If you’re looking for a board game in which you and a friend or loved one can land a plane together badly, you should look no further than the newly announced Spiel des Jahres 2024 winner, Sky Team.
The prestigious German tabletop award announced the decision on Sunday, July 21, praising this co-op board game for its gameplay, atmosphere, and theme. According to the judges’ statement, “the short games are highly rewarding if you’re successful, and if you fail to land, you’ll want to try again straight away.”
Like previous Spiel des Jahres winner The Mind, Sky Team is a game that requires you to work together without communicating. It’s a two player dice game, where players need to achieve certain dice rolls as their plane comes down to land. These dice can be used to perform tasks that are important when landing a plane, like opening the flaps, maintaining a good air speed, and not rotating the vehicle upside down.
The trouble is, while you can strategize as much as you like beforehand, once the dice are thrown (behind little screens), the talking stops, leaving each player in the dark about the numbers their partner has to work with. If you don’t enjoy soundlessly screaming in frustration at your co-pilot’s inability to mindread, Sky Team might not be for you.
All four members of Wargamer have had our eyes on this title, which was designed by Luc Rémond and published by Kosmos and Scorpion Masqué. It seems like the ideal couples board game, and also has the twin virtues of not being too expensive or taking up too much space.
While Sky Team took home the main award, Spiel des Jahres has two other categories. The winner of the Children’s Game of the Year (Kinderspiel des Jahres) is The Magic Keys, a push your luck game about unlocking treasure. The winner of the Expert Game of the Year (Kennerspiel des Jahres) is Daybreak (known in the German edition as e-Mission) another co-op game about saving the planet from ecological disaster.
For more board game content, check out our guides to the best board games of all time, and the best strategy board games.
Source: Wargamer
