(I posted this review—a rare negative review when it comes to what I usually use this space for—on Boardgamegeek.com back in May 2024, and for some reason I completely forgot to publish it here.
Better late than never, I suppose. Especially since this has been my most controversial game review so far.)
Let me preface this by saying Heat is one of my favorite racing games. It was also my #1 game in 2022. I preordered the expansion the minute it was announced.
The reason is simple: I think it's one of the worst expansions I've encountered in over three decades of boardgaming. (And no, I'm not even talking about the price, which I'll admit is surprisingly steep.)
Now this is no snarky review: I'm not writing this while angry, nor do I have an ax to grind with anyone. I'm just writing this as a consumer, a player of games, and one who's disappointed.
I really wanted this to be good.
So what are we getting in the box?
1. TRACKS
We all expected two more tracks, and two more (fun) tracks we got. So far, so good.
2. FLOODED SPACES
For some reason, it was decided that flooding would not be backwards compatible with the previous four tracks. Which I could maybe understand if it were some complex new game mechanic. But no: it's a super simple thing where you have to pay an extra heat when you shift down on a flooded space. (So simple a thing, in fact, that when I explain what the big blue spaces do on the Japan track, players always voice some disappointment. "That's it?")
This strange design decision comes with several equally strange wrinkles:
- It's only present on one of the two new tracks. (Mexico's dry as a bone, which I guess makes thematic sense.)
- You'll never be able to play on the Japan track without it—it's printed on the board itself, which robs the whole system of some (expected) variety.
- If flooded spaces make an appearance on future tracks, it'll also mean those tracks can only be played with flooded spaces.
- You'll also never see flooded spaces on any of the four base-game tracks.
3. CHICANES
Another very small change from the base game, chicanes are simply two corners that are closer together.
It makes sense for this not to appear on every track in the game, just as it’s logical for long straightaways not to feature on each track. Chicanes do exist on both of the new tracks, so that’s fun.
4. AGGRESSIVE LEGENDS
This rule allows Legends (the "bots") to cross both corners of a Chicane in one move, which gives cars on autopilot some welcome teeth. To avail itself of this option, a Legend needs to start its move on a space marked with a chevron, and those are depicted on both the Japan and the Mexico tracks.
It’s also possible to use that rule on the Great Britain track, and the expansion provides little chevron markers you can put over the relevant spaces.
I wish.
The reality is this: Players are invited to draw chevrons on their Great Britain track.
I’m not one of those boargamers who would never take a Sharpie to their game and implement alterations. (In fact, I did just that to number the spaces on my Grand Prix, Thunder Alley and Apocalypse Road tracks so we could race against each other remotely at the height of the pandemic.) But it’s the first time I run into an expansion suggesting that I modify some material in the base game without giving me what I need to do so, and asks me, instead, to just draw something on one of the original boards.
I was very much not impressed by this.
(Sure, they could also not have said anything about Chicanes on the Great Britain track, but it would have meant one more expansion element that’s impossible to use on the base tracks.)
5. SUPER COOL
Some cards sport a new symbol that lets you take a heat card from your discard pile (instead of your hand) and put it back in your engine.
This is a really fun concept, but it’s only deployed on advanced upgrade cards and sponsorship cards. I wish they’d decided to add a basic upgrade with super cool for each car, which would have given even the basic rules a fresh feel. As it stand—and if you, like me, tend to always play Heat with new players and opt for the basic rules—you won’t partake in much of that super cool fun.
6. NEW CAR + MATERIAL
The base game shipped with six cars, with room in its insert for two more. This was surprising to me, because the core of racing games—what we’re all here for—lies in negotiating a track full of opposing vehicles. The venerable Formula D could accommodate 10 players right out of the gate, and apart from Flamme Rouge (from one of the same designers), I can’t remember any racing game that added more vehicles/players as time went on.
The argument could be made that both Flamme Rouge and Heat require “more stuff” (i.e. a deck of cards and a player dashboard) than just a vehicle for each new player, and being prudent with a lower price point so you can gauge interest in your base game before you invest in more material for more players does hold water here.
But once you have a smash hit on your hands, why hold back on the number of cars in your follow-up product? We’re even told this time around that the game was designed and tested with 12 cars, but we’re still just getting one more. (The new tracks reflect that intent with 12 starting spaces, when the four base-game tracks only displayed eight.)
7. CHAMPIONSHIP
We get four new event cards, which we can never have too many of. More championship options is always a good thing.
Other comments, in no particular order:
No update to the Legends deck
I’ve read discussions of production considerations (there are only so many card slots on a print sheet and so on) and I guess that’s a valid argument from a strictly monetary point of view. But the fact remains that if you want to play with seven cars on the track (and why wouldn’t you?) then one of the human players must play orange—because the Legends deck, as printed in the base game, doesn’t take orange into account.
But once you have a smash hit on your hands, why hold back on the number of cars in your follow-up product? We’re even told this time around that the game was designed and tested with 12 cars, but we’re still just getting one more. (The new tracks reflect that intent with 12 starting spaces, when the four base-game tracks only displayed eight.)
7. CHAMPIONSHIP
We get four new event cards, which we can never have too many of. More championship options is always a good thing.
Other comments, in no particular order:
No update to the Legends deck
I’ve read discussions of production considerations (there are only so many card slots on a print sheet and so on) and I guess that’s a valid argument from a strictly monetary point of view. But the fact remains that if you want to play with seven cars on the track (and why wouldn’t you?) then one of the human players must play orange—because the Legends deck, as printed in the base game, doesn’t take orange into account.
Sure, you can say that whenever green comes up on a Legends card it really means orange, but that’s an unnecessary mental layer I would not expect a game that’s sold oodles of copies to burden me with in an expansion. And if it was too expensive to reprint the Legends deck for just one additional car… then why not a) add more cars in one go, or b) reprint the Legends deck right now to accommodate all 12 cars and be done with it?
No room on the cards? There’s a ton of different formats out there ripe for the picking, but the simplest idea (to steal from the most recent edition of Formula D) would have been to make all 12 cars into six pairs of cars: two yellows (one with a black stripe), two reds (one with a black stripe), and so on. Not only would you be opening the way for a “racing stable” variation in the future, but you’d also be making sure that your original Legends deck will work no matter what: the yellow number moves both yellow cars, the red number moves both red cars, etc.
Right now, racers are wondering how many new cars will need to be in the game (i.e. how many expansion boxes later) before we get an updated Legends deck. Not a great feeling.
Very little content for the basic rules
I’ve mentioned it earlier in this review: Almost every time I get Heat to the table, we have a handful of new players around the track, and it just makes sense to use the basic rules with those people. (And it’s also true for most of the Heat owners around me.) So no garage options, no championships, no sponsorships… (Thought we tend to add Legends and weather as soon as we hit race #2.) This means that most of the time, for us, the expansion comes down to one more car and two more tracks. It’s pretty thin.
As I’ve previously highlighted, nothing in here is backwards compatible – not even the Legends deck – so nothing in the expansion will affect the way you race on the four original tracks if you don’t use the advanced rules. Well, there is a seventh car, and you can always draw those chevrons on your Great Britain track. But it’s not much.
Overall quantity of content
This is debatable, and I won’t get into the whole pricing knife fight. (But yes, I was taken aback at the box’s contents after paying for it.) Even if you consider every item in the expansion, it’s not very much. But beyond that, my main gripe here is that it’s a feeble expansion that probably won’t really change the way you play Heat. My consumer perception—and I don’t seem to be alone in this—is that you’re getting two new tracks and one new car, plus some other bits, most of which are weirdly integrated and not backwards compatible.
No room on the cards? There’s a ton of different formats out there ripe for the picking, but the simplest idea (to steal from the most recent edition of Formula D) would have been to make all 12 cars into six pairs of cars: two yellows (one with a black stripe), two reds (one with a black stripe), and so on. Not only would you be opening the way for a “racing stable” variation in the future, but you’d also be making sure that your original Legends deck will work no matter what: the yellow number moves both yellow cars, the red number moves both red cars, etc.
Right now, racers are wondering how many new cars will need to be in the game (i.e. how many expansion boxes later) before we get an updated Legends deck. Not a great feeling.
Very little content for the basic rules
I’ve mentioned it earlier in this review: Almost every time I get Heat to the table, we have a handful of new players around the track, and it just makes sense to use the basic rules with those people. (And it’s also true for most of the Heat owners around me.) So no garage options, no championships, no sponsorships… (Thought we tend to add Legends and weather as soon as we hit race #2.) This means that most of the time, for us, the expansion comes down to one more car and two more tracks. It’s pretty thin.
As I’ve previously highlighted, nothing in here is backwards compatible – not even the Legends deck – so nothing in the expansion will affect the way you race on the four original tracks if you don’t use the advanced rules. Well, there is a seventh car, and you can always draw those chevrons on your Great Britain track. But it’s not much.
Overall quantity of content
This is debatable, and I won’t get into the whole pricing knife fight. (But yes, I was taken aback at the box’s contents after paying for it.) Even if you consider every item in the expansion, it’s not very much. But beyond that, my main gripe here is that it’s a feeble expansion that probably won’t really change the way you play Heat. My consumer perception—and I don’t seem to be alone in this—is that you’re getting two new tracks and one new car, plus some other bits, most of which are weirdly integrated and not backwards compatible.
For a system where we’re told everything was thought of long in advance, Heavy Rain sure doesn’t feel like it. There are too many instances that make you go, “Well, if they knew they were going in this direction, why did they print it like that?” and furrow your brow about the future (“So I guess all future tracks will either be permanently flooded, or never?”) I mean, what about strong winds or night conditions—are things like that also going to appear on selected tracks only?
As such, I cannot recommend Heavy Rain to my boardgaming friends. It just doesn’t feel like an expansion worthy of that name. Even at half the price, I would still say that Heavy Rain doesn’t feel like an expansion for our beloved Heat.
It just feels like a couple of new tracks.
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