I dove deep into Bayou Bash this week from Wyrd Games. Bringing Malifaux’s favourite pesky yet lovable gremlins a little more time to shine in the limelight. In between the usual fuelled up activities that occur within the Bayou, you can guarantee that from a Gremlin point of view - Bayou Bash is set to be a danger fuelled death trap!

Review: Bayou Bash // Wyrd Games

Get Your Copy Of Bayou Bash Today @ Wayland Games

Bayou Bash is self-contained, although it still very much belongs in the world of Malifaux. Players are mounting their favourite disturbing creature, in a race filled with animosity and a taste for gremlin-filled victory.

Most of the time in a race, you would expect the winner of the game to be crowned the champion. No, these Gremlins are fighting for popularity, fighting for fans! Although, actually winning the race is certainly going to help with popularity on the gremlin’s behalf.

Box & Components // Bayou Bash

These egotistical little gremlins are gearing up to do whatever it takes, on a track set out for danger and injury. Players will attempt to out position and out-manoeuvre their opponents and they make their way around the track. With plenty of opportunities to deliver some dirty hits, bumps and knock-outs to fellow ambitious gremlins on the same race.

Build Your Own Tracks!

There seem to be no health and safety guidelines to follow for this race, just a brutal enrollment to your everyday Gremlin sports! Do you know what could be potentially more dangerous than a gremlin built track? Your own.

Track & Rulebook // Bayou Bash

The game comes with double-sided tiles for players to create their own track. There are a good few pre-generated tracks in the rulebook for you to jump into straight away, varying the difficulty of the track.

This feature will determine the time of the play due to the obstacles on the varying tiles. So, if you want more of a challenge, you’ll certainly be coming up against many with a consistent brown tile layout ending in absolute carnage. Terrain sits in the way on most tiles, with little open space to breathe during play.

Once the track is built, it is now time for players to choose their mounts, all with different abilities and benefits to see the player safer on the track…ish. Well, it’s to give the players a fighting chance on a messy race with no mercy ahead.

Card & Character Preview // Bayou Bash

Players can choose from Ruffles the featherless rooster, Bo Peep the hyper-aggressive pig, Fluffernutter the unhinged and unstable Rabbit, and finally Stumpy the Stagger-master of a Waldgeist. Once they have decided who they are taking into the race with them, they’ll collect all of the same colour cubes which represent fans.

Getting Started In Bayou Bash

To get started, players will need to determine who is going first. They will set up in positions that look the most appealing to them on the starting line, leaving space for the opponents to gather up what’s left!

Players On Board With Fans // Bayou Bash

The game starts by following suit with the racing theme - kicking the game off with a gunshot. This will trigger starting effects, that will give players one fan to kick them off. They will then place their coloured cubes on the board. Whether you want to chuck it right in front of you or down the track a little - it’s your fan to pick up and you hope it doesn't get mowed down!

As players do amazing things, such as vie for first place, knock others off the track, and use an ability, players will place coloured cubes (aka their fans) up ahead. The problem with fans wanting to show admiration on the track would be that they are quite literally an obstacle in a death race. Opponents cannot collect your fans and so if a fan’s in the way of another guy’s mount - Rest In Peace. They will ram into them just so you do not get your point!

Jockey Deck & Dice // Bayou Bash

To move during a round, players will draft Jockey Cards which will instruct them on their pathway ahead. Each of these cards will contain different symbols on them, first showing which dice to proceed with on that turn (varying speeds and progression). Secondly, you'll also note barrels that you can throw into the mix. Thirdly, carrot tokens allow you to flex some abilities. Each card is different and will appear face up to all players.

Gameplay Preview // Bayou Bash

In a scramble to bully each other off of the track, staggering, hitting obstacles and running off of the board - players will be attempting to collect their points to win the game. Although getting to the end of the track in first place doesn’t crown you the winner, you do gain three fans in admiration for getting there in style! Encouraging brutal tactics to rake in all of the points is the way to go.

Playing a pacifist on a Waltgeist does not do well in the Bayou. Trust me, I tried. I picked up barely any fans and was targeted by the other players in their hunt for glory. The second time around, I and the tree got mean!

Malifaux Bayou Starter Box // Wyrd Games

If you are keen on giving Malifaux a go and want to add a little something extra to your copy of Bayou Bash, the Bayou Starter Set miniatures can be used to swap out your character mounts. Don’t let assembly put you off, they all come pre-assembled and ready to get a lick of paint on them. A bonus for those who spend most of their time playing board games.

Bo Beep // Malifaux Bayou Starter Set

Fluffernutter // Malifaux Bayou Starter Set

Stumpy // Malifaux Bayou Starter Set

Ruffles // Malifaux Bayou Starter Set

I plan to get these miniatures painted up and stuck down to their bases so I can use them in Bayou Bash, and have a few more options for the Bayou if I want to take them out in the wild for some Malifaux.

Bayou Bash Box // Wyrd Games

The only downside to the minis is that they do not exactly fit on the board and so in their specific lanes in Bayou Bash. With a large base, these racers will overlap their lanes which can be a bit of a tight squeeze with all players on the board causing chaos! However, Wyrd has been making a lot of their products cross-compatible recently, and it’s something I adore. Bringing in The Other Side to Malifaux and vice versa there is even teasing of Malifaux integration into Through The Breach and the upcoming Ten Thunders Expansion.

For somebody who enjoys the story, environment and characters within Malifaux, Bayou Bash was almost like a day away from the battle, to engage in some lighthearted monkey business. It offered me an insight into the everyday life of a suicidal gremlin within the world.

Components // Bayou Bash

Bayou Bash is a blast. I played through the game with two and then four players. The larger the pool of players, the more carnage you reap. I would certainly bring this title out during games night. It brings a light-hearted (if your teammates are not too competitive like mine!) competitive nature with a simple to learn ruleset.

The title is highly interactive and truly a bumper car simulator, where players try and simply survive in a replayable high stakes race. A perfect way to enjoy some Gremlin-filled glory.

Would you give Bayou Bash a go?