Review – Hot Streak

Hot Streak is a betting game, centered around a race between off-brand mascots. Each round, players bet on a race and watch it unfold chaotically and hilariously. Let’s check it out — my money’s on the bear!

Review

“Run, you stupid hot dog!” is not a phrase I had uttered before playing Hot Streak.

In this game, players are degenerate gamblers wagering on the outcome of a third-rate mascot race. The game is played on a long, vinyl race-track that pulls out from the game box.

To begin, the 4 mascot characters are placed on their starting spaces, and stacks of betting tiles are placed nearby. There are 2 types of bets: those that correspond to a specific mascot (e.g. “I think the anglerfish will finish in the top 3 places”) and side bets that refer to a specific game condition or outcome (“I think 2 characters will share a space at some point during the race”).

To begin, a number of cards are drawn and revealed to all players. These cards will be used in the first race, along with 1 secret card from each player’s hand. Cards come in several different types:

• NUMBER CARD: Moves a character the indicated number of spaces in the direction they are facing.
• STAR CARD: Moves a character to the next star space in the direction they are facing.
• FALL DOWN: Makes a character fall down in their current space. As long as they are down, any movement cards that affect them only move them 1 space.
• TURN AROUND: Makes a character turn around 180 degrees.
• SWERVE: Moves a character a number of spaces forward, and then laterally. If they bump into another mascot, that mascot falls down.
• RECOVER: Resets a character to their proper position (i.e. standing up and facing forward) in their current space.
• GREEN MULTI CARD: Moves and/or recovers all racers. (NOTE: A character cannot win as a result of a green card. If that would happen, the character instead stops just before the finish line.)

At the start of each race, all players draft 2 betting tiles. In each stack, the earlier bets have higher payouts if successful. Whenever a player takes a tile, they immediately decide whether to play it on the “Safe” or “Risky” side. Risky bets have higher winning potential, but smaller (or even negative) rewards if things don’t pan out.

Once everyone has placed their bets, the cards are shuffled together and the race begins. First, the player holding the deck discards 3 cards blindly off the top. (As they do, they count down “3, 2, 1,” for thematic reasons.) Then, they flip over and resolve cards 1 at a time until the race ends. As an example of how a race might start:

1. Gobbler (the bear) moves 2 spaces.
2. Mum (the queen) moves to the first star space.
3. Hurley (the hot dog) turns around.
4. Dangle (the anglerfish) falls down.
5. Hurley, facing the wrong direction, moves 2 spaces in that direction.
6. Mum moves -2 spaces.
7. Dangle draws a “Move 3” card, but since he has fallen, he only moves 1.
8. All players move 2 (except Dangle, who, again, only moves 1). Hurley, facing the wrong direction, runs off the end of the board and is eliminated.

And so on and so on. If the deck runs out before the race concludes, players collect all the cards, including the 3 that were discarded initially, shuffle them together, and continue. Before this happens, however, the end of the board is folded over to the next solid line. By doing this, the racetrack shrinks, and any mascots who get “swallowed” by the folding board are eliminated. (They can also get eliminated by running off the track or falling when they are already down.)

When a mascot crosses the finish line, they are placed on the highest open space on the game box. Likewise, if someone gets eliminated, they are placed on the lowest open spot. The race ends when only 1 mascot remains; that mascot is placed in the remaining spot, and players receive whatever payouts they earned.

At the end of the first and second races, all the cards are shuffled, and each player is dealt 1 card, face-down. Each player then secretly returns a card from their hand to the deck, to be used in the next race. By doing this, the makeup of the race deck will change a bit from race to race.

At the end of the third race, the player with the most points wins! As an added twist, in the third race, each player chooses 1 of their bets to be worth double.

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This game is every bit as zany as it looks. It’s chaotic, unpredictable, and yes, great fun. The theme and humor come through exceptionally well, leading to a raucous experience full of cheering, jeering, groaning, and celebrating. There is little strategy in the game, but it’s so entertaining that it doesn’t really matter.

As silly as it is, there are several design choices here that are very clever. First, having everyone contribute cards to the deck means each player has something that they and only they know. Second, since the deck changes from race to race, players can never be sure that any given card will carry forward to the next round. Third, while the “3, 2, 1” countdown might seem superfluous, it actually does matter — if you’re waiting for that card you played to trip the hot dog, it may never show up! Finally, having a bet doubled in the third race raises the stakes and gives players who have fallen behind a chance to catch up. In spite of its self-aware, party-game vibe, Hot Streak is a surprisingly solid design.

The production of this game is stellar, led of course by the mascot figures. They are expertly crafted, with fine details like the eyes of the person inside the suit peering out. The roll-up board, while gimmicky, works well and is definitely something I haven’t seen before. Personally, I don’t care for paper money in games, but it works alright here. Overall, Hot Streak looks amazing on the table and on the shelf.

Every time I have played this game, I have left wanting to play again, and everyone I’ve played it with has loved it, too. Between this and Magical Athlete, CMYK has delivered a one-two punch, and I feel comfortable calling these my 2 favorite games of 2025. Highly recommended.

A review copy was provided by CMYK.