Step by Step Quarters

Part One

Quarters is great as a family or change of pace intro game. The 6 races might take an hour to play and you can play as few or as many as you want. I also use it as a part of my Pulp games.

Coming out later this month is Quarters - the Game of Quarter Horse Racing. This is a step by step account of a complete race. Like quarter horses that can run a quarter mile in under 21 seconds, don't blink as this race will be over quickly. 😊

For this race we're only using 3 horses. The races in the game are for 6 horses and there are 50 different pregenerated horses plus 6 pregenerated races. You can be set up for play in less than 10 minutes. Here's a look at the track, horse counters and Info Cards.

 We place the cards as shown in the following picture - Post Position 1st. Then the Class of the horse - the higher the Class (3 - 5) the better the horse. Next is Running Style - Front Runner or Closer. Then we place the Jockey Savvy Card - the higher the Savvy (3 - 5) the better the Jockey will perform. Lastly come the Bonus Cards. Each Bonus Card allows the horse to add 1d6 and is based on the horse's Running Style. Front Runners start using their Bonus Dice the turn after Breaking from the Gate while Closers start the second turn after Breaking from the Gate.

 Each horse and jockey combination have an Entry Rating based on their Class, Bonus Dice and Savvy. The higher the ER the better the horse should perform. Under the ER listed in the previous picture is the Betting Odds for the horse. The #2 horse is the favorite at 3: 2 odds while the #3 horse is the long shot at 5:1. The ER and Odds are generated based on the individual horses in the race so when you change out a horse, the odds will change. This and the game mechanics insure that no two races will ever be alike - even if you run the same horses!

 Each horse rolls 3d6 and compares the scores individually to their Class. #2 passed 3d6 so is moved 3 spaces towards the Finish Line. As it is closer to the Finish Line it will roll it's dice first next turn. The other two horse passed 2d6 so move 2 spaces. Note that this is a 300 yard race - only 8 spaces to the end!

 It's the turn after Breaking from the Gate so horses #1 and #3 will use their Bonus Dice. After the horses roll their dice we see that #1 and #2 are tied with #3 one space behind. #1 is closer to the rail (the inside of the track) so is in first place and will roll first next turn.

Last turn and #2 can use it's Bonus Dice. After all horses have rolled #1 and #2 are tied. This is a Photo Finish. Each horse rolls 1d6 and adds it's Class and Jockey Savvy. #1 has a higher total so wins by  a nose. 

Bets are paid as follows, for each $10 wagered:

#1     Win  $50   Place  $30  Show $20

#2     Win     x    Place  $15  Show  $10

#3     Win     x    Place    x    Show  $25

The 1-2 Exacta paid $50