Suitable for ages seven and up, Sonic Super Teams combines strategic plays with characters familiar from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Although the boardgame offers both a simple setup and relatively fast rounds of gameplay, which make it suitable for players with shorter attention spans, the game has potential to become much more competitive as well. As the eight colourful characters race around the board, carefully thought-out uses of the game’s movement cards and bonus abilities can change the team in the leading position in seconds.
Gameplay
The game is quick to set up as it only has two stacks of cards, eight detailed character tokens and a simple board with a racetrack. The art on the gameboard is reminiscent of the classic designs from the Sonic video games, with features such as loops, gold rings and spikes that are integrated into the game’s mechanics.
The game is designed for two to four players. In a two-player game, a player will manage two teams of two characters, and all four of the player’s characters need to cross the finish line for the player to win the game. With three to four players, each player manages one team of two characters instead. Although the instructions say the game will take twenty minutes, a round can easily take longer depending on how seriously the players take the more strategic elements of the game. The strategy comes in when the players need to balance advancing their own team with attempts to hinder the other players’ movement.
The game is played in rounds, and each player starts with a deck of six cards they can play in the order they choose. Since every player controls all eight characters based on coloured movement cards, everyone needs to pay attention to other players’ turns to keep track of their own team’s placement on the board. And for more competitive players, nothing beats the feeling of interrupting someone’s attempt to mess with your team by revealing a Bonus Card that completely derails their plans!
As an example of a possible strategy, when a Red movement card appears in the Blue player’s deck, the Blue player may immediately choose to play the card on their turn. Since the Red player has no way to prevent the move, the Red character token then skips any nearby bonus spaces and lands on a spiked square instead, getting trapped. On their next turn, the Red player may have the tools to escape the trap, and that is how attempts to predicts what cards other players have can also lead to surprisingly in-depth plays as the mind games begin.
However, although the instructions on the booklet can be unnecessarily difficult to grasp at first, there is no need to make the game too complicated: at its simplest, the players can focus on the movement and the fun of the design. The Bonus Cards’ movement-altering effects can also be an additional feature that younger players are introduced to only after a few rounds of learning the basics.
Final Thoughts
A huge positive of the gameplay is how the randomised movement cards ensure that every character keeps moving regardless of each player’s skill level. I’ve also seen players who have no knowledge of Sonic the Hedgehog cheer for their team by name, so the game can definitely work as an introduction to the franchise as well. The gameboard’s simple design also allows house rules and modifications to further change the experience, and when everyone is on the same page about what they want from the game, one round can quickly turn into three or more. That is why Sonic Super Teams has the potential to become a family favourite.
Note on the Language Editions
The pieces are the same regardless of the language of the packaging, and the English instructions are available on the publisher’s website.
The Nordic edition comes with instruction booklets in Finnish, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. For players with the 2024 release, it’s worth noting that there is at least one typo in the Danish instruction booklet’s example case of how the game works. The mistake is unfortunate as it switches the colours of two teams, Blue and Red, which may cause confusion when you are learning the basics of the gameplay.
Basic Information
Game Sonic Super Teams: The Racing Board Game
Players 2–4
Age 7+
Play Time 20 minutes
Designer Max Gerchambeau
Publisher Zygomatic
Original Release Date 2022
Picture Credits
Photos of Sonic Super Teams, taken by the author
