This game is just silly. You got two drivers competing for speed in a beguiling race. But they’re not actually driving cars, instead they’re tracing a route along a racetrack with a dry erase marker. They can’t lift up the pen and must keep it pressed to the surface so that the path is continuous. The tracks aren’t complex at all, just a few turns, maybe a hazard or two to avoid, just have to make sure you don’t collide with the walls. Seems easy enough, right? Well, not when you’re blindfolded.
Silly.
The reckless motorists aren’t navigating with extrasensory perception. A teammate rides shotgun and steers the blind jockey by using the driver’s thumb as a joystick. You can speak too, but it’s not quite as effective as slamming the poor wheelman’s digit in a cardinal direction.
The concept is incredibly dumb, but in the kind of way that rides the thin line between brilliance and stupidity. I mean this totally as a compliment..
If you’re not laughing a little inside just picturing this activity, then kill the engine and step on out. It’s full of mirth and giggles and everything completely opposite of carefully managing resources or tracks. It’s the type of experience that is the antithesis of complexity for the sake of cognitive challenge. It’s simple, fun, and all about a shared experience of vulnerability as a source of comedy.
Each team of two has their own copy of the track. Many such sheets are included in the game and each track sports a rule adjustment or two. Some have jumps – you have to be instructed to lift your marker and then stick the landing – others have bridges or oil spills. Each duo has a special ability card they can also fire off once per race which injects a touch more anarchy. It’s a small box at a small price with a degree of content that I would argue is appropriate. This isn’t the type of thing you would play every week, rather, it’s an experience game that you pull out every so often as an event of sorts. It’s an absolute delight to introduce to new players and watch their faces light up as they realize what’s about to happen. It also performs incredibly well with children.
It’s best situated as a four-player game, but it is humorous and worthy of some attention at a full count of six. In this format, one player drives, one steers in silence, and one continually shouts. The soundtrack is full of hits like: “FASTER, FASTER”, “STOP. RIGHT. I SAID RIGHT!”, and “DAMMIT”. It works and the game is a whole 20 minutes so there’s nothing to lose, even if performance isn’t peak.
One of the most interesting aspects of Turbo Kidz is its adroit handling of subject matter. It’s easy to overlook this accomplishment due to the absurdity of play, but the strong themes of trust, communication, and vulnerability directly capture the identical qualities found in real world rally racing. In that sport, the driver is completely reliant on their co-driver functioning as a navigator. The co-driver provides important information during the race, such as upcoming turns and obstacles. The duo must function as a single unit, for rallying requires quick reflexes and precision.
Quite simply, Turbo Kidz adapts these elements in a way which is far more effective and innovative than even the most popular of rally tabletop games. I quite enjoy Rallyman: Dirt, but it ain’t Turbo Kidz.
I’ve always been perplexed why we don’t see more games with the team versus team structure. Captain Sonar is one of the only popular releases with this format. Team sports are so prevalent in American culture that it’s shocking how the vast majority of games produced here are focused on competition between individuals. There’s a contagious joy when you’re fighting alongside another mate against an opposing team. High-fives, outrageous cheers, and deafening boos are all commonplace. It’s a different vibe than the typical tabletop experience. We need more of these games.
It’s unsurprising this is a Le Scorpion Masqué release. This is the studio that’s produced the hilarious real-time trivia game Stay Cool, the devious and clever Decrypto, and the damn impressive simulation party game Sky Team. This is a publisher that doesn’t know how to produce something dull. Even a title like Turing Machine, which didn’t hold my interest for long, is so odd and unique that I felt compelled to turn its knobs.
I think this is a perfectly cunning game. It’s not wholly innovative as the guided blindfold thing has been done before – such as in Splotter’s VOC! – but how it’s harnessed here for both silly fun and subtle thematic expression is stupendous. Thumbs up road warriors.
A review copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
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Player Elimination 