We’re always up for trying a new game, but an entirely new type of game? Oh yeah, we’re down for that! 

Sonora is a brand new take on the roll and write genre that meshes a classic roll and write with the dexterity game of Crokinole to create the first ever Flick-and-Write!

How Do You Play Sonora?

Despite looking a little overwhelming from the typical roll and write, Sonora is a fairly straight forward game that is played out in two parts over the course of an agreed upon number of rounds.

Part One: Flick!

You’ll first begin by flicking your discs onto the board. Each player is given five wooden discs numbered 1-5 that they must flick from their “launch corner” onto the board. You can choose to flick your discs in any order. Once everyone has flicked all five of their discs you move onto the writing phase.

Part Two: Write!

The board itself is divided into four different regions. Each of these regions relates to a unique mini-game on the dry erase writing sheet that players will use to record their disc results. 

How you are able to use your discs depends on which section it ended up on or if it landed on any bonus circles. Two sections, the Cliff-Dweller Ruins and the Mudcracks, require players to add up the total value of their discs in that section to then use in the corresponding location on their writing sheet. The other two sections, the Canyon and the Creek Bed, have players resolving each disc in that section individually.

Players are able to earn bonuses by using their discs in various areas in each mini-game. These bonuses can be anything from getting a “re-flick” for use in a future flicking phase, a “swap” where you could swap two discs on the board before resolving, or you could earn animal bonuses that allow you to take extra moves in the various mini-games as if you had another disc to score. 

Game End

At the end of the agreed upon rounds, the players score up each mini game individually, then add those totals together to get their final score. The player with the highest score wins.  

What Do We Think?

When a game takes two of our favorites, Crokinole + Roll and Writes, and marries them together, it shouldn’t be shocking that we wind up really enjoying the play experience. 

But overall, I was impressed by just how fun Sonora was without ever feeling gimmicky. I was worried the mini crokinole board was going to feel a bit out of place and just there for the sake of being there, but honestly found it refreshing from the standard rolling of dice. 

Flicking the discs adds an extra level of fun and whimsy to the game that I really enjoyed. Games should be fun after all! And flicking discs, hoping for accuracy and ending up failing wildly or, alternatively, completely nailing the spot you were going for creates for some really fun and memorable moments, much like Crokinole!

Where I was really impressed though was the addicting fun we found within the four mini-games. Sonora is ultimately a flick-AND-write game, so it couldn’t have all the fun wrapped up in the flicking portion and I’m happy to say it doesn’t! 

These mini-games are a lot of fun and each feel completely unique from the other! We have had a great time trying to find ways to use each section to its fullest, not only to score the most points in that area, but to be able to chain bonuses for use in the other games so that we could increase our score even when we didn’t have discs in certain areas! 

Even after the game is over, I find myself thinking about different ways I want to try to use the various games to increase my score. Is it better to focus on one section? Maybe I’ll try to diversify while really honing in on the Canyon area? 

For a game that’s packed with lots of silly fun, there is a surprising amount of strategy and puzzle-y goodness that you can get out of the writing sheet!

Components

Overall, I find the components to be very well made, especially for the very modest $30 price point! 

The only thing I would have liked to see would have been thicker player sheets for writing. They are quite thin so I worry that if you ever get even just a droplet of water on the edges of it that it will begin to warp and tear. They are each double sided though which is nice, each side is the same, but if you ever have any ghosting from your dry erase markers, you at least have another side to fall back on. 

You will want to use the felt tip markers that it comes with! Because the sheets are so thin, any fine point dry erase markers will leave indentations on your sheet. The writing areas were so small that we tried to use our fine point markers and even with a soft touch it left a mark. 

Beyond that the only draw back is, due to the size of the board, this is a relatively big box. Typically for games of this weight, especially for the roll-and-write genre, you have a much smaller box, so I worry that the size might impact not only it’s effect on your storage space, but also it getting chosen for outings when visiting friends and family. 

Can kids play?

At first blush the writing portion seemed a bit overwhelming, but after learning the game, we found everything to be very straight forward. Our daughter Alice (8) was able to jump right in and play along. She loved the game, too! 

I would say that any younger than 7 or 8 might be too young to play Sonora fully. The mini-games are a bit too complex for our oldest son (6) but each and every one of the kids loves getting a crack at flicking the discs, especially the little two!

Summary

Sonora is a whimsical game that features both fun and silly moments as well as strategic and puzzling decisions. I absolutely love the clever meshing of Crokinole with the roll and write style of game play! Sonora is smart and fresh without feeling like a gimmicky carnival game. While the flicking creates for fun moments, it really shines in the writing portion! It’s addicting in the best way. Sonora is definitely a game worth checking out! 

A special thank you to our friends at Pandasaurus Games for sending us a copy of Sonora for review. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Game Info:
Title: Sonora
1-4 Players Ages 10+
Designer: Rob Newton
Artist: Tom Goyon
Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
Published: 2020

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