Sonic Roll: A Nostalgic Dice-Rolling Adventure
Last month we met up with the great crew of KESS at their PAX West booth in. They graciously showed us all their latest offerings and even...
Last month we met up with the great crew of KESS at their PAX West booth in. They graciously showed us all their latest offerings and even were so kind as to send us home with copies of some of their games to try. After spending some time with it we are ready to talk about it starting with Sonic Roll.
A Semi-Cooperative, High-Speed Dice Game
Adventure
With the 3rd Sonic movie around the corner and
Sonic X Shadow Generation getting a release as well this October, it is clear
that Sonic the Hedgehog is still alive, spinning and thriving. Despite the
attempts of Mario to hog the spotlight, the popularity of the sonic videogames
has never really waned and seems stronger then ever. And if you ever wondered
if this game or speed and dexterity would make a good table top game, then you
can be relieved to know that KESS Entertainment has taken on the challenge.
Get ready to speed, spin, and jump through the most famous
and infamous zones as Sonic and his iconic friends in Sonic Roll! This tabletop
game, inspired by the beloved Sonic
the Hedgehog videogame series, captures its video game counterpart
through fast-paced action, strategic decisions, and dice-based chaos. Designed
as a semi-cooperative
game for 1 to 4 players, Sonic
Roll challenges players to work together to defeat the notorious
Dr. Eggman and his Badniks, while also competing to rack up the highest score.
With a suggested playtime of 30 to 60 minutes and recommended for ages 14 and
up, this game aims to strikes a balance between accessibility and depth,
offering a satisfying experience for both newcomers and veteran board gamers
alike.
But don’t let the colorful art and nostalgic charm fool
you—this game is no easy spin dash. With each roll of the dice, players must
carefully balance risk and reward to progress through the Zones, clear
obstacles, and ultimately face off against a menacing Boss. It’s a race against
time (literally!) as the threat of Time Tokens looms large, creating tense
moments that keep everyone on edge. So, grab your dice, choose your character,
and let’s dive into Sonic Roll.
Thematic Excellence and Visual Flair
Before I get into any gameplay I want to take a moment and
look at the presentation of the game, and how the designers at KESS have
captured the look and feel of the game in relation to its videogame origins.
There are many different ways you can approach this, with the plethora of Sonic
design options, but it is abundantly clear what love they have for the original
16-bit games.
The designers have done a fantastic job bringing the Sonic universe to life in
this board game. The theme is evident in every detail, from the colorful
artwork on Zone Cards that depict classic levels like Green Hill Zone and
Chemical Plant, to the clever use of Badniks as constant hazards that must be
dealt with, beautifully illustrated on each card. Each character’s abilities
are directly inspired by their in-game counterparts: Sonic’s Insta-Shield helps him
maneuver through challenges, while Knuckles’ Secret
Passage lets him bypass obstacles. Even the Boss Rounds have a
sense of grandeur, as players work together to clear challenging Boss Pattern
Cards and land decisive blows against the menacing Eggman.
The artwork, designed by Tracy Yardley, is vibrant and engaging, staying true to the playful yet adventurous style of the Sonic series. From the character dashboards to the Zone Cards and Badnik illustrations, everything feels like a tribute to the classic games. Fans will appreciate the familiar sights and sounds translated into a board game format, making it easy to get swept up in the nostalgia.
The game comes in a hefty box that immediately breaths
that nostalgic feel of the original SEGA game cases. Inside you will find many
tokens, card, cardboard panels and character cards. There are even some hidden
under the insert that are a surprise bonus level for when you finish the main game.
(We did not peek so don’t ask)
The game comes with a thick beautifully illustrated 36-page manual, which is a little daunting at first but contains everything you need to know to play the game.
The various cardboard pieces and cardstock cards have a
high print quality overall, but varied in card stock thickness depending on the
piece. However, we had a small misprint on our bonus level cards, which are
used to search for the chaos emeralds, causing some to be lighter in color,
making it easier to find that chaos emerald card as well as jump through the
bumper cards really fast. With all the other components being of the high quality
they are this seemed a rare process issue as opposed a systemic design problem.
But at the time of writing, I have not yet contacted KESS about this issue. Additionally,
besides the nice insert I wish the game came with some more baggies to easy separate
all the different tokens for easier setup.
As I mentioned though the overall presentation, design
and quality are impressive, but do not let the many pieces intimidate you, soon
they will all make sense.
The hedgehog expert inspects the setup
|
| The hedgehog expert inspects the setup |
Gameplay Overview: High Speed Meets High Stakes
Sonic Roll is a
semi-cooperative experience, meaning that while players share the same goal of
stopping Eggman, they also compete for individual points through Rings, Animal
Tokens, and clearing challenges. This dual-purpose objective keeps everyone
engaged and leads to some interesting strategies. Do you clear a Zone Card to
progress the group, or do you take out a troublesome Badnik in front of a rival
to stop them from scoring higher? Go to far and the loss of one, means a loss
for everyone.
The goal of the game is to
complete each Zone by overcoming zone challenges and defeating Dr. Eggman and
his minions, the Badniks, before time runs out. Players can choose one of four
characters—Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy—each with unique abilities that
enhance their playstyle. For example, Sonic can use his Insta-Shield ability to modify
dice results, while Knuckles has access to a Secret Passage that only he
can use. Each character feels distinct and offers different strategies to
explore. However, the central challenge
comes from the constant push to balance your actions in each turn. Dice rolls
can be unpredictable, and every move counts as you fight to conserve Time
Tokens, prevent Badniks from overwhelming you, and maximize your score.
It’s this constant push-your-luck
dynamic that makes Sonic Roll
thrilling yet punishing. You might want to play it safe by ending your turn early,
but if you do, you’ll lose precious time. On the other hand, pressing on means
potentially triggering a chain of Badnik attacks that deplete your resources.
The punishment for having dice left and taking a Time Token is a unique
twist—it compels you to keep pushing forward even when the odds aren’t in your
favor, and I admit at times the game feels punishing no matter what you choose.
The gameplay is structured around a series of steps that
form each player’s turn. It begins with a Roll
Action Step, where players build their Dice Pool. From there, they
enter the Spending Step,
placing dice on Zone or Badnik cards to clear spaces or neutralize threats.
After each die is spent, they reroll
any remaining dice—a mechanic that introduces an element of risk, as every
reroll gives Badniks a chance to attack if their specific values show up. And
finally, in the End Turn Step,
if any dice are left over, players must discard them and take a Time Token—a
penalty that brings the team closer to a game-over scenario.
Let us dive a little deeper into each phase of the game.
1.
Roll Action
Step: Players start by choosing one of the three
Roll Actions available on their Character Dashboard. Each Roll Action dictates
how many and what type of dice will be rolled to form the player’s Dice Pool.
Some Roll Actions might have ROLL Action Effects that trigger during
this step, such as adding extra dice or modifying values.
- Example: Sonic uses his Spin Dash Roll Action,
which lets him roll 1 Blue (Run) die and 1 Red (Spin) die. If no numbers match,
then he adds one more of each to his pool and re-rolls them. This repeats
until two dice have a matching value. These then form his Dice Pool for
the turn. These effects only activate during the initial ROLL step,
but not during the re-roll step. A distinction we initially missed.
 |
| using roll action to gain an advantage |
2. Spending Step: Players spend dice one at a time on either a Zone Challenge or a
Badnik. Once a die is placed, the remaining dice in the pool must be rerolled
before spending another die. It’s in this step that SPEND Action Effects can
be triggered, such as gaining extra Rings or clearing special conditions.
- If a
player cannot spend a die, they take Damage. They can avoid damage by
using a boost token and immediately re-roll. Managing these rerolls is
critical, as rerolling the wrong combination can trigger Badnik Attacks,
causing players to take further penalties.
- Example: Sonic spends his Yellow (Jump) 3
to clear a Zone Challenge requiring a Yellow 3. This earns him a Ring. It
also activates his SPEND effect when placing a yellow on a zone card gaining
a blue (dash) die into his current pool.
If you spend a die on the zone card, often an event or
reward of some kind gets triggered. These can range from receiving some rings,
gain a powerup, access to the bonus stage or you and a player of your choice could
end up with a Badnik. You can even end up having to roll the black hazard dice
which can cause damage if they match any die in your pool. You will have to
make some important and strategic choice in the path you take moving forward
through each zone.
 |
| Each part of a zone card comes with an event |
3.
Reroll Step: After spending a die, the player can stop and got to the End Turn Step
or decide to reroll any remaining dice in their Dice Pool. This is where the push-your-luck mechanic
comes into play. Each Badnik has a unique attack pattern, represented by
specific numbers that trigger their effect during rerolls. If any of these
values show up, the player must take the Badnik’s penalty.
- Example: Sonic’s remaining dice (a Red 2
and Blue 4) are rerolled. The new results are 6 and 4. Unfortunately, one
of Sonic’s Badniks , the Chopper, attacks on a 4. Which would cause damage;
however, Sonic decides to spend the Red 6 to defeat the Badnik, freeing a
trapped Animal and gaining an Animal Token and preventing the damage.
If Sonic did not have a way to defeat Chopper,
then he would be damaged. But there is hope. If Sonic carries any rings, he
loses them, but he does not lose a life (you only have three of those), If you
do not want that to happen you can spend a boost token and see if you can avoid
the damage all together and re-roll. There are also a bunch of powerups including
shields etc. that you can earn throughout the game that can help you avoid
damage, and more. If you have no ways to
prevent the damage you lose a life and you go back to deciding the end turn
step or keep on re-rolling.
4.
End Turn Step: A player may choose to end their turn after any spending step, however If
the player has any remaining dice, they must discard them and take a Time
Token. Time Tokens are limited, and if the players run out, it’s Game Over for
everyone. This mechanic forces players to push forward even when it might be
safer to end their turn early.
- Example: Sonic ends his turn with a Blue 1
left. He discards it, takes a Time Token, and passes play to the next
player.
This constant push-your-luck
dynamic makes Sonic Roll
thrilling yet punishing. The decision to push ahead and risk more rerolls can
make or break the team’s success. While each player aims to score the most
points, the cooperative element of managing Time Tokens and minimizing damage
keeps everyone invested in each turn’s outcome. We often had table discussions
looking to help each other find a way out of a peril situation, because above
all we wanted to reach the finish line.
 |
| The dreaded time tokens |
Luck of the Dice: A Double-Edged Sword
While the gameplay is pretty fast-paced and rewarding (once
you get a feel for the four steps and all the ability and skills you have),
there’s no denying that luck plays a big role in determining the outcome of
your turn. The dice-based mechanics mean that even the best-laid plans can be
thrown off by an unfortunate roll, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself stuck
with a handful of dice that just don’t match anything on the board.
This randomness adds to the challenge and can make the
game feel unpredictable, but it also contributes to some of its more
frustrating moments. Running out of lives or Time Tokens because of poor dice
rolls can feel disheartening, especially when a bit more luck would have turned
things around. We felt that a small adjustment—such as being able to exchange
20 Rings for an extra Life Token—might have mitigated some of the difficulty
spikes without sacrificing the tension that the game thrives on.
Look ahead on the board, choose your path wisely and pick the needed dice colors to potentially race across them with the least amount of trouble. But in the end, there is no real avoiding the bad things along the way.
If this all seems like a lot, it is because it is and
there are more that we have not even touched upon. The many different ways of
getting rewards, spend actions, hitting danger and more really captures the
videogame. So often was I getting aha moments where I was like, I see where
this comes from, it is this or that in the game. But don’t worry even if you never
played the game or do not remember it, there is nothing preventing you from understanding
the mechanics. I am just telling you this to show the thought that went into
the theme here.
Bonus round
Throughout Sonic Roll, players have the chance to
break away from the main gameplay and enter a thrilling Bonus Stage—a special
mini-game that offers the opportunity to earn valuable rewards, including the
elusive Chaos Emeralds. Entering the Bonus Stage can be done in a few ways; It
is either triggered as a reward on the zone card, a reward for defeating a zone
card or triggered when a player collects five or more Rings in a single turn
and passes through a Star Post. Remember those? They were like the save points
in the videogame. The rings saved at this star post will not go into your saved
rings, and no longer protect you but as a reward for 5 or more you get to go
find some cool items in the bonus level.
Once activated, the game pauses, and the player is
transported to a new bonus challenge zone, represented by a 4x4 grid of tiles
that are placed face-down, each depicting a Blue Sphere.
The objective of the Bonus Stage is straightforward: Flip a blue sphere as you search the grid to find the hidden Chaos Emerald by flipping tiles one at a time. As the player reveals each tile, different outcomes can occur. One such possible outcome when flipping a tile is the appearance of a Bumper Sphere. When a Bumper is revealed, the player “bounces” off the tile, collecting a reward shown on it and is then compelled to flip another tile pushing players closer to uncovering the Chaos Emerald—or sending them spiraling toward an unwanted Red Sphere.
With each Sphere uncovered, the tension rises as the player
narrows down the possibilities, hoping to stumble upon the sought-after Chaos
Emerald. Some tiles hide a Red Sphere instead. Revealing a Red Sphere
immediately ends the Bonus Stage, cutting short the player’s search and forcing
them to return to the main game. Yet, even in defeat, not all is lost; the Red
Sphere tile usually grants a small reward, such as extra Rings or Power-Ups,
ensuring that the player doesn’t leave the stage empty-handed.
The ultimate goal of the Bonus Stage is to uncover the Chaos
Emerald, a rare and valuable item that can greatly benefit the player who finds
it. If the player is fortunate enough to reveal the Chaos Emerald tile, the
Bonus Stage ends immediately, and they claim the emerald as a reward. Finding a
Chaos Emerald is more than just a personal victory; it’s a significant boost in
both power and points. Chaos Emeralds provide powerful one-time effects when
used during a player’s turn, such as adding extra dice to the pool or bypassing
specific challenges entirely. Furthermore, any Chaos Emeralds collected will
also contribute valuable bonus points at the end of the game.
Once a Chaos Emerald has been found the Bonus Stage resets.
All the Blue Sphere tiles are shuffled and placed back into a 4x4 grid,
face-down, ready for the next time a player enters.
The Bonus Stage is more than just a diversion; it’s an
integral part of the game that adds a layer of excitement and risk-reward
decision-making. Whether players find themselves bouncing between Bumper Spheres,
cautiously avoiding Red Spheres, or triumphantly uncovering a Chaos Emerald,
each journey into the Bonus Stage offers a unique experience that can shift the
balance of the entire game.
Boss Rounds: A Climax of Tension
The game’s structure builds towards a thrilling Boss
Round. This climactic event is triggered when the Zone Deck is empty and all
the zone cards on the table are cleared, signaling the beginning of a fight
against Dr. Eggman. Players flip the Act Board to its Boss side, set up Boss
Pattern Cards on each Route as indicated, and prepare for the final showdown.
During the Boss Round, players must work together to
clear the leftmost Boss Pattern Cards on each Route. These cards function similarly
to Zone Challenges but are often more difficult and come with harsher
penalties. Once all Pattern Cards in a Route are cleared, the Boss’s Hit Space
is exposed, and players can land a direct hit on Eggman.
But it’s not that simple! Each turn, the Boss Attack Cards introduce new threats and effects that must be managed. A die can be spent to flip a Boss Attack Card, temporarily neutralizing its effect. However, the Boss Attack Card returns to a new active state at the start of the next turn. This means players must be strategic in deciding when and how to deal with these extra challenges.
- Gameplay Example: Knuckles’ Boss Turn
- Knuckles
builds his Dice Pool using the Wall
Climb Roll Action, rolling three times and keeping the
highest results. His final pool is 4, 5, and 6 (all Red).
- In the
Spending Step, he uses the Red 4 to clear a Boss Pattern Card, exposing
the Boss’s Hit Space.
- With a
5 and 6 left, Knuckles rerolls, resulting in a 6 and 2. He spends the 6
on the Boss’s Hit Space, scoring a hit and removing an Animal Token.
- During
the End Turn Step, all Boss Pattern Cards refill on every Route, and the
Boss becomes fully defended once more.
This tense exchange continues until the Boss is defeated,
or the players run out of Time Tokens or lives. Successfully managing this
final round requires careful planning, dice manipulation, and a little bit of
luck!
Final Thoughts: Speeding to Victory
Overall, Sonic
Roll is a delightful, high-energy game that captures the essence of
the Sonic
franchise as well the ticking almost every box of the video game mechanic. From
rings, to the pressure of time to the difficult bosses and the annoying Badniks
around every corner making your run difficult. The semi-cooperative gameplay,
combined with its stunning artwork and thoughtful design, makes it a must-play
for Sonic fans but
is also well suited for board gamers looking for a unique challenge. Its
difficulty level and reliance on luck may deter some players, but for those
willing to brave the dice and strategize carefully, it’s a thrilling experience
from start to finish that still can bring joy when you lose. There were definitely
a bunch of “aw shucks, dangit, we were so close, hair grabbing moments, that
made us reset and try again.
The game shines brightest when players communicate and
share strategies. It’s highly recommended to keep the rulebook open for the
first few games, taking time to discuss and clarify actions as a group. This
“open rulebook” approach can make the learning curve less steep and help
everyone understand the nuances of dice manipulation and timing.
If you’re playing with family or friends, embrace the
chaos, and enjoy the ride. It might take a few rounds to get a hang of the
mechanics, but once you do, the game’s tempo picks up and truly feels like a
race against time—one that’ll have everyone cheering or groaning with every
roll.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your dice and show
Eggman who’s the baddest hedgehog in town!
