Tips automobiles

The most obvious difference between beginner and intermediate players of Automobiles is that intermediate players prioritize buying the most desirable cubes over moving for their first several turns. Determining which cubes are most desirable comprises much of the skill of Automobiles and depends on the situation, but they are usually to be found among the <span style="color:#0000FF">engine (blue)</span> and performance (green) cubes.

Therefore, spend a few turns at the start of the race using your active pile to buy cubes you want, and to remove cubes you don't want. (This may be hard to do when other players use their cubes to move and possibly even lap you, but if you use these turns wisely to sculpt your bag, it will pay off.)

As a beginning rule of thumb, by the time you use your active pile to move, have at least 2 pit (purple) cubes in your deck. Wear builds up very quickly, and wear cubes take up valuable slots that could be used by productive cubes. (As you advance in the game, you may see limits to this rule of thumb and discard it in specific situations. But pit cubes are always to be greatly preferred over Pit Stops, which waste valuable turns.)

How to shape one's bag varies greatly based on the card set, track/racing season, and driver (if used). But here's an example specifically for the First Game Card Set: Hybrid Engine [blue] is very powerful, so buy them during your setup turn and on your standard turns. If your opponents are experienced, blue cubes will be bought until they are depleted. If your opponents are not experienced, you may be the only one buying them while others are racing. In this case, keep buying engine cubes either until they are depleted, or until opponents are about 1 lap up on you. 3rd gear [white] cubes, however, are not useful either for buying cubes, or for moving when compared to Hybrid Engine. So when a Manager [yellow] cube is not useful for its buying power, use it to remove a 3rd gear. In a base 2-player game, experienced players may spend their first 7 turns sculpting their bag (mostly buying Hybrid Engines [blue], Crew Chiefs [purple], and removing 3rd gears [white]) before moving on their 8th turn. (Using a driver from the expansion may shorten this time, as drivers can increase purchasing power.)