Dirt & Dust – A Rally Game Through the Eyes of a Former Rally Driver

Releasing a rally-themed board game in Poland is a bold move. Rally fans here are rare, and motorsport culture in general barely exists. Still, we now have Dirt & Dust, a game that puts rallying on the tabletop.

It’s no surprise that Albi took the risk of publishing a rally board game. The company comes from the Czech Republic, and so does the game’s designer, Petr Čáslava. For our neighbors, rallying is practically a national sport. Just think of Skoda’s motorsport history or the legendary Barum Rally, one of the toughest asphalt rounds of the European Rally Championship. So yes — this review will be heavy on rally talk.

Why? Because I’ve been into rallying for nearly three decades. I’ve competed in esports rallies and local club events, worked professionally as a rally journalist, and even photographed rally cars in action. With that background clear, let’s talk about Dirt & Dust: why it’s not really a racing game, and whether it delivers the promised adrenaline.

Dirt & Dust Is Not a Racing Game!

You see the title, the theme, and you might expect some classic wheel-to-wheel racing. Here comes the first surprise: Dirt & Dust is not a racing game.

There are no race tracks, no head-to-head driving, no simultaneous duels. Instead, this is a mid-weight eurogame about optimizing your moves, mixing dice management with a very original take on deck-building. The play is simultaneous, which echoes the way rallying works.

Quick Rally Note: Rallying is not the same as racing. In rallies, crews drive special stages on public roads — asphalt, gravel, or snow — but not side-by-side. Cars start in timed intervals, and results are based on comparing times, not position on track. Racing, by contrast, takes place on closed circuits with drivers competing directly against one another. Calling rallies “races” is a common but incorrect shortcut.

How Dirt & Dust Works

Each player gets a personal deck of starting cards (plus their chosen driver’s cards) and a set of dice. A deck of ten stage cards defines the ten rounds of the rally. Progress is tracked on two meters: Speed (victory points) and Popularity (a resource). Player boards show tools, traction, car damage, and current road position.

1.Each round has four phases:

Roll Dice Phase – roll your dice pool and place them on your Rally Team board.

2.Drive Phase – in any order:

- Play cards from hand

- Buy new Rally Team cards

- Resolve active cards

- Recon (send your co-driver token to a stage card)

- Use special actions

3.Stage Evaluation Phase – shift the stage cards and score points for the one that drops.

4.Reset Phase – shift cards on your board, clear tokens, prep for next round.

After ten rounds, the winner is the player with the most points.

This Game Requires a “Driver’s License”

Although the rules aren’t overly complicated, Dirt & Dust demands precision and experience. It’s easy enough to learn after a few rounds, but it can overwhelm new players with its icons and options. One poor decision can echo across later rounds, so it rewards careful planning and sequencing.

That makes this more of a rally team manager simulation than a pure driving game. You’re less behind the wheel, more wearing the headset on the service bench.

Rally Team Management – Dice and Decks

Gameplay revolves around two clever systems: dice and deck-building. Each player has six slots on their board linked to dice results. At the start of a round, you roll three dice and place them. Cards you play stay on the board and move down one slot each round — meaning they can be used across multiple turns if you manage them well.

This system encourages long-term planning, but you can still adjust in the moment by using tools (resources) to tweak die results. It’s a mix of luck, control, and clever timing.

Your car’s track position (accelerating/braking rows, risk zones) matters too. Push too hard and you’ll take risk dice, which can deal car damage. Accumulate enough, and parts of your car break down. Go too far, and you’re out of the rally entirely — just like in real life.

Components and Art Direction

There’s no official license here, so cars are “inspired by” real rally models. Honestly, I enjoyed spotting the references. The artwork is clean and thematic, and wooden tokens look great.

That said:

- The insert looks good at first but fails when stored vertically — keep tokens in baggies.

- Player boards use speedometer-style dials to track resources. Functional, but less immersive. I’d have preferred a rally-style steering wheel with telemetry readouts instead.

- Overall, though, production is solid, and the game is language-independent once you know the icons.

Final Thoughts – What Works and What Doesn’t

Dirt & Dust is not a racing game. It’s a eurogame disguised as rallying, about optimizing actions and managing risk.

What I liked:

- Original theme for a eurogame

- Clever deck-building system

- Strategic depth from dice and long-term planning

- Realistic sense of car wear and rally attrition

What didn’t work for me:

- Lack of direct player interaction (it feels solo at times)

- Risk dice can frustrate

- Early elimination for a player can be a drag

- Doesn’t capture the thrill of rally driving — more like managing a rally team

The game requires commitment. Newcomers may bounce off its complexity, but seasoned eurogamers will find a unique, thematic puzzle unlike anything else on the market.

Thanks to Albi for providing the review copy of Dirt & Dust.