Thunder Road: Vendetta^*

Thunder Road: Vendetta is Restoration Games' rev-happy remake of Milton Bradley's 1986 cult classic: a dice-driven car-combat game for two to four players, set in a post-apocalyptic landscape of asphalt, junk metal and pitch-black humor. Whoever still has a moving wreck on the road at the end wins.

What's it about?

Mad-Max vibes, hefty plastic muscle cars and a helicopter that strafes the convoy from above. Vendetta takes the original's core loop (drive, shoot, ram, survive) and rebuilds it with modern board-game thinking. The track is a chain of modular hex tiles that scrolls forward turn by turn. Drop off the back and you are out of the game.

How a turn plays

Each player has a car-shaped dashboard with dice slots. At the start of every round you roll your action pool and assign the dice to your dashboard:

• Drive to push your car forward across the hex track.
• Ram to shove a rival into wreckage or over the edge.
• Shoot to land hits on enemy cars or the chopper itself.
• Repair to patch your own damage before things get ugly.

The chopper moves like a third party of its own, dropping missiles wherever it pleases. Hits stack on your dashboard. Take too many and your car is scrap.

Who is it for?

Vendetta is loud, mean and gleefully unfair. Quick rounds, lucky dice, plenty of "shoot first, apologize never". If you live for tight Euro-style optimization, you will grind your teeth. If you want adrenaline, table talk and the joy of bumping a friend off the road on turn two, this is your wagon.

Conclusion

A punchy, no-fuss car-combat game with first-rate production and the rare gift of staying light on a busy game night. It is not a heavyweight, but it is one of the most reliably fun things Restoration Games has put out so far.