Supers Board Game Preview

This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art, rules or components will change in the final game. Find out more here

Super has had an interesting journey. It first appeared a few months ago as a digital version that showed a lot of promise, even if early feedback suggested it had not quite found its footing yet. The core idea was clearly strong, it just needed refining. Fast forward to now, and the physical version feels like that potential fully realised. The gameplay is tighter, the decisions land better, and it now delivers a genuinely satisfying experience from start to finish. At its best, Super is about building a slick, efficient team of heroes and then unleashing them in perfectly timed bursts of mission-completing brilliance.

Setup is quick and clean. Each player takes an agency board with six slots, a score tracker, and a player aid. In the centre, you lay out the main board with two rows: one for Supers available to recruit and one for Missions available to complete. Shuffle both decks and deal four Supers face up and four Missions face up to form your recruitment line and mission river. Add a pool of stun tokens nearby, hand the first player token to whoever last read a comic, and you are ready to go.

On your turn, you must recruit one Super from the row and add them to your agency. Each Super adds a certain strength to your team, and each mission has a certain requirement to complete it. When you have enough Supers in your team, you can begin to complete missions to earn followers (points) if your team has enough combined power and the right colour leader to meet the requirements. The Supers you use to complete missions are discarded though, so you can only use each one once this way. But certain powers do allow you to keep them for a second mission, or use them passively to support from base.

This is where the game opens up. Supers have abilities that trigger immediately or stay active while they sit in your team, and missions can chain into further bonuses, extra recruits, or scoring bursts. After your turn, the rows refill and play continues. The goal is simple: be the first to reach 50 million followers, or have the most when the mission deck runs out.

At the table, this really comes alive through its combo-driven engine building. You are recruiting Supers into a six-slot agency, slowly shaping a team that works together rather than just sitting there looking impressive. Where you place them matters. What group you use together is important. It all links and there are combos everywhere.

One game, I found myself quietly collecting a few of purple Supers, after recruiting one that rewarded repeated Purple Supers in my base. It looked unremarkable for a few turns. Then suddenly, one turn flipped into a chain reaction. A recruit triggered another recruit, which nudged my power just enough to complete a mission with just one Super, which then gave me a bonus that set up the next turn. That sense of delayed payoff is where the game sings. You are not just playing cards, you are building a plan that clicks into place later.

The theme and presentation do a lot of heavy lifting too. The artwork is bold, vibrant, and genuinely fun, with a comic-book energy that matches the gameplay. It feels like assembling a superhero squad that evolves over time, rather than a dry optimisation puzzle. There is also a nice tension between racing for followers and deciding when to cash in your team for missions versus holding them for something bigger. It keeps everyone engaged and watching each other’s boards, especially when someone looks like they are about to pop off.

Pros

• Satisfying combo building that rewards planning across multiple turns

• Strong table presence with vibrant, energetic artwork and theme

• Constant sense of progression as your agency becomes more efficient

  
  

Cons

• Early turns can feel a little flat before your engine gets going

• Some iconography and interactions may take a game or two to fully grasp

• Can occasionally feel swingy if one player chains multiple bonuses at the right moment

Super is a great example of a design that has clearly evolved in the right direction. What started as a slightly underwhelming digital concept has been refined into a punchy, engaging card-driven engine builder with real table appeal. If you enjoy games where you build towards clever, explosive turns and watch your plan come together, this is well worth your time. Just be prepared for your carefully assembled team to occasionally steal the spotlight like true superheroes do… dramatic, slightly chaotic, and loving every second of it. Find out more here