BoardGameArchiveHow to Play Sky Team: Dice Placement, Axis, Speed & Landing
Sky Team is a two-player cooperative landing puzzle. One player is the Pilot with blue dice; the other is the Co-Pilot with orange dice. Over seven rounds you must move along the approach track as the altitude track descends, clea
Sky Team is a two-player cooperative landing puzzle. One player is the Pilot with blue dice; the other is the Co-Pilot with orange dice. Over seven rounds you must move along the approach track as the altitude track descends, clea
Sky Team is a two-player cooperative landing puzzle. One player is the Pilot with blue dice; the other is the Co-Pilot with orange dice. Over seven rounds you must move along the approach track as the altitude track descends, clear traffic, ready the aircraft and reach the airport at the right time. This guide covers the basic Montréal setup in the publisher’s English rulebook; later airports introduce separate modules.
Set up the basic flight
Put the control panel between both players. Set the axis disc straight, the blue and orange aerodynamics markers and red brake marker to the starting positions shown in the rulebook, and slide in the Montréal approach and basic altitude tracks. Place traffic tokens on the marked approach spaces. Give four matching-color dice and a screen to each player. Keep advanced-module components aside for the first flight.
Each round begins with a briefing, then silence
Before rolling, discuss the plan: which traffic needs clearing, whether to advance zero, one or two spaces, and which system needs attention. Do not discuss desired or possible die values. Both players then roll their four dice privately behind screens. From that point until the round ends, the players remain silent except to correct a rules error.
Players alternate placing exactly one die at a time on an empty, legal control-panel space. Respect both color and printed number restrictions. The Pilot’s blue dice and Co-Pilot’s orange dice have different jobs; some spaces accept either color. You may choose the order of placements, but each player must put one die on the Axis and one on Engines during every round. Missing either required pair at round end loses the game.
Axis: compare the two dice as soon as the pair is complete
If both Axis dice show the same number, the aircraft does not turn. Otherwise move the axis arrow a number of marks equal to their difference, toward the player with the higher die. The tilt carries over into later rounds; it does not automatically return to level. Reaching or passing a spin symbol loses immediately. By the final landing the disc must be completely horizontal.
Example: a Pilot 4 and Co-Pilot 3 turn the arrow one mark toward the Pilot. In a later round, equal Axis dice hold that existing tilt; they do not erase it. The team must choose a later pair that moves the arrow back.
Engines: speed moves the approach track
Add the paired Engine dice when the second one is placed. Compare their total with the blue and orange aerodynamics markers: below the blue marker, the aircraft advances zero spaces; between the markers, one; above the orange marker, two. Landing Gear and Flaps move these thresholds as they are deployed, so a speed that was safe earlier may have a different effect later.
Traffic ahead must be removed before you fly into it. If the plane has to advance while an Airplane token is in its Current Position space, you collide and lose. If you have reached the airport before the altitude track reaches the landing position, you must hold there without advancing further. Advancing beyond the airport is an overshoot and also loses.
Radio, gear, flaps and brakes
Radio removes one traffic token from the approach space counted by the die, starting at your current position as space 1. A die showing 2 targets the next space ahead. If no token is there, the action has no effect. Use the position on the track, not the number of tokens left in the supply.
Landing Gear is a Pilot task with printed number restrictions. Its switches can be flipped in any order, and each newly deployed section moves the blue aerodynamics marker. Flaps are a Co-Pilot task, have number restrictions and must be deployed in printed order; each new section moves the orange marker. All their switches must be green for landing.
Brakes are a Pilot task deployed in sequence, starting with the printed 2 and then 4 and 6. You need not deploy all three, but the red brake marker must be farther along than your Engine speed on the final round. Installing another brake early costs a die now but gives more room for the final speed check.
Coffee and rerolls are limited corrections
Either player may place a die on a free Concentration space to gain one Coffee token, up to a maximum of three. When placing a later die, spend Coffee to change its value by one per token, without wrapping 1 to 6 or 6 to 1. Coffee remains available into future rounds if unspent. Some altitude spaces provide Reroll tokens; spending one lets both players reroll any number of their dice still behind their screens once. These tools help with a bad roll but do not replace the mandatory Axis and Engine placements.
End the round and check the landing
After all eight dice are placed, you may talk again. Lower the altitude track one step, take back the dice and check whether the airport and landing altitude have aligned. If altitude reaches the final position while the airport has not been reached, the plane crash-lands. If both align, check the four landing conditions:
- No Airplane tokens remain on the approach track.
- All Landing Gear and Flaps switches show green.
- The Axis arrow is completely horizontal.
- The Engine total from the final round is less than the red Brake marker’s position.
First-flight checklist: plan the next approach move before rolling; place Axis and Engines every round; clear traffic before advancing through it; do not wait until the last turn to deploy every switch; and allow enough brake strength for the final Engine total. Once the Montréal flight is familiar, the Flight Log adds new airports and modules.
Continue with the Sky Team hub, strategy guide and win/loss conditions.
Source and scope
Checked 2 October 2026 against Le Scorpion Masqué’s English Sky Team rulebook, pages 2–11. This is a researched teaching guide for the basic game, not a record of a played session. Use the Flight Log for airport-specific changes.