How to play Situational Awareness

Wreck everyone else. Keep your hubcaps.

3 to 6 drivers · 15 to 20 minutes · Ages 10 and up

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What's in the box

• 73 split cards (two halves each): Hazards, Saves, Insults to Injury and Moving Violations
• 35 full cards: 21 Road Conditions, 12 Aftermarket and 2 Police Escorts
• 30 hubcaps (plus a few spares)

Setup

1. Give every driver 5 hubcaps: four on the wheels and a spare in the trunk. Hubcaps move between drivers, except the ones Hit and Run sends back to the box.
2. Shuffle all 108 cards. Deal 5 to each driver. Turn the next three cards face up, side by side, in the middle: those are the three lanes. Put the rest beside them face down. That's the pile, and it's also the fuel gauge: when it runs out, the trip is over.
3. Whoever most recently got cut off in real life goes first.

The one rule that matters

Cause an accident, take what it says. A Hazard that lands takes 1 hubcap, or 2, or splashes: the target loses 1 to the driver on their left and 1 to the driver on their right. The badge says which: ! takes 1, !! takes 2, <> splashes.

Reading a card

Every card has a stripe color and a name placard.

• Stripe color is the category. Cyan is From Above, lime is The Road Itself, orange is Other People, magenta is Acts of God. White means no category. Gray means Road Conditions.
• Black placard, white letters = attack. Hazard, Insult to Injury, Moving Violation.
• White placard, black letters = defense. Save, Aftermarket.

Color for color. A white placard stops a black placard of the same color. Orange stops orange. White-striped attacks have no color: Insult to Injury and Texting can't be stopped, and a Moving Violation aimed at you can be stopped by any Save.

Stripe	Category	Hazards	Saves	Aftermarket
Cyan	From Above	Presents From Above (!), Dive Bomb (!!), Goose Crossing (<>)	Duck!, Topping Off Fluids	Turtle Wax
Lime	The Road Itself	Pothole (!), Speed Bump at Speed (!!), Oil Slick (<>)	Swerve, Good Suspension	Monster Truck Tires
Orange	Other People	Tailgater (!), Brake Check (!!), Cut Off (<>)	Defensive Driving, Evasive Maneuvers	Advanced Driving School
Magenta	Acts of God	Fog Bank (!), Deer in Headlights (!!), Hail (<>)	High Beams, Snow Chains	All-Weather Package
White	none	Texting
Gray	Road Conditions

The three lanes

The lanes are the road, and they are the only place a card goes when it leaves play. There is no discard pile.

• A Hazard can only be played onto a lane whose top card shows the Hazard's color, on either half. It becomes that lane's top card, so its two colors are now what the lane shows. No lane shows your color? You can't play it. Pick another, or wait for the road to change.
• A Save, Dashcam or Pile-Up goes on the lane of the Hazard it answers. A Save against a Violation goes on that Violation's lane.
• Everything else goes on a lane you name, any lane, no color needed: Moving Violations and Texting when you play them, your Pit Stop discards, Traffic Jam and Rush Hour discards, a Road Condition when it is replaced or when an instant one is done, and an Aftermarket that is replaced, Impounded or stripped by Factory Reset (it goes on the lane of the card that removed it). Every card that lands repaints that lane. Every Pit Stop turns one fresh card from the pile onto a lane the pit-stopper names, so the road keeps changing, and every Pit Stop burns one card of fuel.

A full card (Road Condition, Aftermarket, Police Escort) on top of a lane makes that lane wild: any Hazard can be played on it, whatever its color. Ongoing Road Conditions sit in the middle, and Aftermarket sits in front of you, until they leave play.

The seven kinds

Split cards have two halves. Play either half; the whole card is gone. - Hazard. An attack. Play it on your Drive against one driver. Lands for what its badge says (1, 2, or a splash) unless they stop it. - Save. A defense. Play it the moment a Hazard of its color hits you. One use. - Insult to Injury. Play it on someone else's Hazard. Dashcam claims the hubcap; Pile-Up adds a second hit. - Moving Violation. Play it on your Drive. Messes with hands and turns, never hubcaps. One per Drive. Any Save stops a Violation aimed at you.

Full cards have one face and one purpose. - Road Condition. Play it on your Drive. Goes in the middle and changes the rules for everyone until the next Road Condition replaces it. Gray stripe, gray placard: it's nobody's attack and nobody's defense. - Police Escort. The one card you play out of turn. During another driver's turn, put it down: their turn ends as soon as the card in front of them resolves. Can't be stopped. Then it goes on a lane you name, and that lane is wild until the next card lands on it. Two in the deck. - Aftermarket. Play it on your Drive, face up in front of you. Hazards of its color can't hit you for the rest of the game. Each driver can have only one. Playing another replaces it. Impound removes it.

A round

Each driver takes one turn, going left. Keep going until the pile runs out.

Your turn

1. Reveal. Fan your whole hand face-out. Everyone can look for the whole turn. Keep your cards in the order you revealed them.
2. Drive or Pit Stop. Pick one. - Drive. Play as many cards as you like, in any order: Hazards against other drivers (each onto a lane that shows its color), Aftermarket in front of you, Moving Violations, Road Conditions. No more than two cards aimed at any one driver per Drive, Hazards and Violations together. One Moving Violation per Drive. A driver kicking rocks can throw as many rocks at one driver as they like. Resolve each Hazard completely before playing the next. - Pit Stop. Discard any cards you don't want, each onto a lane of your choice, then draw from the pile until you have 5. Then turn the top card of the pile face up onto a lane of your choice: one card burned, one lane repainted. Whatever comes up lands, full cards included (a full card makes that lane wild). You don't attack this turn.
3. Close your hand. Next driver.

You never draw on a Drive turn. Cards you spend, attacking or defending, are gone until you pit. An empty hand means no defense, and everyone can see it.

When a Hazard is played

Say it as one sentence: "Presents on Dave. Claims? Pile-Ups? Defense?"

1. Attack. The attacker names a target and puts the Hazard on a lane that shows its color.
2. Responses. Any other driver may play, one of each per Hazard: - Dashcam. If the Hazard lands, the Dashcam player takes everything it produces instead of the attacker: both hubcaps of a !!, both sides of a splash. First to slap it down gets it. - Pile-Up. An orange second hit. If the Hazard lands and the Pile-Up isn't stopped, the target loses 1 more hubcap, to the Pile-Up player.
3. Defend. The target may stop each threat separately with a Save of the matching color, played at any point. An Aftermarket of the matching color stops a threat automatically.
4. Resolve. Hazard lands? The attacker takes what the badge says (a splash goes to the target's two neighbors), or the Dashcam player takes all of it. Pile-Up lands too? Pile-Up player takes 1 more. Hazard stopped? Everything fizzles, Pile-Up included. Every card played stays on that lane.

Example. Presents From Above (cyan) on Dave. Someone plays Pile-Up (orange). Dave has no cyan Save but has Evasive Maneuvers (orange). He stops the Pile-Up, takes the Presents, and loses 1 hubcap to the attacker. The Pile-Up player gets nothing.

Kicking rocks

Lose your last hubcap and you're kicking rocks. You stay at the table, you still reveal, you still Drive or Pit Stop. - Your Hazards are just rocks. Any Save or Aftermarket stops a rock, whatever its color. - Kicking rocks, a Pit Stop only draws up to 3. - A rock that lands always takes exactly 1 hubcap, to you, whatever its badge says. You're back on the road the moment you hold a hubcap again, however you got it: a rock, a Dashcam claim, a neighbor's splash. Hazards you play after that in the same Drive are normal, and the two-cards-per-driver limit applies again. - Kicking rocks, the two-cards-per-driver limit is off. Throw every rock you have at one driver if you want. - Nobody can take hubcaps from you while you're kicking rocks. Moving Violations can still hit your hand. - Rocks get Dashcams and Pile-Ups like any Hazard. A Dashcam on your rock keeps you walking.

Card reference

Texting (white Hazard). Play on a driver. Their next turn is played with hand hidden, hunched over an imaginary phone. Cannot be stopped. No hubcap.

Insult to Injury (white) - Dashcam. Play when another driver's Hazard is declared. If it lands, you take everything it produces instead of them. - Pile-Up. Play when another driver's Hazard is declared. If it lands and this isn't stopped by an orange Save or Aftermarket, the target loses 1 more hubcap, to you.

Moving Violations (white). Played on your Drive, one per Drive. The target may stop it with any Save. Other hands are closed on your turn, so every pick is blind. You only know what you remember from their last reveal. - Carjack. A driver fans their hand face-down. Take one card. - Lane Change. Give a driver one card from your hand, then take one from theirs face-down. - Hit and Run. A driver loses 1 hubcap. It goes back in the box, gone for good. Nobody gets it. The only way a hubcap leaves the game. - Impound. A driver's Aftermarket card goes onto the lane you played this on. - Flat Tire. The target's next turn must be a Pit Stop. - Detour. The target skips their next turn. - Roadside Assistance. Draw 2 cards. Your Drive continues. Not aimed at anyone, so nothing stops it. - Traffic Jam. Every other driver discards one card of their choice, onto a lane of their choice. Not aimed at anyone, so nothing stops it.

Road Conditions (gray, full cards, 3 of each). Played on your Drive. Put it in the middle. It applies to everyone until the next Road Condition replaces it. - Construction Zone. No Road Itself Hazards can be played. - Rain. Nobody reveals their hand. - Fog. Reveals last a slow count of three. - Speed Trap. Every Hazard that lands takes 1 hubcap, whatever its badge says. - Rush Hour. Hand limit is 4. Pit Stops draw to 4, and anyone over 4 discards down at the end of their turn, onto lanes of their choice. - Factory Reset. Every Aftermarket in play goes onto the lane you name, and so does this card. The road is clear. - Green Light. Every driver draws 1. This card goes onto the lane you name. The road is clear.

Aftermarket (full cards, 3 of each) - Turtle Wax. From Above can't hit you. - Monster Truck Tires. The Road Itself can't hit you. - Advanced Driving School. Other People can't hit you. Pile-Ups either. - All-Weather Package. Acts of God can't hit you.

Out of gas

The trip ends the moment any driver needs to draw a card and the pile is empty. Stop right there, don't finish the turn. Most hubcaps wins. Tie? Most cards still in hand wins. Still tied? Share the win and argue about it.

Everyone can see how thin the pile is, so everyone can see the end coming. A thin pile makes every Pit Stop a decision: refill, repaint a lane and burn a card of clock, or drive on fumes.

The deck is the clock, so a trip runs about the same length at any table size. Six drivers share it in fewer turns each; three drivers get more turns each.

Variant, fixed length. If your table prefers a set number of rounds, play 5 rounds at six drivers, 6 at five, 8 at four, 10 at three, and reshuffle the lanes into a new pile if it empties (turn three fresh cards for the lanes).

Tips for new drivers

• The reveal is the game. Look at both halves of every card.
• The lanes are the road. Before you attack, check which colors are open. Before you pit, check which colors will still be open when your turn comes round.
• Every Hazard you play repaints a lane with your card's other half. Choose the lane that closes a color your rivals hold.
• Watch what people attack with. That's a Save they no longer have.
• Count cards. A driver with two cards left is one Dashcam away from defenseless.
• A wrong-color Save is still a Save against a Violation. Hold one.
• Police Escort is the card for the driver who's running away with it. Let them commit a card, then end their turn.
• Two Police Escorts exist. If one is out, sequence your Drive so the hit you want lands first.
• Pit Stop before you're empty, not after. An empty hand is an invitation.
• Two cards is the most you can aim at one driver in a Drive. Three Hazards in hand means at least two targets.
• A !! or a <> into a hand with no Save of that color is the swing of the game. Every wall has a gap; the reveal shows you where.
• Can't catch the leader? Hit and Run. Their hubcap doesn't come to you, but it doesn't stay with them either.
• The pile tells you how much road is left. Nobody knows what's coming off it.
• Ahead? Pit big and burn the pile. Behind? Drive on fumes and make it last.
• A driver kicking rocks is not worth attacking. A driver who just got back on the road with one hubcap is.
• Spend a Save on a rock only if you want that driver to keep walking. Otherwise let it land and keep the Save.

Badge key

! Hazard, takes 1 · !! Hazard, takes 2 · <> Hazard, splashes 1 left and 1 right · S Save · + Insult to Injury · V Moving Violation · R Road Condition · A Aftermarket · P Police Escort

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v0.8, 2026-09-09 (2026-09-11: a full card on top of a lane is wild; a Pit Stop turns one card from the pile onto a lane of your choice instead of one onto every lane, so six-player trips get more rounds). 108 cards. Road Conditions are full cards now (21), so every split card is an attack or a defense; Police Escort is an Instant full card (2) that ends another driver's turn; Speed Trap takes its place among the Road Conditions; Dashcam and Pile-Up are 8 each. v0.7: The three lanes are the only discard: everything that leaves play lands on one, and only Hazards need the color match. The pile is face down. The three lanes: a Hazard needs a lane showing its color, and repaints it; a Pit Stop turns a new card onto every lane. v0.6: Hazards now take 1, 2, or splash (one of each per color); Dashcam claims the whole accident; Hit and Run destroys a hubcap; kicking rocks ends whenever you hold a hubcap again. v0.5: two cards per driver per Drive replaces one Hazard per target; rock-kickers are exempt. v0.4 made the pile the clock. v0.3 added Road Conditions, Flat Tire, Detour, blockable Violations, and the Pit Stop discard.