Passes & Canyons Blog

The game was on Friday night and we played American Throttle, this motorcycle poker run board game that I spoke of last week. We were planning on five but a last-minute plumbing emergency kept Alan at home. The players were me, Bill, Dennis, and Dan.

Part of the fun of the evening was that Bill and Dennis had never met Dan–and vice versa, of course–so it was good to bring them together. Bill and Dennis are long-time OFMC members, while I met Dan back in January of this year working on a piece about Iron Butt riders. As always happens with bikers, familiarity came quickly and easily as talk turned to motorcycles.

I had read the instructions but knew there were a few things that were not stated as clearly as they might have been. We figured we’d work it out as we went along. Perhaps not in the way the guys who created this game intended, but we did.

Besides rolling the die, you move ahead in this game by landing on particular spaces and by correctly answering questions on the two decks of cards, “What the Hell Is That?” (WTHIT) and “Two Wheeler Trivia.” You can put money in the pot to be divided between the player who finishes first and the player with the best poker hand, but we chose not to. It didn’t seem to affect our enjoyment of the game.

Many of the cards were really tough. For instance, I got a WTHIT card with a picture of a stator on it. I’ve heard of stators for years but had never seen one. Suffice it to say I didn’t get that one right. And while all the cards are supposed to relate to motorcycles in some way, some were a bit of a stretch. For instance, 50 of the WTHIT cards were pictures of the various state flags, the idea being that if you’re out touring you’re going to be going to numerous states and might be familiar with their flags. Except for the really easy ones, like Colorado or New Mexico, we mostly shook our heads asking “What the hell is that?”

The trivia cards were much more closely tied to motorcycles so in those cases we mostly just showed our ignorance. Or knowledge. That’s what trivia is all about.

Some of the spaces have you doing silly, crude biker-type things like belching a name. Bill was the first to land on one of these and he impressed us all by doing so successfully. The rest of us either passed and took the penalty or tried and failed. I went to Music City one time and had to sing a song but the guys were all glad that I kept it very short. They were lucky I didn’t know that one very well.

I think it was Bill again, but maybe Dan, who ran into what seemed like an endless loop at one point. He landed on a WTHIT space, answered the question correctly, and moved ahead one space, as directed by the card. The cards tell you to move either one, two, or three spaces ahead and one is the most common. The problem was, moving ahead one space put him on a space that said “Sparks plugs fouled. Go back one space.” That put him back on the WTHIT space. He answered correctly again and moved ahead one space . . . and right back to WTHIT. That happened about six or seven times in a row. Yeah, we all had a good laugh about that. He finally did answer a question correctly and got to move ahead two spaces.

Overall then, what’s the verdict? Well, we definitely had a good time. Part of that, of course, was just getting together with friends but we did have fun playing the game, too. The game made for its share of laughs, as games should. We were a pretty tame lot, with Dennis and Dan both having long drives to get home and Bill needing to work in the morning, so we broke up fairly early, after only two games. As host and not needing to drive, I was the only one of us who had two beers. Can you tell we’re not young kids anymore?

If you like board games and you like motorcycles, American Throttle might be right up your alley. With winter approaching it could be a motorcycle-related activity to get together with your riding buddies. But here’s a hint: Bone up on your state flags before you play.

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It has taken a couple months but I’ve finally managed to pull together a bunch of guys to come over on Friday evening to try out this new board game I’ve got. It’s called American Throttle — The Game, and the box describes it as “The trivia poker run board game for motorcycle enthusiasts.”

I ran across it on an online forum and sent a note to the guys that if they’d like to send me a copy I’d be happy to try it out and write about it. The funny thing was that when they replied affirmatively, and asked for my address, it turned out they live right here in Denver, so David Veal brought the thing to my house himself and we had a chance to meet.

David told me he and his partner, Steve Schader, have had a good bit of success in marketing this thing, and I’m guessing they had a bit of fun creating it. For game pieces you get to choose from cruisers, sportbikes, a cafe racer, some customs, and some vintage bikes. The square board shows a route across the U.S. with stops at some of the major rallies, including Daytona, Sturgis, and Laughlin.

If you land on a “Two Wheel Trivia” space you draw a trivia card and, if you answer correctly, move ahead the additional spaces indicated. Of course the trivia questions have to do–at least to an extent–with motorcycling.

Elsewhere on the board are “What The Hell Is That?” spaces. On these, you draw a card and have to identify the item in the photograph which, again, will be at least somewhat related to bikes.

There’s also a deck of cards, and the point here is that you’re on a poker run. The best poker hand at the end presumably wins something. I haven’t played this yet so I’m not clear on the details but I guess I’d better read the rules before the guys start arriving on Friday.

Should be interesting; hope it’s fun. I’ll let you know.

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