Hot Streak

• Designer: Jon Parry
• Publisher: CMYK
• Players: 2-9
• Age:  6+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Think you can predict the winner? Good luck. In Hot Streak, the mascots don’t always run forward…or stay on the track…or even remain standing. One moment, you have a hot dog leading the pack. The next, he’s swerving into another lane, falling over, or getting body checked by a fish with legs. And if they go off the track or get knocked out? DQ’d. Done. Absolutely cooked.

Before each race, players draft betting tickets—not just for which mascot they think will win, but also nonsense side bets, like whether two racers will crash into each other, or if someone will yeet themselves off the track. Luckily you get some secret influence over the race, but once bets are locked in, all you have to do is WATCH. THE. CHAOS. UNFOLD.

So, Hot Streak has been one of my favorite games of the past year, but I haven’t been able to talk about it… until now.  I don’t even have my review copy opened yet, but I’ve played the game probably 20 times (with an advance proto of CMYK’s), so I’m definitely ready to tell you about it.  Got plenty of plays in at the recent Gathering of Friends as well!

In the game (and possibly in real life, no judging), you’re a degenerate gambler, and you’ve focused your predictive skills on a local mascot race.  Four loveable mascots will be moseying down a track and you’re going to place bets on who will finish first (and second and third).  And, of course, because you can never get enough juice, there’s also going to be a weird prop bet in each race to give you something else to bet on.

The game is played over three rounds, and in each round, there is a mascot race that you will bet on and hopefully collect winnings based on the race results.  There are two main bets you can take – you can bet on one of the four mascots, getting payoffs if that chosen racer finishes in first, second or third place.  There is also a yes/no prop bet that you can choose.    In each round, bets are taken in a snake draft, and players can choose any available bet.  As they take a bet card, they also have to decide at that moment if they are going to make it a regular bet OR flip the tile over to the risky side.  The risky side has higher payoffs for a win, but lesser payoffs for second/third.  Risky prop bets also payoff more, but they cause you to lose money if you’re wrong!   Each player will end up with two bets in each round.  Once all the bets have been made, the race begins!

Right, so let me tell you about the race.  There will be a deck of racing cards, and at the start of the game, the composition of the deck includes the “recover” card for each racer and then a number of cards which are dealt face up to the table for everyone to see.   (In this way, people can see what is in the deck to make their initial bids…)  When it is time to resolve the race, three cards are burned from the deck unseen, and then cards will be flipped up from the deck, one at a time, and resolved as they are revealed..  These cards could move a mascot, move a mascot and then have it swerve into a different lane, cause one to fall down, cause one to turn around, etc.  Of course, there are also cards that will let a mascot “recover” and get back on track in the quest to hit the finish line first.   As mascots cross the finish line, they are placed in the best available finishing position.

Not every racer will finish the course though.. If a racer swerves off the track, it is eliminated and takes the worst remaining position.  A racer can fall down if it is directed to do so by a card or if it is trampled by another racer.  However, if a racer is already down, it is eliminated if it is trampled again.  When this happens, it takes the worst remaining position.

The race continues until all the mascots have been placed in order (1st thru 4th).  If the deck runs out, all the cards are collected, the deck is shuffled, three cards are again burned from the deck, and the process repeats itself.  While the deck is being shuffled, the race track is also shortened – the tail end is flipped up onto itself (think of a tarp being rolled up).  If a mascot hasn’t progressed far enough along the track and gets caught by the board being rolled up, it is automatically eliminated and takes the worst remaining position.  Players now calculate their winnings (or losings) and get money from the banker.  

Sounds simple so far.  But, to make sure that the deck isn’t totally predictable, the players also get to modify the deck.  At the start of the game, players are given three cards into their hand. After all the bets for the first round have been chosen, each player then adds one card secretly to the deck.  So, of course, you’re going to use this insider knowledge to help you place the best bet…  Additionally, as I said earlier, each time you make a pass through the deck, three cards are discarded at random as well, so there is certainly never perfect information on what is going to happen in the race.  In addition, as the deck is shuffled, the order that the cards come out in is of utmost importance… If the very first card for a racer is “turn around”, then all of the movement cards played later will move that mascot further away from the starting line!

At the end of the first and second round, after everyone has settled with the banker, each player will be dealt a face down card from the racing deck, bringing their hand back to three cards. This is more inside information as you now know one card that has been removed.  After the bets are placed in the second round, each player will again submit one card secretly from their hand to further change the composition of the deck.  This process is repeated for the third round as well.

Once three races have been completed, the player with the most money wins.  However, everyone also gets to hear how their life turns out based on their final money amount.  Hearing your fortune at the end of the game is one of the highlights for me… 

My thoughts on the game

Hot Streak is an amazing party game.  It can accommodate a wide variety of player counts, and there is always going to be lots of cheering, laughing, groaning, etc as the race unfolds.  For me, the best part of the game is that once you make your bets, the decision making process is done.  You can just enjoy the race as it happens.  I have found that some people like to be active in the racing part, whether being the dealer or helping move the mascot figures on the board while others just want to sit back and yell/laugh/scream at the race.

At first blush, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of skill to the game, but I disagree.  Players definitely exert some control over the race with the cards that they add to the deck, and they also have insider knowledge of what ISN’T in the deck (based on what they keep in their hands).  There is also a fair amount of information to be gained by watching what other people choose for their bets (and possibly in HOW they choose).  Reading your opponents can maybe help you figure out what they know about the deck as well.  On the other hand, the game also works just fine for people who want to choose bets and cheer at the race.   

There is one other bit of agency- a rule that I forgot to mention above… In the third and final race, you have to designate one of your two bets as a doubled bet.  It will pay off twice as much (or if you miss a prop bet, cost you twice as much)!  The higher stakes invariably adds to the drama of that final race.

The production quality of the game is amazing.  The mascots are nicely sculpted figures, and they display nicely through the see-through part of the box.  The bet cards are super thick cardboard and are just slightly offset in size so that you can stack them nicely.  And, the board – well, it pulls out of the box, and you roll it back into the box when you’re done playing.  That’s a trick I haven’t seen before in TGOO…   Hot Streak is just so much fun to play; I’ve seen it in a number of different settings and it has always created a wonderful experience.   I can’t wait to have my own copy to play.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Erik Arneson: So much fun. I’ve played Hot Streak half a dozen times and that’s the phrase that keeps coming to mind: So much fun. All it does is make everyone smile and laugh. An absolute gem of a game.

Dan B.: It’s fun but like many party games really dependent on the group. Will it be fun without someone really into it running the race? I’m not sure.

Mark Jackson: My single play last fall made me a believer. It’s on my birthday list and I can’t wait to spring it on my local gaming group!

Alison Brennan: The fun in this game is directly proportional to the fun you bring to it. You have a little knowledge that no one else knows – less than 5% of the deck? – and you bet on which of the 4 characters will win the race by taking betting chips which are ordered from best return to least. Or you can bet on an event happening or not. The race is run by going thru the shuffled communal deck. You have close to zero agency in the game except a couple of gambles. Is it a game? For every player that’s prepared to ham it up and cheer a frenzy a la ‘My Fair Lady’ each time their horse, er, character moves along, increase the rating by a point. Otherwise, there’s little point.

Larry:  Imagine you’re playing craps at the casino when, after making your bet, the croupier swaps your six-sided dice for 20-siders.  Or maybe a pair of hand grenades, after setting the table on fire.  That pretty much describes Hot Streak.  It’s awfully close to a pure experience game, with very little control.  It gives players who are so inclined an excuse to hoot and holler at the top of their lungs at the crazy events that unfold during the race.  That can be a lot of mindless fun with the right crowd.  But if you’re looking for a game hidden inside your party gaming, playing something else is a better bet.

Ben B: Look at that… Larry hates fun! Cause this game is alot of fun. This is a thrilling, fun for all types, hedge betting game. I would liken the thrill to Ready, Set, Bet! but with more laughter and less yelling (though there is alot of cheering). There’s alot to like here: fun characters, excellent presentation, imperfect information betting, simple gameplay for all to grasp and enjoy.  I have played this game now over 20 times with my family. My friends of my weekly heavy euro-game group have taken it home and taken it to drunk pictionary night and played it with their families. I think this game is not only a winner, but a real keeper. 

Craig M:  Sure the agency players have is thin, but the presentation of the game is fantastic as is the theme. Hot Streak will be easy to explain and play with families and be a fantastic way to close out a game night after we’ve ponderously stroked our beards in deep thought over self congratulatory sentiments for making the most brilliant of moves. So to the OG (and other)  fun haters out there, I quote Sergeant Hulka from Stripes, “Lighten up Francis!” 

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!  Dale Y, Erik Arneson, Nate Beeler, John P, Mark Jackson, Ben B, Craig M.
• I like it. Dan B. (really “love it with the caveat noted above”)
• Neutral.
• Not for me… Alison, Larry

Link: https://www.cmyk.games/collections/games/products/hot-streak