Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy Roll And Write - Game Review

Title: Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy Roll And Write

Designed By: Ryan Lambert and Adam Rehberg

Published By: Adam's Apple Games

Released: 2019

Player Count: 1-99

Time to Play: 25 Minutes

Ages: 14+

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Overview:

The other day I saw a post in a board game Facebook group about what themes people would like to see more of in board games. One suggestion was Food Trucks. I went "Oooo! I have a game rec for that person". So today we are going to check out Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy Roll And Write, which I will be referring to as Truck Off RAW going forward, from Adam's Apple Games. Truck Off RAW is the roll and write version of their previous game Truck Off: Food Truck Frenzy which came out a few years before.

In Truck Off RAW players roll dice and map out where to drive their food truck in hopes of reaching the most hungry customers and earning the most money by the time the game ends.

What's purr-ty cool:

Mechanics: In true roll and write fashion, Truck Off RAW allows for as many players to play as you have sheets for. Every turn, every person will take an action using the same options, so no matter if you are playing with two people or 10 people, the time to play does not vary much. I am personally a big fan of games like this (Welcome to and Cartographers come to mind) because I love to see how differently everyone's board winds up at the end when we all had the same choices throughout the game. It is nice because one player does not win just because they got lucky. Everyone has the exact same options, so it is really all about how well you can maximize your choices. One cool twist that Truck Off RAW has though is that each round there is an active player who rolls the dice. this person then gets to choose one die to reroll if they wish. This gives the active player a chance to be strategic and either reroll a die to try and help themselves, or to stop someone else from getting what they wanted.

What I really like with Truck Off RAW is that the dice rolls don't impact how much you can move, each turn you always have 4 movement points. The dice instead impact how much money one earns for stopping at a matching colored venue. This means that you might have a plan in mind that you then alter based on a good or bad roll and your location on the board to matching venues.

The venue scoring is also set up in an interesting way. You have a route on the top of your scoresheet and you have to fill it in in order, any time you skip over some colors to reach the next color you need, you cannot go backward, so you have to try and time your locations to unlock bonuses and score as much as you can before the game ends.

The game ends when the first person hits the finish (where at least 12 turns have been taken), so you have to try and judge your route with how fast others are moving. You also have to decide if it is more strategic to add a number to a specific color column, the row you are in or the next row. It makes for some cool choices as you decide which bonuses you want to focus on most. Some allow extra movement, or allow you to build bridges, move to a new location etc. I like how they vary the pace and feel of the game depending on what you pick.

Components: I love how the game sheet is designed. It is double-sided which means more games on less paper. They also have different bonus setups on each side which adds some variability. The colors are bright and aesthetically pleasing. They also have unique shapes and symbols for if you are color blind. I like how the bonuses are explained at the top of the sheet so you don't need to reference the rulebook for those while playing. And I like how you track your score as you play so you can see how you are doing as the game progresses.

I am also a fan of how each different colored venue matches a different type of die (these match their shapes on the board too, which is just extra fun). For example purple venues are d4 die and thus low scoring, while black venues are a d20 so are capable of scoring way more points. This means that sometimes you may alter your plans based on a very high or low die roll that makes more sense than what you were originally planning to do. I like that even though the game involves dice rolling, it is not super luck based, as you have ways to work with a few options each turn.

Portability: Finally, one last thing I like about Truck Off RAW that is worth mentioning is that Truck Off RAW is a good on the go game. It's a relatively small box that does not weigh much. It takes up very little table space, and it plays in under 30 minutes. For me, this makes Truck Off RAW a great option to bring with me when I go somewhere. You could easily play this while out waiting for food at a restaurant, or while sitting in a park. It is pretty simple to teach others too!

The cat's meow:

"Hey! It's my first review. Hope I am doing this right. These sheets make a great bed to nap on!" - Solo

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Disclosure: Pudgy Cat Games was provided a copy of this game in exchange for a review, however, this review reflects the honest thoughts of the author.