Play the game

Game rules and instructions

Testdrive USA is easy to play and build! To construct your own board, follow these instructions:

  1. Download the images that constitute the board:
    • Click here to download the images for the day side of the game board
    • Click here to download the images for the night side of the game board
  2. Print each image
  3. Arrange the day side images to reproduce Fig. 3
  4. Arrange the night side images to reproduce Fig. 4
  5. Paste the four images on each side of the cardboard
  6. Click here to download the set of condition cards
  7. Click here to download the set of errand cards
  8. Print both set of cards from steps 6 and 7 and cut out each card (for the errand cards, you should print 6 copies of each type of card)
  9. Use one to six tokens of different colors, depending on the number of players
  10. Use a pair of dice and you will be set for fun!

Test Drive USA day board
Fig. 3. Testdrive USA Game Board - Side A (Day)

Test Drive USA night board
Fig. 4. Testdrive USA Game Board - Side B (Night)

Now that you have all the necessary elements for the game, you can start playing. Place the board on a flat surface and put the orange condition cards face down on the right side of the board. Each player chooses one token to represent him/her while driving around the board.

The youngest person roles the dice to determine if the game will be played on Side A (Day) or Side B (Night). If the dice roll results in an even number, players proceed to play Side A (Day). Place the 8 day errand cards in a row above the board (see Fig. 5 for a reference). Make sure there are 6 of the same day errand cards in each pile (see Fig. 6 for a reference). If the dice roll results in an odd number, players proceed to play Side B (Night). Place the 6 night errand cards in a row above the board. Make sure there are 6 of the same night errand cards in each pile.

Errand Cards
Fig. 5. Errand Cards: on the top are day errands and on the bottom are night errands

Condition Cards
Fig. 6. Condition Cards

Starting with the oldest person, each player in turn throws the dice. The player with the highest total starts the game by placing his/her token on home, rolling the dice and then moving towards the first errand of choice starting on the space that the arrow points to on the board. The player can choose to move forward and backward as long as the player moves the total number rolled on the dice in one turn.

After the first player has completed his/her turn, the turn passes to the left. The tokens remain on the spaces occupied and proceed from that point on the player’s next turn. Multiple tokens may rest on the same space at the same time.

If a player’s token lands on an errand space, the player can collect an errand card. If a player lands on an orange space, they must pick up a condition card and follow the instructions on the card.

The first player to collect all 8 errand cards wins. Players can then decide if they want to proceed to play the opposite side of the game to explore driving during the other half of the day.

Allot roughly 30 minutes of gameplay for each side of the game.

Please watch the following demonstration on how to play Testdrive USA, as shown by the designer herself:

Testdrive Gameplay Video from Joy Hopkins on Vimeo.



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