Heat Stress, Heat & Cooldown Rules Explained
Heat cards represent engine strain; Stress cards create uncertain speed. Understanding how both move through your deck is central to Heat.
How Stress cards work
You may play a Stress card as one of the cards required by your current gear. For each Stress played, reveal cards from your draw deck until you reveal a basic Speed card numbered 1–4. That Speed card supplies the Stress card’s speed value; discard the other revealed cards.
Can you discard Stress normally?
No. Stress cards cannot normally be discarded during the optional Discard step. You generally need to play them or use an effect that explicitly removes Stress.
Where do Heat cards begin?
Heat cards start in your Engine pile. When you pay Heat, move the required Heat cards from the Engine to your discard pile.
What happens after Heat reaches your hand?
After cycling through the discard and draw piles, Heat can enter your hand. Heat cards cannot normally be played as movement cards or discarded during the standard Discard step, so too much Heat can clog your hand.
What does Cooldown do?
Cooldown moves Heat cards from your hand back to your Engine, making that Heat available to spend again later.
How much Cooldown do gears provide?
In the base game, first gear provides Cooldown 3 and second gear provides Cooldown 1. Third and fourth gear do not provide automatic Cooldown.
Other ways to spend Heat
Common Heat costs include shifting two gears at once, boosting and exceeding a corner’s Speed Limit.
Related Heat guides
Publisher source
Rules checked September 2026.