Board games and 3D printing naturally fit together. You can print more durable tokens to replace cardboard ones, make a proper organizer so you don’t have to sort everything before each game session, or add miniatures that take the whole experience up a level… The options are endless. It doesn’t surprise us – we’re big board-game fans ourselves. And now we finally got to combine both hobbies properly. Thanks to our collaboration with the Czech board-game publisher Albi, we’ve fulfilled one of our long-time dreams and released Crash Derby – a board game for the 3D-printing community (and not only for them).

How it all started

More than three years ago, we shared a booth with Albi at Spiel in Essen, Germany – the biggest board-game fair in the world. Already back then, we were talking about making something together: a game that would be built around 3D printing from the ground up. At the same time, we didn’t want it to be “printer-only.” The goal was a game that works perfectly even if you don’t own a printer – while still offering a nice way to explore what 3D printing can add.

In the end, we went for a concept that gives you the best of both worlds: the game works perfectly on its own (with the car miniatures we printed for the base box), but it’s also easy to expand with 3D printing. That opens the door to upgrades, new ideas, and community involvement through Printables.

The testing phase

After Spiel Essen 2022, Albi sent us the first game concepts over the next few months. Some were really good, but one stood clearly above the rest – racing with demolition-derby elements. The game didn’t even have a name yet, but on paper it grabbed us right away.

What the game is about

Crash Derby is a family racing game that mixes strategy with a healthy dose of action. Each player drives their own car, trying to move through the game board as efficiently as possible – but this time, the goal isn’t to cross the finish line first. Your task is to collect four flags placed around the board before your opponents do.

Of course, the cars come with a weapons arsenal too, and that can seriously complicate things for everyone else. You can mess with your rivals, break their upgrades, and derail their carefully planned turns (and the game even rewards you for it). And since the flags attract the most traffic, collisions are basically guaranteed.

The biggest standout feature is the “steering wheel” on your player board: a mechanic built around three gears. You plan your actions in advance by placing them into these gears. But at the end of each round, the gears rotate – so if you plan poorly, your car can start behaving unpredictably and “do its own thing.” That’s part of the fun, too: you need to think ahead, but also stay flexible, because other players keep crashing into your plans.

The result is a fast, highly interactive ride where strategy regularly turns into pure chaos. Cars slam into each other, shoot each other, dodge at the last second, and the whole board turns into a wild derby arena where everything can flip in a single spin of the wheel.

The game is for 2–4 players, and thanks to the brisk pace, a session usually takes around an hour. The rules are written to be clear even for younger players, so the recommended age is 10+.

The big premiere

We liked the final version so much that we decided to do something special for the launch. Together with Albi, we joined forces again at a shared booth – this time at PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, one of the biggest U.S. board-game events. The board-game crowd loved Crash Derby, and the first fans were able to take copies home right away. And for everyone else, we’re now opening pre-orders on our e-shop.

Sadly, because of the pre-holiday hectic season, the game almost certainly won’t make it to you before Christmas, so we’ve discounted the pre-order price to 45 USD to help make up for the fact it won’t be waiting under the tree this year. On top of that, we’ve also prepared gift vouchers – so if you still want to give the game as a present, you can simply wrap a voucher and let the Crash Derby arrive a little later.

What’s next?

Right now, you can already find three printable car models and a steering-wheel-shaped player board on Printables. But that’s only the start – we want to support the game much more going forward.

We’re planning to run design contests and involve the Printables community. Some will be purely cosmetic, but the bigger ones will focus on game design too, with the goal of creating full standalone expansions. We see Crash Derby as a platform the community can build on and turn into something much bigger and better. And we’re really looking forward to that.

So there’s only one question left: will we see you in the Crash Derby arena?