Turbo Kidz

Game 10# of the “Now & Then Summer Marathon 2024” is “Turbo Kidz” Played with Jack(9) and Toby(6).

“Turbo Kidz” is a game set in the same universe as “Zombie Kidz” and “Zombie Teenz.” The general premise is that even though the city is overrun with zombies, it doesn’t mean you can’t find time to essentially play “Mario Kart” with your friends.

The idea of the game is that you play in teams cooperatively, with one player being the driver and the other the co-pilot. The driver is blindfolded (and I’m pleased to say the game comes with blindfolds, so we don’t have to recreate the time that Toby had to wear a mask from the special edition of the 90s film “Showgirls”), and the co-pilot has to guide them around the course.

There are several things you can do, such as giving vocal instructions. You can also hold onto the thumb of the driver and, like a joystick, move their thumb in the correct direction to try and move their other hand. If you have an accident and pass over the white line, you have to go back to the nearest blue checkpoint.

In a normal game, the first team to reach the finish line wins. In a cooperative game, you are trying to complete the course in the quickest possible time.

There are several special track effects, such as jumps where you have to lift your hand, bridges where you have to go around and under, and turbo boosts where the co-pilot gets to hold the driver’s hand and draw it. You also get to select your vehicle, which gives an extra rule specific to that card, such as placing a mine to disrupt other players.

As with “Zombie Kidz” and “Zombie Teenz,” there are also a number of achievements that you can earn by doing certain things during a race. Unlike those games, however, this is a one-off game and is not a legacy game.

I’m starting to think that I’m not very keen on this type of game. In theory, the tracks are quite busy and it’s fairly difficult to play, especially with children, which is obviously the target audience for this game. Using the player’s thumb is a novel concept and does work well, but to be honest, everyone just found the game a little bit frustrating. I think if I hadn’t played “Accomplices,” which I reviewed at the end of last year, I might be more enthusiastic. However, I would say that “Accomplices” is a better game, with the red-blue mechanic being particularly intriguing. This game does have the added bonus that it can be quite competitive, but you need at least four players to play the competitive version, which, as we all know, is not always doable.

I think I’m not going to give a recommendation on this because I believe you will know if this is the sort of thing that appeals to you. The game comes with lots of different tracks, which offer variety, and the whole thing is very well presented with a decent level of component quality and everything you need. If you enjoy this kind of game, especially if you played “Accomplices” and really liked it, then there is possibly something here you will enjoy.