How to play Zoom Zoom Vroom
Burn gas to take the trick, tune up to refuel — the sixth trick is the lap
Zoom Zoom Vroom is a trick-taking race for three to five players. Every suit is a racer with one printed number, every player starts with five gas, and a card played face up scores its number plus the gas you put on it plus your speed. A card played face down is a Tune Up: it cannot win, but it shares the gas lying in the middle of the table. Win tricks to climb the racetrack; win the sixth trick of a round to complete a lap. Two laps win.
What you need
Six suits, each a racer with a fixed number: Lichen the Sasquatch is the 1, Cap’n Salty the Puffin the 2, Chippy the Beaver the 3, Jelly the Raccoon and Beans the Possum are both 4s (two different suits), Slippy the Salmon the 5. The deck holds as many copies of each suit as there are players: 18 cards for three, 24 for four, 30 for five. Each player has five gas tokens (never more than five), a speed marker on the racetrack, and there are as many lap tokens as players plus one.
Your turn
Each round is six tricks, six cards each. On your turn you play one card, face up or face down.
Face up: the suit must not already be face up in this trick (face-down cards block nothing, and the two 4s are different suits). A 1 turns every face-up 4 and 5 in the trick into a 0 — before or after it. A 2 takes one gas from the middle of the table, which you may spend at once. Then put any number of your gas tokens on the card, +1 each; your current speed adds itself. Your final number is the printed value plus the gas plus the speed.
Face down — a Tune Up: any card, worth nothing, cannot win. When the trick ends, everyone who tuned up shares the gas in the middle evenly; what cannot be split evenly is removed from the game, and so is anything that would take a player over five.
Winning the trick
The highest final number wins; a tie goes to the card played earlier. All the gas spent on the cards moves to the middle of the table. On tricks one to five the winner moves their speed marker up one space and leads the next trick. If everybody tuned up nobody moves and the same player leads again.
Your speed is simply the number of tricks you have won this round — the first is +1, the fifth +5. The racetrack only shows it: on side A you read the number above your marker, on side B the number beside it.
The lap, and the end
The winner of the sixth trick takes a lap token. A player with two laps wins the race at once. Otherwise every card is shuffled and dealt again, the speed markers go back to Start — and the gas stays exactly where it is, in front of the players and in the middle. The player who most recently took a lap leads.
Variants
Larger Hands: one more copy of each suit, seven cards each; in the sixth trick you choose between two cards and carry the other into the next round. The 0 suit: a seventh racer worth 0 that either gives +1 speed for the rest of the round or brings a removed gas token back to you. The 0/5 card: one per player, playable once per game instead of a card from your hand — as a 0 it brings back two removed gas tokens, and once you have completed a lap you may play it as a 5 for one. You cannot play it with five gas already, with nothing removed from the game, or after another player has played theirs into the same trick; afterwards you discard a card from your hand face down.
Frequently asked questions
How many players can play Zoom Zoom Vroom?
Three to five. The deck is built to the table: as many copies of each of the six suits as there are players.
What does a Tune Up do?
A card played face down. It cannot win the trick, but when the trick is over its owner shares the gas lying in the middle of the table with the other players who tuned up.
What do the 1 and the 2 do?
Played face up, the 1 makes every face-up 4 and 5 in the trick count as 0. The 2 takes one gas token from the middle, which you may spend on the card right away.
How do you win Zoom Zoom Vroom?
Complete two laps. A lap is won by taking the sixth trick of a round; a race usually takes three or four rounds.
Does gas carry over between rounds?
Yes. Speed resets to Start every round, but gas stays where it is — in front of you, in the middle, or removed from the game.
How does speed work in Zoom Zoom Vroom?
Your speed is the number of tricks you have won in the current round, and it adds to every card you play face up: one trick won is +1, five is +5. Both printed sides of the racetrack show that same number, and it resets at the end of the round.
What is the 0/5 card?
A variant card, one per player, used once per game. You play it instead of a card from your hand: as a 0 it brings two removed gas tokens back to you, and after you have completed a lap you may play it as a 5 for one. It needs gas to have been removed and room in your tank, only one may be played per trick, and playing it costs you a card from your hand, discarded face down.
Is Zoom Zoom Vroom free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no signup and no payment, against two to four computer opponents.