFFLE
pending on the number written on the icon. When the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to
To play a discard token, place the cards to be discarded make a new draw deck.
in a face-down stack separate from the cards that will be If the fan token bag runs out, place all discarded fan
used for movement. Place the discard token face-up on tokens into the bag to form a new draw bag. (Do not
the stack of discards. include player tokens in the new draw bag.)
Discard these cards and the token at the end of the turn
and draw back to 8 cards. FIRST TURN
Discard tokens are the only kind of token that is not Place all chariots on the ‘Start’ space, pointing forward.
played face-down on top of move cards. A player may All movement around the track will be counterclockwise.
play a discard token and a different kind of token at the Before the first turn begins, deal cards to each of the
same time. This is the only case in which two tokens can three crowd card slots on the board and roll the emperor
be played in the same turn. die.
Choose a first player at random. On the first turn, play
will proceed from that player clockwise around the table.
Example On all future turns, players will move in racing order,
Elaine plays a recovery token (face-down) on beginning with the leader.
her two card move, and a discard token face-up
on her discard stack. On the first turn only, passing rival chariots costs no movement
points and whips have no effect.
LAST TURN
The first chariot to pass the finish line after completing the third
lap triggers the end of the game. Each player finishes their move-
ment for that turn before determining the winner.
Chariots do not stop at the finish line but complete their full
movement.
Any chariot crossing the finish line and entering the corner be-
yond skips all outer spaces (as if making a black move) regardless
of the color of move it is making.
If only one player crossed the finish line, that player is the winner.
CHECK FOR END OF LAP OR GAME If more than one player crossed the finish line, the winner is
There are three laps in the race. Use the lap marker to whichever player moved the furthest beyond it.
indicate the current lap. In the third lap, remove the lap If multiple players finish in the same space, the player on the
marker -- the board beneath it reads “Lap 3”. inside is the winner.

After all players have moved, check to see if the leading

chariot has completed a lap. A lap is complete if the chariot
has finished a circuit of the track and crossed the finish line.
11
 DESIGNER NOTES
Charioteer is my fourth game and the second, after ing rewards, continually tempting players to deviate from
Sekigahara, to be published by my friends at GMT Games. simple distance-optimization.
I invented Charioteer while hiking in the Alps. In the Weight (or complexity) is always a negative in games,
summer of ’17, I walked from Meiringen to Mürren over redeemed only by what the designer does with it. Weight
several beautiful days. As I walked, I imagined a racing costs time, and this design had no time to spare. All the
game with four types of moves and tradeoffs for each weight that didn’t go toward making the decisions inter-
decision. I thought about it on the trail and recorded my esting and strategic, I did my best to remove.
ideas every evening. I returned home with great hopes,
The first and easiest decision was to have all deci-
but when I tested the design, it didn’t work. I abandoned it
sion-making be simultaneous, to make the most efficient
until the next summer, when again I found myself hik-
use of the playtime. (I think simultaneous movement is
ing through Switzerland, and there made a second draft,
underutilized in game design.) Much effort went into
which eventually became Charioteer.
simplifying the method for counting the length of a move,
My goal was to design something substantive that could and for translating that count into board movement.
be played in an hour. I wanted it to be full of decisions,
In my experience, the most important skills in game de-
with more than 20 moves for each player. I wanted players
sign are leaping forward and walking back. The first takes
to experience situations that were interesting and mem-
imagination, the second humility. Many times I’ve looked
orable. I wanted a game of strategy rather than mere
at a broken design and asked myself “What things do
optimization.
you really love about this game?” I try to save only those
Once I decided on a racing game, I realized I had a few things and reimagine the rest. Charioteer went through
complaints with nearly every racing game I’d played. The several such reimaginings, before becoming what it is
decisions were generally obvious. The situations were now.
simple and uninteresting. There was little need to think
strategically: maximizing your movement, turn after turn,
was usually the best way to win. Finally, and strangely,
most racing games were slow.
The essential action of a racing game is the forward move.
Determining the distance and capability of that move
is exactly what a racing game is about. So why do most
racing games define that move with a die roll, or the play
of a single card? We designers should let the players get
‘inside’ the act of movement. We should allow the player
to build their capability to make the moves they want to
make. This will be the difference between feeling like a
spectator and feeling like a charioteer.
Each move should offer hard choices. I like the idea of
melding a move from a set of potential actions in a hand
of cards. Games often have one card for every action, and
one action for every card. Charioteer is just the opposite:
it takes multiple cards to do something, and each card is
good for more than one thing.
An easy decision is no decision at all. Players should
feel they’re the authors of the game experience, not
merely the objects of it. In Charioteer, you
cannot win without creativity. Try playing a
dummy hand that always chooses the high-
est-distance move: it will generally lose.
CREDITS
Strategy is an uncommon attribute of a racing GAME DESIGN – Matt Calkins
game. Most feature it only in small ways: re- GAME DEVELOPMENT – name
source husbandry (players choose when to use
RULES EDITING – Kai Jensen
their speed boost) or mean-variance balancing
LAYOUT – Domhnall Hegarty
(players choose when their odds of winning
are low enough to attempt a dangerous move). I ARTWORK & GRAPHICS – Domhnall Hegarty & **
wanted strategy to be an important element in all PLAYTESTERS – names
decision-making. ADDITIONAL PROOFREADING – names
The primary ‘strategy’ mechanism in Chario- ART DIRECTOR & PACKAGING DESIGN – Mark Simo-
nitch
teer is the skills track, where investments are
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR – Tony Curtis
made throughout the game for a payoff that
happens toward the end. The bonus-box PRODUCETS – Gene Billingsley, Tony Curtis,
Andy Lewis, Rodger MacGowan, and Mark
12 mechanism offers sharply escalat- Simonitch