Scream at a Fallen Bun Banger in Hot Streak | BoardGameGeek News

by W. Eric Martin

Let’s start our look at Hot Streak — the newest release from Jon Perry and CMYK, who worked together previously on 2022’s Spots — by checking out the front of the box:

Aw, yeah — that looks like a box of fun nonsense right there. How about we open the rulebook to see what awaits?

The rulebook continues in this vein for a while, setting up the tone of the game and getting across the gist of play before you get into the (far less tedious than normal) details of how to play the game. Here’s my summary of such:

Hot Streak is a gambling racing game for people who love to bet on and scream at the racers, who in this case happen to be mascots who may (or may not) keep running in the right direction.

To set up, pull the racetrack out of the back of the box

At the start of the game, set up the racing deck with one card for each mascot and a number of random cards based on the player count. Reveal these cards to all players, after which players draft a betting ticket from those on display, then in reverse order draft a second bet. For each bet, you can play it safe — or flip it to the risky side, which might pay out more…or cost you money if you lose. After betting, each player chooses one of three cards in their hand to secretly add to the racing deck.

Shuffle the deck, burn three cards, then reveal cards one by one from the deck, moving the mascots along the track, with them sometimes swerving into another lane and knocking over another racer, sometimes turning around, sometimes all moving at once, and sometimes just going backwards! If a racer runs off the track or would be knocked over while already fallen, they’re disqualified. If needed, shuffle all cards in the deck, burn three cards again, and keep racing until all four spots on the box podium are filled. Pay out bets based on these results.

For races #2-3, first deal each player a random card from the deck, then place bets again, then have each player contribute a card from their hand to the deck. After race #3, everyone tallies their money.

Whereas Challengers! was an auto-battler, with each player in a duel building a deck, then shuffling it and having it play out automatically, Hot Streak is an auto-racer. Everyone knows most of the deck, then they place bets based on what could result from that deck being revealed in some random order, then they each seed a card into the deck to push chance a smidge in their favor…or not, depending on what everyone else does.

Some of the possible race results

Mascots each have three betting tickets, with payouts for first, second, and third place, and with the payouts diminishing from ticket #1 to #3. If you’re confident on a racer, flip it to the risky side, which earns you more if that mascot ends up in first place and less otherwise.

Each race also features a random side bet card, such as “Will Mum finish in the bottom 2?” and “Will a mascot go out of bounds?”, and you can take the “YES” or “NO” betting tickets for a race’s side bet, with these having a safe and risky side as well.

Technically Hot Streak is not a game — at least not in BGG terms — because no victory condition is included. After three races, you consult a chart of “life outcomes”, with your final cash holdings determining the rest of your life. (In fact, even if you don’t play, your fate is pre-determined. Kudos to writer Sophie Abromowitz for her stellar work in this rulebook.)

Hot Streak is available for pre-order on the CMYK website, with the game shipping in late May 2025.

Gobbler, up close (Sculpts by Josh Divine)