Playing the Game — American Throttle
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.
Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Book review: Art of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle
Biker Quote for Today
The shortest distance between two points isn’t always the most fun.
Tags: American Throttle game
November 7th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Ola! Motorcyclecolorado,
Speaking of which, The role of games in human culture is a major part of who we are as a people. There have been many studies showing how game playing is one of the key elements in a child physical and mental development. A lot of the problem solving skills we develop come from playing games, as well as motor skills and coordination. Most unique traits that various cultures have, all stem from the games they play. A good example of this is Canada being known for there hockey players, as other countries are known for producing some of the finest players for there national Game.
Catch you again soon!
November 7th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Is it more fun than the poker? My friend used to play poker during times like this. We haven’t tried this game yet, but it’s very interesting.
November 8th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
More fun than poker? No, I’d say it’s very different. Although the poker hand adds that element to the overall game.
November 14th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
[…] written here about trying out this board game, American Throttle. I also wrote about it on Examiner.com. I […]