Matthew BaileyIt’s going to become extremely obvious over the next month or so — as we work through a bunch of previews and reviews — that Toby is currently obsessed with Star Wars. And to be honest, a lot of the games we’ve ended up bringing home from the UK Games Expo this year are Star Wars-themed in some way or another.
Now, Toby is just about at the age where he’s capable enough to enjoy a proper miniatures skirmish game, so he spent quite a bit of time eyeing up Star Wars: Shatterpoint at the Expo (and I spent quite a bit of time gently steering him away from it before we accidentally re-mortgaged the house which ultimately failed). But something that caught both our eyes was Star Wars Super Teams — a re-skin of Sonic Super Teams, now blasted into a galaxy far, far away.
This one was being previewed at the show, and what instantly stood out was how clearly this game is aimed at younger kids. The box says ages 7+, but honestly I think this would be spot on for Key Stage 1 — maybe even some reception-age kids if they’ve got a bit of gaming confidence.
The best way I can describe it is that it shares a lot of DNA with Snail Sprint, that lovely little HABA game for preschoolers that encourages basic logical thinking and movement choices based on dice rolls. Here, you’re racing along a winding, colourful space track — which Toby immediately declared was “obviously the Kessel Run,” and who am I to argue?
On your turn, you play a card from your hand, which moves a ship forward. But the clever bit is, the colour on the card might not match your own ship — so you could end up helping someone else. Or, more likely, steering them into trouble.
That’s where a little bit of light “take that” strategy sneaks in. You can deliberately steer opponents into awkward bits of track — asteroid fields, black holes, and so on — or send them the long way round, while making sure your own ships zoom ahead through hyperspace lanes and smoother paths.
It’s really simple and very accessible, but there’s just enough thinking to give it a little depth — especially when kids start figuring out how to tactically use their movement cards.
Where this really shines, though, especially for kids who love Star Wars, is in the production. The game comes with a lovely set of eight chunky mini starships, including the Millennium Falcon, an X-Wing, Death Star, Star Destroyer, Jedi Starfighter, and more. They’re proper little toys in their own right and gave the game an instant toy-box appeal.
Now, for older kids (including mine), it’s probably a bit on the simplistic side — but as an intro to strategy games or a fun activity for siblings to play together, especially if one’s a bit younger, I think this one works really well. The rules are straightforward, the gameplay is fast, and the packaging is proper premium. If you’ve got a young Star Wars fan in the house and you’re looking for something with a bit more going on than pure luck — but not too much! — then this is a great place to starThis is a strategic and fun little race game for the whole family, where your team is trying to get both of its ships over the finish line before anyone else. It’s essentially a reworking of “Sonic Superteams,” but with a full Star Wars makeover. New board, tweaked rules, some adjusted bonus card powers — and of course, a heap of galactic flavour.
You’ll choose your cards carefully, watching what other ships are doing — because it’s more than likely someone’s setting up to sabotage you. Move fast, block your opponents, dodge black holes and chase down bonuses.
The ships are lovely little 3D minis — you get to race the X-wing and Millennium Falcon, Star Destroyer and Death Star, ZID fighter and ZID-improved (yeah, no idea), plus the Jedi Starfighter and Tantiv IV. Big hit with the kids already.
