Sky Team board game sticks the landing at this year’s Gen Con

You can also find out more about the following: Sky Team board game arrived at this year’s Gen Con going full throttle. Polygon had a chance to sit in the cockpit of the latest release from the talented crew at Le Scorpion Masqué, the same team responsible for hits such as the wonderful party game DecryptionThe upcoming Dead CellsThe 2022 Gen Con board game Turing Machine. Sky TeamTwo players are tasked with navigating the cockpit of an airliner to land safely at their airport destination. It’s quirky, full of tension and clever mechanisms, and it’s also surprisingly good at capturing several aspects of real-world flight simulation.

This 20-minute co-operative experience has been designed to serve the theme. “My best friend is a (glider) pilot and his whole family works in aviation. The game was designed with his needs in mind. From the first version, all the elements were already present,” designer Luc Rémond told Polygon recently in an email interview.

In seven rounds of play, the players take turns rolling a pool of dice before placing them in the cockpit to execute an action. In cooperation, they maintain a constant flight path and deploy landing gear. They also lower flaps. The success of the game is dependent on teamwork. Oddly, players can communicate only before each round starts and not while they are in action.

Image: Le Scorpion Masqué/Hachette

Rémond clarified the origins of the unique cooperative system: “The game was first a single-player game [and]The communication mechanics were revealed after I had the opportunity to get the game reviewed by other authors. [organically]They were evident. Not only does it reflect the tension within the cockpit but also the necessary trust between pilot and co-pilot.”

This restriction on communication is in stark contrast to the surprising accuracy of the design — which appears to model all other aspects of commercial flight other than communication — but this restriction does suppThe following are some examples of how to uset the underlying themes of trust and tension.

It’s important to note that at no point does Le Scorpion Masqué claim to be selling a flight simulator here. It’s a 20-minute-long, novel dice placement game with many interesting thematic touches, not Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane. Nonetheless, Rémond said it was inspired by real-world pilots.

Image: Le Scorpion Masqué/Hachette

“The game was created with a lot of research and documentation on flight physics, elements of an airplane and different airports. A number of pilots have been consulted. […]It was my intention to describe the airports in detail. Rio’s wind is a bit different. [big]Left turn [on approach to the runway] in Tokyo, the frozen track in the north are realistic elements,” Rémond said.

Airports are one the most fascinating aspects. It introduces the game’s systems with a simple tutorial that shows you how to land a plane in Montreal. Once you’ve accomplished this feat — a task that may take a couple of playthroughs the first time around — you are then introduced to an advanced game with many more scenarios and considerations. The game that appears to be a quick and simple distraction quickly transforms into an experience rich with material.

This is an unusual product even from a publisher who has a long list of eccentric releases. Manuel Sanchez, creative director at Le Scorpion Masqué, explained why Sky Team Two distinct reasons were given for the appeal to studio.

“First is originality,” Sanchez said, speaking to the game’s format as a two-player aircraft piloting endeavor. “[The] second one is emotion.” He continued, “When you’re playing you feel a lot of tension. […]Can your co-pilot really understand you? Are we going to succeed? Every die placed could be the last!”

My local group had played through scenarios with this fantastic little game before Gen Con. You can substitute additional rules to simulate things like wind resistance, fuel usage, or even train a young pilot in the crew. These systems introduce new elements to the game area and create an organic feel of cockpit instrumentation.

It’s a lot of fun to play with the core mechanisms which capture aviation elements. Rotating the plastic disc displaying our plane’s altitude, feeling out my co-pilot to properly decelerate and not overshoot our target, even clearing the other aircraft in our path through communication with the radio tower — it’s all been a treat and absolutely gripping. It was the extended material that took a solid foundation and turned it up to a new level. It’s the oomph the game needed to rise from a good game worth a handful of plays to one you can fall into and absorb over a lengthy period of time.

Rémond, Sanchez, and the team at Le Scorpion Masqué have set out to create a wonderful modern board game that balances amusement with simulation. They have not only accomplished this task, but they’ve also managed to craft one of 2023’s best board games, one that is singular and unlike anything else in the hobby. It will be widely available in October at a price of $29.99.

Sky TeamHachette Board Games provided a review copy. Vox Media is affiliated with other companies. Vox Media can earn affiliate commissions, but this does not affect editorial content. This is where you can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.