Sky Team

The Game

Sky Team is the 2024 Spiel des Jahres winner. It was already getting many positive reviews before it was nominated. What surprised many people was it went on to win. This is a strictly two-player game, and the SdJ has never been awarded to such games. Sky Team is a cooperative dice game about landing a plane. You are pilot and copilot of a plane, and you must collaborate to do your job while under communication restrictions. There is a time limit. Within this time you must complete all landing preparations and in the final round you must land the plane right on the dot to win the game. 

There is a fixed number of rounds. By the final round you must advance the plane to precisely arrive at the runway and land it. No earlier, no later. The basic structure of a round is each player rolling four dice, and then taking turns to place them on the board. The dice are rolled behind player screens, so you don't know what numbers your partner has, and you can't discuss the numbers or where to place them. You can discuss strategy before the dice are rolled, but once rolled, zip. 

The board looks a little intimidating the first time you learn the game, as if you need to learn how to fly a real plane. However once the rules are explained to you, you will realise how well the board is designed. The icons and colours all make perfect sense and there are plenty of visual cues to remind you of how things work. You don't need to memorise the rules. The board is as good as a reference sheet.  The square indentations are where you can place dice. The pilot uses the blue spots, and the copilot the orange spots. Spots with both blue and orange can be used by either player. There are four spots which must be filled every round, two for each player. These are the spots near the centre of the board, controlling the wings and the engine. 

Let's talk about the wings first. The dice you place determine how the wings tilt. The difference between the two dice tilts the plane. You need to be careful not to tilt it too far in either direction, because you'll lose control and crash (and lose). Since you don't know what numbers your partner has, controlling the tilt can be tricky. 

Next, the engines. The semi circle above the two engine spots has two marks. If the dice total exceeds the first mark, the plane advances one step. If it exceeds the second mark, the plane advances two steps. The plane may advance one or two steps, or none at all, depending on the dice total. You need to remember that by the final round, the plane needs to reach the runway. If you fall short, or overshoot, you lose. 

There are columns of dice spots along the left and right edges. These spots only allow dice of specific values. These are tasks that must be completed before the plane lands. There is no hurry, but you do have to remember to do them. Every round, two of your dice must go to those mandatory spots, so you only have two dice that can go to other spots. It's not a lot. 

The dice spots at the bottom are for making coffee. Coffee gives you energy. In game terms, each cup of coffee you have can be used to adjust a die value by one. This can sometimes be a life saver. It's something worth spending a die on, as a form of insurance. You can use two or more coffee at the same time, for example drinking two cups of coffee allows you to change a 1 to a 3. 

That long board on the left represents your distance to the airport runway. Every time the plane advances, this distance is shortened. Notice those plane icons on this board. These are other planes which are in your flight path. If you advance into them, you crash and lose the game. You need to use the radio to tell them to get out of your way. Both pilot and copilot can radio these other planes. The pilot can do it once per round, the copilot twice. When you place a die on a radio spot, the die value determines which plane you can send away. The die value is your distance to that plane.  

The long board on the right is your altitude. It is effectively your countdown mechanism. By the time the altitude reduces to 0, you'd better be fully ready to land. This is a natural and thematic build-up to a climax. You need to time everything perfectly for that final round in order to win. 

The Play

I played Sky Team on BoardGameArena.com with my Hong Kong friend Jetta. We are separated by a 4-hour flight. We, okay I should say I, crashed rather spectacularly in our first game. I advanced our plane too fast and crashed into a Japan Airlines plane. I had misunderstood the rule about the engines. I didn't realise that the moment I placed the second die, the plane would start moving. I had thought the moving was done at the end of the round, and I still had time to radio the JAL plane to ask them to duck. 

We quickly made a fresh attempt. This time I was much more careful. If you play this game properly, you are not supposed to be communicating at specific times. You will have to learn to communicate through your plays. Figuring out how to communicate this way is interesting. You need to think why your partner is making this move. You have to think about how you should place your die in order to give specific hints to your partner. This little dance of trying to think what your opponent is thinking and how they will interpret your actions is fun. When my partner places a 5 on his wing, I will be able to calculate the range of numbers I can safely place on my wing so that the plane doesn't tip over. By placing a die, my opponent is helping me plan my play. Your play provides information to your partner. 

The game requires some long-term planning and prioritisation. With only two dice that you can choose to place in spots other than wing and engine, many of the tasks you need to complete can only be done across multiple rounds. There is quite a lot on your plate. You need to use you dice wisely. 

I was the copilot (orange). I placed two 2's on the radios, getting two planes a short distance in front of us out of the way. Now I had a 6 and a 1, and these must be placed on wing and engine. This was a tough situation, because 6's and 1's are extreme numbers. Putting either one on the wing was risky. If Jetta didn't have a number near mine, the plane might tilt out of control. It would be safer to place a 6, because the plane was currently tilting towards his side. If his highest die was a 3 and he placed it, the plane would tilt right by 3 steps and would still remain in control. If he only had 1's and 2's we would be doomed. Unless we still had coffee. 

The game comes with different variants, presented as different airports around the world you can land in. That's nice. Different airports come with different challenges. The basic rules remain. 

This was the final round. We were at ground level, and we were precisely approaching the runway. Now we must have the wings perfectly balanced. The landing gear also needed to be fully extended. We had done our preparation well and we had coffee on the ready. Our final round was a breeze. Everybody went home safe and sound. We had the kind of perfect landing where passengers applauded. 

The Thoughts

I fully appreciate why Sky Team won the SdJ. It is an excellent light strategy game. It is not too heavy so it works for families and couples. The setting is novel. I absolutely love the component design. It creates an immersive experience. At the same time, it is highly practical. The game board is also your reference sheet. 

That process of working out how to communicate with your partner through actions is fun. When you manage to achieve understanding and complete your mission together successfully, it is highly satisfying. This aspect makes the game a nice couple game. You feel the connection.