30 years ago in 1996 a puzzle game took the casual gaming world by storm. Rush Hour is a solo puzzle game where players have to move cars and trucks back and forth in a certain order in order to create a path for the red car to exit the grid. Since its release, Rush Hour has sold over 15 million copies and is available in over 40 countries. It has received many different awards including the MENSA Select Award, the Oppenheim Platinum Award, Dr. Toy Best Classic Products, the Toy of the Year nomination, and the Parents’ Choice Gold Award. There have also been other versions of the game released. However, for the 30th anniversary, a new version takes Rush Hour to a completely new level of competition with Rush Hour Duel.
What Is Rush Hour Duel?
Rush Hour Duel is a puzzle game for 2 players, ages 8 and up, and takes about 5-10 minutes minutes to play each challenge. It’s currently available for a suggested retail price of $24.99 for a copy of the game and can be found at your local game store or online retailers such as Amazon. Rush Hour Duel was designed by Nob Yoshigahara and published by Think Fun Games.
Rush Hour Duel Components
Here is what you get in the box:
- 2 Traffic grids
- 1 Winner’s circle platform
- 2 Hero cars (red)
- 6 Blocking trucks
- 16 blocking cars
- 40 Challenge cards
The two plastic traffic grids connect to the winner’s circle so that the yellow gates align with the opening in the traffic grids. When one player drives their red hero car into the winner’s circle, they push a yellow tab that closes their opponent’s gate.
In addition to the red hero car, each player has three blue trucks, four light blue cars, and four orange cars. Each set comes in their own plastic bag and this is a great way to store them between games.
Rush Hour Duel includes 40 challenge cards with four different difficulty levels represented by different colors of borders. The cards are also numbered 1-40 so it is suggested you play them in order as they get progressively more challenging. One one side of a card is the initial setup of the traffic grid. There are two images so that one is facing each player to help facilitate an easy setup. The backside of each card lists the solution to the puzzle if the players get stuck and are unable to solve it.
How to Play Rush Hour Duel
The Goal
The goal of the game is to be the first player to drive their red car into the winner’s circle.
Setup
Setup for this game is quick and easy. Start off by connecting both traffic grids to the winner’s circle platform. Make sure both yellow gates on the platform are open. Give each player one set of vehicles. You are now ready to play Rush Hour Duel.
Gameplay
To begin the game, select a challenge card and place it in view of both players. Each player places vehicles on their traffic grid to match the challenge. On the count of “3, 2, 1, Go!”, both players slide the cars and trucks backwards and forwards in their lanes until the path is clear for their red hero car to escape.
Game End
The game ends when the first player drives their red hero car into the winner’s circle to close their opponent’s gate and win the game.
Why You Should Play Rush Hour Duel
My wife and I were given a copy of the original Rush Hour almost 30 years ago. Over the years it was one of the games that stayed in our collection and was enjoyed by both of us as well as our children. I even purchased a copy of the game and some of its other versions for my high school classroom and has been popular. As a parent and teacher, I like how this game requires and helps develop key cognitive skills such as problem-solving and logic, sequential and strategic planning, spatial reasoning, and trial and error adaptation. It also helps with focus and regulation skills including attention and concentration as well as patience and perseverance. For this reason I use it in my special education classes to work with students who have disabilities.
When I learned about Rush Hour Duel, I could not wait to get my hands on it. The two-player nature of this game adds competition to the game as players race to solve the puzzle before their opponent. Now you are in a rush to get your red car out of the traffic and into the winner’s circle before your opponent. If that is a bit too stressed for some players, we have created a house rule where each player can move one vehicle and then the other player moves one vehicle, similar to chess or other games where you take turns. Now the competition is not who can solve the puzzle the fastest, but get their car out in the least number of moves. This way of playing is more strategic as players try to think several moves ahead. Whether playing with the rules as written, or with our turn-based house rule, we have had a lot of fun playing Rush Hour Duel. It turns the original solo game into a two-player competition. If you would like to take a popular puzzle game to the next level, then I recommend adding Rush Hour Duel to your game library.
For more information, visit the Rush Hour Duel page!
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
