How to Play

Thunder Road: Vendetta

2-4 players 45-75 min 7.9 Board Game Geek Rating

Players control racing crews in this chaotic vehicular combat game, an updated version of the 1986 classic. Roll dice to move cars, shoot weapons, and avoid destruction on a dangerous track filled with hazards like oil slicks and wrecks. Victory comes from surviving the mayhem while eliminating opponents through strategic damage and smart dice allocation.

Published 2023

Thunder Road: Vendetta

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Choose start Road Tile
Select Road Tile 1a or 1b as the starting tile
2
Build initial road
Shuffle remaining Road Tiles, place 2 Road Tiles in front for a total of 3 Road Tiles
3
Place Hazard Tokens
Shuffle and place Hazard Tokens according to player count numbers on tokens
4
Prepare damage tokens
Shuffle damage tokens and place face down
5
Prepare ongoing effect cards
Shuffle ongoing effect cards and place face down
6
Select player components
Each player chooses a color and takes Road Vehicles, choppers, dashboards, command card, and movement die
7
Determine first player
All players roll movement die; lowest total becomes first player (re-roll all ties for lowest)
8
Preserve die results
Keep movement die showing rolled result
9
Set turn order
First player determined, then play passes left
10
Roll road die
First player rolls road die and places it next to the board
11
Big Rig hydraulic steering
First time each round, assign dice to hydraulic steering
12
Big Rig section assignment
Assign 1 die to an empty section (front-mid-rear); skip command if slot is damaged

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Assign die to operable car
Place 1 die on a car with 1 or less damage
2
Optional command die
May assign command die once per round
3
Coast option
After all operable Road Vehicles moved and command used, may assign dice to operable Road Vehicles to coast; same car may receive second die on later turn for 2nd coast
4
Motorcycle die assignment
Assign at most 2 dice total: either 2 Motorcycles or 1 Motorcycle plus 1 command
5
Activate command
Resolve command if just assigned this turn
6
Airstrike command
Place chopper on empty space facing forward; chopper may shoot front arc space; not available Round 1
7
Nitro command
Add die to movement die and move full count
8
Drift command
Ignore first slam but cannot ignore end space
9
Repair command
Remove 1 damage token and linked ongoing effect; does not remove fire token; car becomes operable
10
Big Rig Traction Drive
Add full road dice bonus to movement
11
Big Rig Hazard Dispenser
Place random Hazard Token facedown in empty space of Big Rig rear arc
12
Big Rig Repair
Remove minor damage from same section as command dice
13
Fire check
If car has fire token, roll yellow dice: +1/+2 requires extra moves; skull eliminates Road Vehicle; smoke removes fire token
14
Basic movement
Move car to any space in front arc using full die count
15
First Road Tile entry
First count space must be on back edge of Road Tile
16
Chopper interaction
May move through choppers; ending move on chopper eliminates car or Motorcycle
17
Slam resolution
Moving into space with Road Vehicle or wreck triggers slam; roll red and purple die; player owning larger car may direct re-roll of both dice (must accept final roll); wrecks are considered small
18
Move slammed vehicle
Move selected car/wreck to indicated space; repeat for follow-on slams; wrecks activate Hazard Tokens
19
Lose remaining movement
Stop movement upon damage or slam (except Big Rig)
20
Road Bonus
Earned when car/Motorcycle starts and moves only on road tile/oil slick; may add road dice to move once earned; must use full count and suffer any effects
21
Coast movement
Move car +1 space; may not add Road Bonus; one car maximum 2 coasts per round
22
Move off board sides/back
Road Vehicle is eliminated
23
Move off board front (2-player)
5th Road Tile is final; add finish line
24
Move off board front (3+ player)
When all of one player's cars eliminated, add finish line to front tile
25
Road advance without finish line
Remove rear Road Tile (discard all items, return choppers, eliminate Road Vehicles on tile); add front Road Tile with Hazard Tokens; moved car chooses front arc space
26
Big Rig movement
Use full dice count from assigned section moving straight forward; decrement hydraulic steering die for each left/right movement; moves like train considering front section only
27
Big Rig chopper contact
If ending on chopper with any section, choose command to add 1 minor damage and remove chopper
28
Big Rig hazard immunity
When entering space/Hazard Token/impassable that normally stops, damages, moves, or causes die roll, ignore effect and add 1 minor damage to chosen command; cover with off-road tile or remove Hazard Token; continue moving
29
Big Rig Road Bonus
Only available through Traction Drive command, any spaces
30
Big Rig slam
Roll purple die only, move other Road Vehicle, no re-roll; Big Rig stops unless using cow catcher
31
Motorcycle drift
May drift through any car/wreck; ending move on car/wreck still triggers slam
32
Motorcycle coast
When all operable Motorcycles moved and command used, assign 1 die per Motorcycle per turn; maximum 4 coasts per Motorcycle
33
Motorcycle slam
Only roll purple die and move Motorcycle; no re-rolls; if 2 Motorcycles slam each other, choose which moves
34
No shooting Round 1
Shooting and missiles not allowed on first round
35
Target selection
Chopper (just placed) or Road Vehicle targets other Road Vehicle/wreck in front arc
36
Shooting timing
May shoot after slam or coast
37
Attack roll
Roll black die; match size of target to hit
38
Resolve hit on car
Owner of hit car draws damage token, resolves follow-on effects, then assigns damage token face down
39
Hit wreck
Damaged wreck is removed
40
Big Rig shooting sequence
May missile first (front space) then shoot second (front or rear arc) in same turn
41
Big Rig gets shot
Counts as large size; shooter chooses command on targeted section before roll; hit causes minor damage to targeted command; may not target section with 2 minor damage
42
Motorcycle gets shot
Counts as small size; hit causes 1 minor damage token
43
End turn
Move dice to "End Turn" area; play passes left to player with operable Road Vehicle
44
End round
Triggered when all player dice have been used; pass Road die to left; that player goes first next round; all players re-roll all movement dice and first player rolls road die
45
Hazard Token removal
Discard Hazard Token after resolving unless marked with § symbol, then leave in space
46
Big Rig hazard handling
Any space/Hazard Token causing stop, damage, move, or die roll: Big Rig takes +1 minor damage and covers with off-road token, then finishes move
47
Desert Glass
Upon entering, must move +1 in same direction at no cost to move/nitro count
48
Dirt/Off-road
No effect
49
Fire space
Add fire token to console center; ignore if already on fire; Big Rig takes +1 minor damage and off-road token
50
Impassable space
Double yellow border; movement onto space eliminates car/Motorcycle
51
Mine
Draw damage token and resolve damage
52
Mud
Counts as 2 spaces to enter unless ending move on tile; for revealed Hazard Token, retroactively remove 1 movement for entering
53
Oil Slick
Roll purple die and move to indicated space at no cost to move/nitro count; counts as road for Road Bonus
54
Pit Trap
Upon reveal, roll black dice; hit eliminates Road Vehicle, otherwise continue move; already present pit trap is impassable
55
Quake
Roll purple die; all cars/Motorcycles move to indicated space simultaneously; Big Rig ignores with +1 minor damage; resolve all effects
56
Ramp
Impassable unless entering from back; roll stunt die, move forward indicated spaces, resolve end space only, then end move
57
Road
No effect; see Road Bonus
58
Salt
May use Road Bonus for current move; Big Rig ignores
59
Sand Worm
Determine target as Road Vehicle farthest behind (ties allowed); eliminate target(s); Big Rig takes minor damage instead
60
Toxic Goo
End movement immediately (stop)
61
Wreck token
Place wreck in space; slam wreck treating it as small size and on bottom of slam
62
Damage effect on movement
Damage stops remaining movement
63
Damaged wrecks
Wrecks receiving damage are removed
64
Car damage resolution
Cars taking damage resolve damage token and follow-on effects first, then assign damage token facedown
65
Big Rig/Motorcycle damage
Always take minor damage token only
66
Blast Off effect
Roll green and purple die; hop to indicated space; resolve landing space only
67
Dazed effect
Roll green dice for number of spaces; move one space at a time using purple dice rolls to determine direction for each space
68
Fire effect
Add fire token; removed when car becomes inoperable or smoke result on fire dice
69
Ongoing Effect
Draw ongoing effect card and place face-up under damage token; effect remains until damage token is repaired
70
Shrapnel effect
Roll direction die; look in that direction for first operable car (ignoring spaces/tiles/choppers); that car takes damage; otherwise no effect
71
Inoperable threshold
Car receives 2 damage tokens; Motorcycle receives 1 minor damage; Big Rig receives 6 minor damage
72
Inoperable procedure
Flip dashboard, point car to rear, remove fire token; leave in space
73
Repair possibility
May be repaired on later turn (not Big Rig)
74
Player elimination trigger
All cars inoperable means player is eliminated
75
Impassable elimination
Entering impassable space eliminates car/Motorcycle
76
Chopper elimination
Ending on chopper space (even own chopper) eliminates car/Motorcycle
77
Road advance elimination
Being on Road Tile when it is removed eliminates Road Vehicle
78
Board edge elimination
Leaving road on left, right, or rear (usually from slam) eliminates Road Vehicle
79
Direct elimination effects
Some effects directly eliminate Road Vehicles
80
Wreck elimination
Wreck receiving 1 damage from shooting is removed
81
Elimination condition
All Road Vehicles inoperable or eliminated removes player from game
82
Chopper removal
Remove chopper from board; may not use
83
2-player elimination
Other player wins immediately
84
3+ player elimination
Add finish line to front Road Tile
85
Big Rig elimination
Only 2 ways: 6 minor damage assigned or Big Rig front section on removed Road Tile

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Cross finish line
Game ends immediately when any Road Vehicle crosses the finish line, even during resolution of final car's second damage token
2
Last player standing
Game ends when only one player has operable Road Vehicles remaining
3
2-player finish line trigger
5th Road Tile is final and finish line is added
4
3+ player finish line trigger
When all of one player's cars are eliminated, add finish line to front tile

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Règles complètes en français

Règles complètes en français

Instructional

Epic Thunder Road Vendetta win!

Epic Thunder Road Vendetta win!

Session

MORE VIDEOS

FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

Play Board Games Online

Explore breakout hits and fan favourites with no downloads, setup or paywalls. Just click and play.

Play Now

more GAMES LIKE THIS