By playing ROAD RAGE! The L.A. Freeway Game, you can enjoy many hours of entertainment, but you also stand to learn about L.A.'s freeway system as well as the laws that govern these highways. For example, 50 game questions (referred to as Traffic School Questions) are taken from the "California Driver Handbook." This makes preparing for a DMV examination far more amusing.
The game board is a simplified map of the central-L.A. area freeway system that recreates the relationships of the interchanges and the relative position of their respective transition roads. No other readily-available map provides this information.
While playing this game and learning the freeways you will encounter lots of excitement as you plot to foil the progress of opposing players (referred to as Motorists) by pulling them over and forcing them to answer traffic school questions. This is where the game combines some elements of chess, as planning your moves, as well as the moves of a roving Patrol Car, provides various opportunities for being the first to arrive at City Hall (the goal) and winning the game.
This game makes a perfect gift for someone who is new to Southern California, or anyone who wishes to build confidence when driving the L.A. freeways. It also acts as a great learning tool for drivers who must take a drivers license test.
NOTE: This game is just one step beyond “beta.” Do not expect a slick, shrink-wrapped product. Still, it is complete, and it is fun.
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How to order ROAD RAGE! The L.A. Freeway Game
California residents-- Please mail $19.95, plus $5.25 for shipping and $1.55 for sales tax, for a total of $26.75 (check or money order) to: Dr. Roadmap; P.O. Box 2683; Fullerton, CA 92837-0683.
All other U.S. locations-- Please mail $19.95, plus $6.80 for shipping, for a total of $26.75 (check or money order) to: Dr. Roadmap; P.O. Box 2683; Fullerton, CA 92837-0683.
To pay by credit card, click on the PayPal button below. Note that the amount totals $26.75, the same as if paying by check.
Allow 4-7 days (depending on location) for delivery, upon receipt of order.
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More Details about ROAD RAGE! The L.A. Freeway Game
The goal of the game is to arrive at and exit either of two off-ramps that lead to the Los Angeles City Hall. Players roll the dice to determine how far they can progress down a freeway lane toward that ultimate goal. However, a set of contrived incidents (accidents, diesel spills, sweeper trains) can impede this quest at any time, just like in real life. Also, players take turns controlling a patrol car that can pull over other motorists and make them answer a traffic-school question. The penalty takes the form of forcing the pulled-over motorist to backtrack his or her steps.
This board game contains 114 separate pieces, which include:
1 road map (the game board)
1 set of rules
1 compact disk (CD) of traffic reports
1 patrol car
1 spinner (for advanced play only)
2 dice
3 orange cones (to mark traffic incident locations)
4 plastic cars
50 "traffic school" question cards (questions come from the California Diver Handbook)
50 traffic incident cards (same reports as on the CD)
The game board is a folding road map that shows portions of the following freeways surrounding downtown Los Angeles: 5, 10, 60, 101, 105, 110, 134, 405, and 710. By displaying the relative location of the transition roads of each interchange, players can develop a sense of which lane they need to maneuver into as they make their approach.
For example, heading northbound on the 5 Santa Ana Freeway approaching the 5/10/60/101 interchange, you can observe that you would have to be in one of the far-left lanes to transition over to the northbound 101. The middle lanes would serve to continue onto the northbound 5 Golden State Freeway. And the far right lane would take you onto the westbound 10 Santa Monica Freeway.
This map also names the freeways and identifies their respective federal and state highway numbers. The transition roads depicted on this map stay true to these numbers. In a few instances, even the signs placed at the real-life interchanges do not necessarily reflect the actual freeway number onto which a motorist may be merging.
This game also offers two different levels of play: Basic and Advanced. The Basic Rules allow easy and rapid familiarization with the game. They speed up the game because the player in the lead gets to select the shortest route to the L.A. City Hall (the goal).
The Advanced Game Rules employ an additional element: a spinner. This adds a great deal of variability to the game, as players must take the freeway route dictated by the spinner. As a result, it increases the players' knowledge of ALL approaches to each of the interchanges surrounding downtown L.A.
The underlying purpose of developing this game is to help local and visiting motorists to become more familiar with the highly complicated freeway system encompassing Los Angeles. This knowledge should allow a more informed choice when deciding which freeway to take in the face of a major delay. Answering the "traffic school" questions within the game should also help all motorists become even more familiar with the laws that govern the streets and highways of California. The answers also help instill a greater understanding of the safe motoring practices that are recommended within the California Driver Handbook.
One would be hard pressed to find a more educational, yet highly entertaining, game that is targeted at attempting to pose a solution to the problem of traffic congestion in Southern California.
