Aviation / Flight

Description from publisher:

By cleverly combining the three colored dice with the values on the cards, you take part in building zeppelins and finally the famous Hindenburg.

Renè from spielbox.de:

"Giganten der Lüfte (working-title "Zeppelin") is a very tactical dice-game. You need mechanics, engines, and workshops.... Only the player with the best combination of those will successfully take part in building the Hindenburg."

Giganten der Lüfte is not comparable to Lucky Loop or Alhambra - the dice game.
It is comparable to games like Kingsburg and To Court the King, where you use the dice as a form of resources to manage, as well as a method of purchasing other resources.

Artwork by Jo Hartwig.

Microbadges:

On the cusp of the twentieth century, America is the undisputed land of industry. Factories fire their machines twenty-four hours a day, and demand is skyrocketing in the cities. A small but fierce rivalry of shipping barons must manage their amazing airships and the extensive railroad system in order to get goods to the cities before the demand is met by someone else. Anyone who can't stay competitive will be left with nothing but dust in their coffers!

The process is simple: Factories produce the goods (machinery, textiles, chemicals, food, and luxuries) that are coveted by the city folk. Airships – forbidden from landing in the cities but capable of carrying cargo over great distances – must be used to gather those goods and deliver them to depots along the rail network. Trains then haul the goods to the cities that want them, earning cash for the competitor who gets there first! Will you be the "King of Air and Steam?"

Kings of Air and Steam spans five rounds, and at the beginning of each round, players plan their Airship flights using four of their movement cards. When everyone is ready, everyone reveals their first planned card. According to the turn order and movement limits of their cards, players move their Airships, then take an Action; Actions include Building Depots, Upgrading your Airship or Train, Shipping Goods by rail, and Soliciting Funds from the bank. When all players have acted, the second planned cards are revealed, and so on through the four planned cards until all players have finished carrying out their plans for the round. All the while, players must keep aware of the rising values of the different types of Goods and try to get the most-valuable Goods from the specialized factories that produce them to the cities that want them. At the end of the game, the player with the most money and the greatest shipping network will be declared King of Air and Steam!

Kings of Air and Steam includes seven teams of characters, each with unique powers to give them a competitive edge, and a modular game board that makes each game a different experience.

Cloud 9 - The Daring Game of Ups and Downs

Players earn points by daring to stay in the basket of a hot air balloon as it rises. Points increase as the balloon climbs from cloud to cloud, but so does the risk of the balloon falling. Should you jump out to save your points or trust that the pilot will take you safely higher?

Everyone places their passenger token into the balloon's basket to start the trip, and receives a hand of six balloon cards. Then, each turn, a different "pilot" rolls an increasing number of specialized dice to see if the balloon can stay aloft. The dice dictate how many of the balloon cards are needed of each color. (There are also optionally played Wild Cards to keep everyone guessing.) Each player decides whether they think the pilot will have the cards to successfully take the balloon up, or whether they should jump out and keep the points earned so far. If they stay, they run the risk of getting no points if the pilot fails. If the balloon does fall, it is placed back on the lowest cloud. Everyone hops aboard and draws one new card, and the next trip begins. When a player earns 50 points the game is over.

From the back of the box:

You have 10 DAYS in ASIA - touring by train, airplane, ship, or on foot. Chart your course from start to finish using destination and transportation tiles. With a little luck and clever planning, you just might outmaneuver your fellow travelers. The first traveler to make connections for a ten day journey wins the game.

In this fourth installment of the 10 Days in series, the players are touring Asia, arranging their tiles on the ten days (open spots) of their trays to create a string of consecutive steps that, once completed, creates one consecutive journey. Tiles of neighboring countries may be placed side-by-side on the tray, with trains, ships and airplanes connecting distant countries depending on where they are located. Tiles cannot be rearranged in a tray, but must be replaced one at a time from the few face-up tiles available to all players, or from a random draw.

This installment introduces railroads which allow players to connect any countries that have stops along a selected rail line. These work in addition to the now-familiar airlines (connecting countries of the same color), and ocean liners (although now you have two oceans to contend with).

"There is much to be discovered in Europe! Many roads lead to success in this exciting travel game - you just have to find the right one. Exchange your cards cleverly and find your way through Europe quickly to win. Ten cards must show continuous travel either by land, sea or air."

This is the third installment in the 10 Days in series.

Gameplay
All players pick tiles up one at a time, examining them and placing them onto any empty spot on their tile holders. Then, in turn, each player draws one tile and may replace one of their lined-up tiles with it. (Tiles may not be rearranged.) Tiles are drawn from one of three face-up discard piles or a face-down pile. The drawn card or replaced card is then discarded into one of the face-up piles. The first person to have all ten tiles satisfy the travel connection requirements wins.

Connection requirements:
By Foot If a country is next to or connected to another country on the map, their tiles may be placed side-by-side
By Air Any two countries of the same color may be connected by an airplane of that color (its tile in between them)
By Ship If a sea or ocean borders two countries, a ship can connect them

Contents:

67 cardboard tiles - 48 country tiles, 19 transportation (airplane or ship)
4 trip planners (wooden tile holders, 2 per set)
1 game board showing a map of Europe, each country depicted in one of 5 colors