Prusa Research Crashes Tabletop Gaming

I love it when 3D printing sneaks into places you don’t expect, like an unassuming board game you’d grab for a weekend play session. While not on the same scale as LEGO slipping a 3D printed toy train in this year’s Holiday Express Train set, Prusa Research putting its print farm to work on a board game collaboration is still pretty surprising.

Prusa just announced that it’s teaming up with fellow Czech game maker, Albi, to create Crash Derby, a family-friendly, tabletop racing game for 2 to 4 players. They helped present it at PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, one of the biggest U.S. board game events, where it was well received by gamers. 

Tomáš Krkavec, one of Prusa Research’s social media specialists, said the two companies have been quietly working on the game concept over the past three years. They wanted to make a game built around 3D printing, but doesn’t require a printer to enjoy. “The game has plenty of strategy and a wonderfully chaotic demolition-derby feel,” he said in an email.

Crash Derby lets you become an off-road warrior, navigating your vehicle across a dangerous map to collect flags and power-ups while plowing into your competitors. The map is made of cardboard hexagon tiles (naturally), as are the pieces you collect to upgrade your vehicle. The tokens you pick up during game play are slotted into your “steering wheel,” piece which is made up of three gears that are spun with each turn. 

What makes this game collab really interesting is that you don’t need a 3D printer to make the game work. This is not like Zack Freedman’s 3D printed Hextraction Game, which you need to assemble yourself after days of printing. If you’re not into 3D printing, you may not even notice the tokens are fresh off a CORE One.

But the magic happens if you do have a 3D printer. Prusa Research has several game upgrades you can 3D print for free on Printables.com. Right now, you can add a dented van and a souped-up sedan to your gaming fleet. The pieces are about 30mm tall, with plenty of detail that pops at a 0.15mm layer height.

The game pieces are a quick print, designed to be printed without supports in a single color and then snapped together. You can easily print a fresh batch of game tokens in an afternoon. Each player needs a geared steering wheel for game play in lieu of dice; this can also be upgraded to a 3D printed assembly.

What’s really interesting is Prusa Research’s pledge of continued support for this game. They’re not just throwing a few replacement parts on Printables, they are opening the game up to the community. Once the base game is out in the wild, Printables will host design contests to create new pieces and standalone expansion packs.

Crash Derby is for pre-order from Prusa Research’s e-shop, at a discounted price of $45 USD. The game won’t be ready before Christmas, so if you’re looking to give it as a gift, you can always throw a few game pieces on the printer, then wrap up them up with a Prusa gift voucher. Shipping starts in early January.

Images courtesy of Prusa Research unless otherwise noted