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do that is mainly up to you. Depending on the initial situation that varies from game
to game, one might focus primarily on get- ting more tick- ets, keeping fuel reserves, or having pas-
senger diversity. Convincing is the contrasting development of supply and progress. In the beginning, there are still many cubes available, but not many improvements are in place yet to collect them efficiently. Later on, it’s the other way around. Availability decreases, com- petition increases, and a clever combi- nation of the unlocked advantages pays off. Once again, one would prefer to have all the improvements at once and is, therefore, quickly faced with a decision dilemma. This is part of an interesting
and well thought out game. Less experienced board gamers, even those who have knack for and are able to master expert
games, are often challenged by the ini- tially overwhelming options and details. The only way here is to take the plunge. Some of my fellow players had a hard time with that and gave up because of the open situation that gives more free- dom than some people can cope with, along with the devil in the details. How- ever, even beginners who did not give up still lacked understanding for the subtle structure, despite a comprehensive explanation.
They want to use their improvements retroactively, which of course – their gaming expertise should have made them realize this – is not allowed. In any case, the instructions should be applied very carefully, you have to pay attention to which advantages can be used when, such as refueling. In fact, there were plenty of rule errors in my first games (yes, shamefully, plural).
Although the English manual goes over almost everything in detail, it can
be easily misinterpreted, not the least because it lacks a structural overview.
Experienced players, on the other hand, enjoy planning to use the rewards from their first flight in the next one that day, and benefit from fuel bonuses by finding the right gates and cleverly playing their cards at the right time. If a particular card is missing to complete a certain journey or you need to find that last drop of petrol, it can require some thinking time to come up with the solution. The two phases pro- long this even more. During the selection of the passengers, one must already have a plan in mind regarding when to unload the travelers and in which order. To pick up passengers in the spur of the moment, and not plan the route until the flight phase, is not going to work. Only to a very small extent can one use the opponent’s turn to plan their own as what the player before you decides to do might change your own options completely.
I Switch on the floor
Therefore, it is recommended to play in
a small group as it will cut down the wait- ing time between moves significantly. It should then be possible to execute a pre- planned flight quite quickly unless the
worst-case scenario takes place: an opponent cleverly pushed ahead and snatched the desired cubes. Then a Plan B becomes
essential, which often can’t recover the lost chance of victory. This might be hard for the individual, but it usually happens through his own fault. In view of such a big risk, one should show patience and understanding when a player needs a little longer planning time for their route.
The components of the game are in the lower standard range, especially the switch tokens that are too fiddly and prone to getting lost. Just imagine a real life danger scenario in which a pilot would have to first find the all-important switch on the floor. Fixed sliders would certainly have been nicer. The assembly of the personal boards is simply an imposi- tion. You have to plan at least 45 minutes for the required fiddling. And then, still, some of the display needles for the dials will be too loose.
The advantages of the start- ing cards are imbalanced, which is admittedly hardly noticeable in a beginner’s game. For advanced players, I would have expected more than just the recommenda- tion to not use them at all. The objective cards (three of nine randomly selected per game) also do not do much to spice up the game.
My sympathies lie with certain
cube colors generating advan-
tages, while special rewards for reaching the already attractive,
but not easily accessible distant
places, actually only increase the
luck factor. The game is not too dependent on the luck of the
card draw; those who shy away
from that strategy can play it safe and use card-related achievements for the unlocking.
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