How to Play Sky Team (2026): Rules, Cockpit Systems & How to Land

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How to play Sky Team (2026): Sky Team is a cooperative dice game for exactly two people, a pilot and a co-pilot, who must land a passenger plane together. The catch is that you cannot discuss your dice once they are rolled. You plan out loud, then place dice in silence and trust your partner to read the cockpit. This guide follows the official Le Scorpion Masqué rulebook and covers setup, the round structure, every cockpit system, and the conditions for a safe landing.

Sky Team setup

1. Unfold the cockpit board. One player sits on the blue pilot side, the other on the orange co-pilot side.
2. Place the Montréal approach track next to the board and put airplane tokens on the spaces shown.
3. Point the airplane axis disc at the black triangle so the plane is level. On the speed gauge, put the blue aerodynamics marker between 4 and 5 and the orange one between 8 and 9. The red brake marker starts just left of the 2.
4. Slide in the altitude track so 6000 shows in its window, and cover the green lights with the 10 switches.
5. Put coffee tokens near the concentration spaces and reroll tokens on the altitude track where shown.
6. Each player takes their four dice and a screen, and reads the reminders printed inside it.

How a round works

The game lasts seven rounds, one for each 1000-foot step down from 6000 feet. Each round has the same three phases.

1. Strategy discussion and dice rolls. Talk through your plan freely, but do not mention specific dice values. Then both players roll their four dice behind their screens.
2. Silent dice placement. Take turns placing one die at a time on a free cockpit space. The arrow in the altitude window shows who places first that round. No talking about dice.
3. End of round. Resolve the plane's position, move to the next altitude, and get ready to plan again.

Most spaces have a color rule, a number rule, or both. For example, the co-pilot may put just a 1 or a 2 on the first flaps space, and the brakes section is for the pilot's blue dice alone. The radio has color rules but accepts any number, and the concentration spaces take any die from either player.

Every cockpit system, explained

System	Who	What it does
Axis	Both, every round	Tilts the plane by the difference between the two dice. Reaching an X means a spin and a loss.
Engines	Both, every round	The sum sets your speed against the aerodynamics markers: move the approach 0, 1 or 2 spaces.
Radio	Pilot 1 space, co-pilot 2	Removes airplane tokens from the approach track.
Landing gear	Pilot	Three switches; each moves the blue aerodynamics marker.
Flaps	Co-pilot	Four switches in order; each moves the orange aerodynamics marker.
Brakes	Pilot	Three switches in order with values 2, 4 and 6; raise your stopping power.
Concentration	Either	Earn a coffee token. Spend it later to change a die by 1 (no wrapping from 6 to 1).

You may hold at most three coffee tokens. Reroll tokens sit on certain spaces of the altitude track, and when you reach one you collect it. Spending a reroll lets both players reroll any dice they have not placed yet, which can save a round that started badly.

Moving to harder airports

Everything in the closed compartment of the box belongs to the advanced content, so leave it alone until your crew can land at Montréal with confidence. Each new airport swaps in its own approach track and altitude track, and the scenarios layer on fresh challenges. Many crews play two or three landings in a row because each game is short, and a failed approach is a great lesson for the next try.

Axis and engines are mandatory

Each round, one blue die and one orange die must go on the axis, and one of each color must go on the engines. If the axis tips too far, the plane spins and you lose. If the engine total pushes you into an airplane token on the approach, that is a collision. Overshooting the airport is also a loss, so slowing down matters as much as speeding up.

Landing the plane

On the final round you must reach the airport, and every one of these must be true for a win:

• No airplane tokens remain on the approach track.
• All flaps and all landing gear switches are green.
• The axis is perfectly level.
• Your final engine speed is lower than your brakes value.

Sky Team tips for new crews

• Agree on roles during strategy talk. For example, decide who handles the radio early.
• Low dice are precious. Small values are great for brakes and flaps, while high values help clear planes on the radio.
• Grab coffee early. A spare token rescues a bad roll in the last two rounds.
• Watch your partner's first die. Where they place it often tells you what they need.
• Love teamwork games? See our co-op games for couples.

Sky Team rules questions

Can more than two people play Sky Team?

No. Sky Team is designed for exactly two players, a pilot and a co-pilot.

Can you talk during Sky Team?

Yes, during strategy talk before the roll. Once dice are rolled, you may not talk about them.

How long does a game of Sky Team take?

About 20 minutes per landing, which makes it easy to try a harder airport right after.