Racetrack (game)

Racetrack is a paper and pencil game that simulates a car race, played by two or more players.

The game is played on a squared sheet of paper, with a pencil line tracking each car's movement.

A straight starting and finishing line is drawn across the two loops, and a direction for the race is chosen (e.g., counter clockwise).

When drawing the track, slippery regions with oil spill may be marked, wherein the cars cannot change velocity at all, or only according to the four neighbours rule.

Usually, cars are required to stay on the track for the entire length of the move, not just the start and end.

E.g., with three players A, B and C (starting on that order), if B is the first to cross the finish line, C is allowed one more move to complete the A-B-C cycle.

This may be partially counterbalanced by having the players choose their individual starting points in reverse order.

Note that in physics, speeding, braking, and turning right or left all are forms of acceleration, represented by one vector.

For a sports car, having the same maximum acceleration without loss of traction in all directions is not unrealistic; see Circle of forces.

Today, the game is used by math and physics teachers around the world when teaching vectors and kinematics.

Martin Gardner noted that the game was "virtually unknown" in the United States, and called it "a truly remarkable simulation of automobile racing".

He mentions having learned the game from Jürg Nievergelt, "a computer scientist at the University of Illinois who picked it up on a recent trip to Switzerland".

Car and Driver described it as having an "almost supernatural" resemblance to actual racing, commenting that "If you enter a turn too rapidly, you will spin.

Triplanetary was a science fiction rocket ship racing game [2] that was sold commercially between 1973 and 1981.