The object of Speed is for the player to move his/her ship, plane, car and train along the designated routes from start to finish. The first player completing the routes for all four vehicles wins. Two to four players may play. There are 16 player pieces. One each of ship, plane, car and train in four colors (red, green, black and blue)

Movement is driven by card play. Each player selects four cards from the 40 card deck to start the game. Each player must maintain four cards in hand at all times. There are four "suites" (in red and black) corresponding to each of the four types of vehicles. The first player plays a card in the suite of his/her choice, announces the card and plays it face up. The player then draws from the deck to replenish the hand. The other players follow, and the player who played the highest value card in the suite lead gets to move the associated piece that number of spaces forward along the corresponding route. If a player does not have a card of the suite lead, they must play another card from another suite. The used cards are placed in a discard pile and shuffled if the draw pile is depleted.