Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Based on simple and intuitive hand management, Heat: Pedal to the Metal puts players in the driver's seat of intense car races, jockeying for position to cross the finish line first, while managing their car's speed if they don't want to overheat. Selecting the right upgrades for their car will help them hug the curves and keep their engine cool enough to maintain top speeds. Ultimately, their driving skills will be the key to victory! Drivers can compete in a single race or use the "Championship System" to play a whole season in one game night, customizing their car before each race to claim the top spot of the podium. They have to be careful as the weather, road conditions, and events will change every race to spice up their championship. Players can also enjoy a solo mode with the Legends Module or add automated drivers as additional opponents in multiplayer games. —description from the publisher

{
  "game_id": 366013,
  "name": "Heat: Pedal to the Metal",
  "core_verb": "play speed cards, manage heat",
  "decision_shape": "mixed:combinatorial+probabilistic",
  "reward_schedule": "mixed:immediate+delayed",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Challenge",
    "Sensation",
    "Fellowship"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "Choose a gear, play that many speed cards; corner too fast and you stuff heat cards into your deck.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Easy",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "Hand-managed deck with simple math is a slam-dunk for mobile; only BGA exists today, no native port yet.",
  "direct_digital_port": null,
  "closest_loop_translation": "none yet",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "gear_shift_hand_size",
    "heat_card_deck_pollution",
    "corner_speed_check",
    "slipstream_catch_up",
    "championship_meta_persistence"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.85
}

{
  "game_id": 366013,
  "name": "Heat: Pedal to the Metal",
  "mechanics": {
    "core_verb_long": "Each round you grip a hand of 7 speed cards and choose a gear (1-4); the gear is the number of cards you must commit face-down behind your screen. Everyone reveals simultaneously, sums their speed values, and moves their car that many spaces. Optional spice: spend Heat to boost (flip the top of your deck for bonus speed) or to shift gears more than one step.",
    "core_loop_long": "Phase 1: choose a gear, paying 1 Heat per extra step beyond a single shift. Phase 2: select N cards equal to gear and play face-down. Phase 3: simultaneous reveal, sum speeds, optionally boost. Phase 4: move; for each corner crossed, pay Heat equal to speed-limit overage or spin out. Phase 5: cooldown — gears 1-2 flush Heat from hand back to engine reserve. Phase 6: discard, redraw to 7. Game ends when first car crosses the finish line at the end of the final lap.",
    "decision_space": "Each turn you balance gear-against-hand (which gear can my current cards actually fill), corner-against-tempo (downshift early to handle the apex versus push and pay overage Heat), and engine-against-deck-pollution (every boost or overage seeds a Heat card into your discard, where it will choke a future hand). The choice space at any single decision is moderate — typically 3-7 reasonable gear+hand combinations — but planning depth runs 2-3 turns ahead because gears are sticky (one step free, two steps costs Heat) and corners must be set up in advance. The famous strategic lattice lives in this constraint: you cannot dump from 4th to 1st to dodge a chicane, so cornering becomes a rhythmic deceleration puzzle.",
    "skill_expression": "The dominant skill is tempo planning — knowing when to sandbag in 1st gear to flush Heat back to your engine and reset your hand for the next big push. A close second is corner-positioning forecast: judging whether a high-card hand will arrive in time for the next chicane, and whether to pre-emptively burn Heat now to avoid a disastrous overage later. Opponent reading (slipstream timing, gauging when a leader is bleeding Heat) is real but secondary; memory load is near zero and the math is simple addition. The game rewards drivers who think two corners ahead and punishes turn-by-turn play.",
    "tactile_dependency": "low",
    "tactile_dependency_reason": "Cards are face-down/face-up information and the simultaneous reveal is the only dramatically physical moment — it can be replicated digitally with opponent-first gear telegraphing plus an animated reveal beat. The board, dial, tokens are purely informational; nothing about the experience requires hands."
  },
  "theme": {
    "promise": "You are a 1960s F1 driver. Late-brake into the chicane, scream past the leader, feel like a stunt driver — without simulating tire physics.",
    "setting": "historical, motorsport, 1960s F1, racing",
    "narrative": "none — abstract race with optional Championship campaign overlay (5-race meta-game with persistent driver upgrades). Story is pasted-on; the drama is in the lap, not the lore.",
    "audience": "gateway, hobbyist Eurogamer",
    "art_direction": "Vincent Dutrait period-romance illustration: warm sepia-and-cream palette, hand-painted cars and circuits, deliberate echoes of 1960s sports magazine spreads. Distinctive enough that the game is recognizable on a shelf at 10 feet."
  },
  "translation": {
    "digital_meta_layer_ideas": [
      "5-race roguelite season: procgen tracks, draft 1 of 3 upgrade cards plus 1 of 2 garage relics between races, run ends if you finish last twice",
      "Garage / Workshop build-identity: choose engine archetype (more boost vs less heat-payoff) and tire profile (better cornering vs better straights) between runs",
      "Daily challenge: fixed track + fixed AI rivals + fixed starting deck + a constraint (e.g. 'start with 4 Heat in deck'), global leaderboard by finish position",
      "Career championship mode with persistent driver, sponsor perks, and a multi-season ladder for long-tail retention"
    ],
    "closest_mobile_genre": "roguelite deckbuilder",
    "live_service_potential": "medium"
  },
  "confidence": 1,
  "extraction_version": "v3"
}