Sky Team
RULES
- Goal
- Work together as captain and co-pilot to land the plane safely at each airport.
- Flow
- Each round, roll 4 dice and place them on your own side of the control panel to operate the engines, wings, and more.
- Win
- You win together if you meet every landing condition within 7 rounds.
- Twist
- You can't see each other's dice, and talking is forbidden — you have to cooperate blind.
Winner of the 2024 Spiel des Jahres (SdJ), this timeless 2-player-only cooperative dice-placement game casts you as captain and co-pilot silently placing dice in the cockpit to land a passenger jet safely. It perfectly captures the real dilemmas of flying — pitch control, speed and brakes, flaps and landing gear, securing a route through tower communication — and once the dice are placed, talking is banned, forcing you to read each other's intent through nothing but glances and the flow of the numbers. A well-made cooperative masterpiece.
※When the group is 3 or more players, ruling out this strictly 2-player game; when the 'no talking' rule during dice placement itself becomes tiring; or when you want a competitive 1-on-1 showdown with sabotage and a clear winner.
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Scores by situation
New faces+−
♡♡♡♡☆ [Safe Bet] The rules are explained in about 5 minutes and the theme is crystal clear, so it lands instantly even with strangers or couples' meetups. Though the dice-placement phase goes quiet, a real sense of camaraderie and conversation naturally builds while discussing strategy between rounds — an excellent safe pick.
Close friends+−
♡♡♡♡☆ [Sure Thing] When two close friends sync up as captain and co-pilot, the immersion and dopamine hit hard. The panic when the dice go sideways and the plane spirals toward disaster, followed by the high-fives and cheers when you land it on the runway through pure telepathy without a single word — guaranteed 100% hit rate.
Strategy+−
♡♡♡☆☆ [Sub Strategy] The math of calculating your dice-draw odds and clearing space so your partner can make their optimal placement is razor-precise. Great as a 1-on-1 sub-card for intermediate strategists to lightly warm up their brain before or after a heavy Euro game.
Couple+−
♡♡♡♡★ [Master of Give and Take] Instead of competing and sabotaging each other, you're 100% on the same team, working together to land the plane safely. Overcoming close calls without blame builds real emotional connection and a shared sense of accomplishment — an unbeatable 2-player healing/cooperative cheat code for couples.
Duel+−
♡♡♡☆☆ [One-Off Match] The cooperative mind-reading and overcoming dice crises together works beautifully. But since it's not a cutthroat competitive game that pushes your opponent to the edge, it's a good fit for a light coffee-money bet or a warm-up 1-on-1 match.
Gateway+−
♡♡♡♡★ [Essential Gateway Masterpiece] The finest, most modern and thematic execution of dice placement combined with cooperative mechanics for 2 players. Easy to learn but genuinely deep, with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment from clearing scenarios of increasing difficulty — a 2-player masterpiece any eager newcomer must experience.
Frequently asked questions
How many players does Sky Team need?
2 players, and it is at its best with 2. It also works as a two-player game.
How long does a game of Sky Team take?
About 15–20 minutes per game, plus roughly 5 minutes to teach the rules.
Is Sky Team hard to learn?
It sits at 2 out of 5 on rules weight. The balance is 20 luck / 60 skill / 20 read, so the stronger player usually wins.
Who is Sky Team good for?
It fits New faces and Close friends especially well. One caveat: When the group is 3 or more players, ruling out this strictly 2-player game; when the 'no talking' rule during dice placement itself becomes tiring; or when you want a competitive 1-on-1 showdown with sabotage and a clear winner.
How do you win Sky Team?
You win together if you meet every landing condition within 7 rounds. The goal is Work together as captain and co-pilot to land the plane safely at each airport.
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