''Circus Maximus'' is a board game that was originally published by

Battleline Publications Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. Output was relatively low at first, with each game being funded by sales of the one before, but their games were generally well-respected. Several were re-publishe ...

in 1979, but is better known for the 1980

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...

edition. The game has become very popular at

gaming convention A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a ...

s in an oversized form, with -long boards and baseball-sized chariots.

Description

''Circus Maximus'' is a

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&n ...

-racing

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

Up to eight players choose teams of horses and drivers, and race their custom chariots around an oval track. Charioteers are encouraged to physically attack their opponents with whips, force opposing chariots into walls, and hamstring opponents' horses with wheel-mounted blades.

Publication history

''Circus Maximus'', designed by Michael E. Matheny, was originally called ''Chariot Racing'' when it was published in 1979 by

, a subsidiary of

Heritage Models Heritage Models was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. History Wargame company Battleline Publications merged into Heritage USA to speed its growth. Heritage sold off the Battleline operation to Avalon ...

. (''Chariot Racing'' and a one-on-one combat game called ''Gladiator'' were sold together under the name ''Circus Maximus''.) When Battleline was sold to

in October 1979, the new owners published the two components of ''Circus Maximus'' as two separate games. While ''Gladiator'' retained its original title, ''Chariot Racing'' was renamed ''Circus Maximus''. Don Greenwood worked on the second edition.

Reception

In the September 1979 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

'', Tim Kask was effusive in his praise of the original ''Chariot Racing'', saying, "To put it simply, it is the best treatment of chariot racing that I have seen to date. The rules are ridiculously simple, as are the actual mechanics of the game. There are campaign rules that allow you to set up entire racing seasons; there are rules for accruing experience by continued racing and high placement. There are even provisions for skullduggery and sabotage. The game itself moves very fast and seldom gets boring. In the greatest movie traditions, you can outfit your cart with scythe blades and chop up your opponent’s wheels, or flog his horses to spook them or lash enemy drivers. Shades of great sport, even if your chariot tips over and drags your driver to his doom under the thundering hooves of the other teams." In 2007, almost 30 years after its original publication, ''Circus Maximus'' was chosen for the book '' Hobby Games: The 100 Best''.

Stan! Stan! (born Steven Brown) is an American author, cartoonist, and game designer. He is sometimes credited as Stan Brown. Biography Brown was born and grew up on Long Island and attended Binghamton University. Brown began publishing fiction, ca ...

commented "There are a lot of very good racing games out there, set against a wide variety of interesting backdrops, everything from cavemen riding dinosaurs through Formula One racers on real-world tracks and on to spaceships hurtling through interstellar space. So what is it that makes ''Circus Maximus'' stand out as, far and away, my favorite of the bunch? Is it the Imperial Roman setting? The elegant mechanics? The way the game encourages players to work together while still competing? I can't really say that it's any of those things, but rather that it's ''all'' of those things together."

Reviews

*''

Games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

''https://archive.org/details/games-23-1981-may/page/56/mode/2up

References

External links

* Avalon Hill games Battleline Publications games Board games introduced in 1979 Don Greenwood games {{board-game-stub