Final Approach

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. A round
5. The cockpit
6. Touchdown
7. Winning and losing
8. Talking
9. Example
10. Difficulty
11. Cards instead of dice
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Final Approach is a cooperative game for exactly two: you are the crew of an airliner – the pilot and the co-pilot – and you win or lose together. In seven rounds you come down from 6000 feet to the runway. Each round both of you secretly draw four flight cards (Ace to 6) and take turns placing them in the cockpit: to keep the wings level, set the speed, ask the tower to clear other planes out of your way, lower the landing gear, extend the flaps and get the brakes ready. The catch: once the cards are drawn, you may not say a word until all eight are down.

• Players: exactly 2.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck with both jokers and about 20 coins (or buttons, beans …).

Final Approach is a new game written for this site and not yet playtested. It is a card version of Sky Team (Luc Rémond, Le Scorpion Masqué, 2023), a dice game that won the Spiel des Jahres in 2024: piles of Aces to 6s replace the dice, and the approach and the altitude are laid out in cards. The levels, the busy sky and the turbulence are our own (see "Difficulty").

The cards

A flight card counts its number; an Ace counts 1. Suits don't matter.

Setup

Sit side by side: the pilot on the left, the co-pilot on the right. In the examples Anna is the pilot and Ben the co-pilot.

1. Flight cards: the pilot takes the twelve black cards from Ace to 6, the co-pilot the twelve red ones.
2. Altitude: lay K♠ K♥ K♣ K♦ Q♠ Q♥ Q♣ in a row from left to right. The leftmost card is your current altitude: K♠ is 6000 feet, K♥ 5000 … Q♥ 1000 feet, and Q♣ is touchdown. Lay a joker crosswise on K♠ and on Q♠ (6000 and 2000 feet).
3. Approach: shuffle the twenty cards from 7 to Jack face down. Lay six of them in a row above the altitude and the Q♦ face up at its right end: the airport. The leftmost card of this row is your current position. Put coins on the cards – each coin is another plane in your way: from left to right 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 3 and 2 on the airport (9 planes).
4. Axis: lay four more face-down cards in a row in front of you, with a gap in the middle. Put a coin in the gap: the plane flies level. The two cards on the left are the marks towards the pilot – the inner one one mark, the outer one two marks – and the two on the right the marks towards the co-pilot. At each end of the row leave a place for that player's own axis card.
5. Switches: the last ten face-down cards. In front of the pilot, two rows of three: the landing gear (for the values 1 or 2, 3 or 4, 5 or 6) and the brakes (for 2, 4 and 6). In front of the co-pilot, a row of four: the flaps (for 1 or 2, 2 or 3, 4 or 5, 5 or 6). Face down means "not yet": a switch is turned face up when you deploy it, and stays face up.
6. Put the other coins aside as the supply. Leave room in the middle for engines, radio, concentration and coffee.

A round

A game has seven rounds, one for each altitude card. Every round has four steps.

1. Briefing. If a joker lies on the current altitude card, move it into the cockpit: it is a redraw you can use from now on (see below). Then talk as much as you like about what you want this round: "We must move one card," "Let's get rid of the three planes," "Flaps next." You may not talk about values ("if you get a 6, put it on the radio") – you haven't drawn yet anyway.

2. Draw. Each of you takes back all twelve flight cards, shuffles them and draws four into your hand. Keep them secret. The other eight lie face down in front of you as your pile. From now on, silence – until all eight cards are down.

3. Placing. The colour of the current altitude card shows who begins: black – the pilot, red – the co-pilot. Then take turns: on your turn, place one card from your hand face up on a free place in the cockpit that you may use (see the table). Its effect happens at once. Carry on until all eight cards are placed.

4. End of the round. Talk again, then:

• Both of you must have a card on the axis and on the engines – if not, you have lost.
• Take the leftmost altitude card away: you are 1000 feet lower.
• Each takes back their flight cards. Switches stay face up; coins stay where they are.

The cockpit

Each place holds one card per round (concentration three). Every round each of you must put one card on the axis and one on the engines – not necessarily first.

Axis. When the second axis card is placed, compare the two: the coin moves as many marks as the difference, towards the player with the higher card. Equal cards: it stays. The coin is not reset between rounds. If it would go three or more marks off level – beyond the last axis card – the plane goes into a spin and you have lost.

Example: The plane is level. Anna puts a 5 on the axis, Ben a 3: the coin moves two marks towards Anna, onto her outer axis card. Next round, any difference towards Anna means a spin.

Engines. When the second engine card is placed, add both: that is your speed. It moves the plane on:

"Gear down" and "flaps extended" are the numbers of those switches already face up. At the start a speed up to 4 moves 0 cards, 5 to 8 one card, 9 or more two cards. Moving one card: take away the leftmost approach card (never the airport) – the next one is now your current position.

• Collision: the plane may only leave a card with no coins on it. If you have to move while a coin lies on your current position, you collide and have lost. When you move two cards, the second card you leave must be clear too.
• Overshoot: if you have to move while the airport is your current position, you overshoot it and have lost.

Radio. Count along the approach (the airport is its last card): an Ace is your current position, a 2 the next card, and so on. Take one coin from that card back to the supply. If there is no coin – or no card that far – nothing happens.

Landing gear. Pilot only, in any order. Place a card of the right value – a 1 or 2 on the first gear, and so on – and turn that switch face up. Each gear down makes the "not at all" range of the engines one bigger: with all three down, speeds up to 7 don't move the plane.

Flaps. Co-pilot only, strictly from left to right. Same as the gear, but each flap makes the "1 card" range one bigger: with all four out, you can no longer move two cards in one round.

Brakes. Pilot only, from left to right: first a 2, then a 4, then a 6. They count only at touchdown (see below).

A card of the right value may also go on a switch that is already face up; nothing happens. That's a way to get rid of a card you can't use.

Concentration. Either of you may put any card here, up to three cards a round. For each card, put a coin from the supply on the coffee place – at most three coffees can wait there.

Coffee. When you place a card, you may spend coffees from the coffee place: each one changes the value of the card by 1, up or down. The value stays between 1 and 6 (a 6 never becomes an Ace). Leave the spent coins on the card as a reminder, and put them back in the supply at the end of the round. Any coffee may be spent by either of you.

Redraws. At any time during a round you may spend a joker from the cockpit: put it away. Then each of you may, once, put any of the cards left in your hand back into your pile, shuffle the pile and draw as many cards again.

If you can't place a card anywhere, lay it aside without effect – and check at once whether your axis and engine cards are still coming.

Touchdown

• Too late: if the touchdown card (Q♣) becomes your current altitude while the airport is not your current position, you come down short of the runway and have lost.
• Too early: if you reach the airport before that, you circle above it – keep your speed in the "not at all" range until touchdown, or you overshoot.

The touchdown round is played like the others, with one change: the engines no longer move the plane. The speed must stay within your brakes instead:

Brakes you deploy in this round before the second engine card still count. A higher speed means you race off the end of the runway, and you have lost.

Winning and losing

You have landed – and won together – if at the end of the touchdown round:

• there are no coins left on the airport,
• all 3 gear and all 4 flaps are face up,
• the axis coin lies in the middle,
• and your speed was within your brakes.

You have lost as soon as the plane goes into a spin, collides, overshoots or comes down short, or when a round ends without both cards on the axis and on the engines – or when the touchdown round ends and one of the four landing conditions is missing. When you can see that you can't land any more, call it a crash and start again: a flight takes about fifteen minutes.

Talking

• Allowed: everything during the briefing and after the last card of a round – plans, goals, what went wrong. Also rules questions at any time.
• Not allowed between drawing and the eighth card: words, sounds, faces, pointing, tapping on places. And in the briefing, nothing about values or signals ("I'll play a low card on the axis first if …").
• Your cards are your language. A card placed early says a lot – which value, where, and when.

Example

Round 1, 6000 feet. The altitude card K♠ is black, so Anna, the pilot, begins. In the briefing Anna moves the joker into the cockpit. They agree: "One card this round, and start on the traffic." Anna draws A♠ 3♣ 5♣ 6♠, Ben 2♦ 3♦ 4♥ 6♥.

1. Anna opens with the 3♣ on the axis: a middle value that Ben can probably answer.
2. Ben answers with the 3♦ on the axis: equal cards, the plane stays level.
3. Anna plays the 6♠ on the radio: the sixth card of the approach has three planes; she takes one coin off (3 → 2).
4. Ben plays the 2♦ on the first flap and turns it face up. Two cards now need a speed of 10 or more.
5. Anna plays the A♠ on the first gear (1 or 2) and turns it face up. The plane now stays put up to speed 5.
6. Ben plays the 6♥ on his first radio: another plane off the sixth card (2 → 1).
7. Anna's last card must go on the engines: the 5♣.
8. Ben's last card must go there too: the 4♥. Speed 9 – more than 5, not more than 9: the plane moves one card. The current card has no coin, so they take it away.

End of round 1: both have axis and engine cards. They take the K♠ away – 5000 feet. The K♥ is red, so Ben begins round 2.

Touchdown, much later. The airport is the current position with one coin on it. All gear is down, three flaps are out (the 5/6 flap is missing), brakes 2 and 4 are up, the axis coin lies one mark towards Anna, and one coffee waits. The Q♣ is black: Anna begins. Anna holds A♣ 2♣ 4♠ 6♣, Ben A♥ 3♥ 3♦ 5♦.

1. Anna: 6♣ on the third brake – now a speed up to 6 is allowed.
2. Ben: 5♦ on the last flap – all flaps out.
3. Anna: A♣ on the radio – the Ace means the current position: the last coin leaves the airport.
4. Ben: 3♥ on the axis. To level the plane, Anna needs a card one lower than Ben's, so that the coin comes back one mark.
5. Anna: 2♣ on the axis – the coin moves one mark towards Ben, back to the middle.
6. Ben: A♥ on the engines.
7. Anna: 4♠ on the engines – speed 5, within the brakes.
8. Ben puts his last card, the 3♦, on concentration.

No coins left, all switches up, level, slow enough: the passengers applaud.

Difficulty

Busy sky: at the start of the round at 5000 feet (on Hard also at 3000 feet), before the briefing, the player who begins the round shuffles their twelve flight cards and turns the top one face up. A new plane – a coin from the supply – appears on the approach card that many places along: an Ace on your current position, a 2 on the next card and so on; if the approach is shorter, on the airport. Then the card goes back.

Turbulence: whenever the two axis cards differ, the coin moves one mark more than the difference – a 5 against a 3 moves it three marks. Equal cards still keep it where it is.

The budget. A flight has 7 rounds of 8 cards – 56 cards. Half of them are fixed: every round, one axis and one engine card each. Of the other 28, a landing needs at least 18: nine radio cards for the nine planes, three gear, four flaps and two brakes. That leaves about ten spare cards – and every useful card must have the right value at the right moment. Each new plane of the busy sky costs one of the spares, needs a radio card that points exactly at it, and may block your way just when you want to move. The radio clears at most three planes a round. The way is six cards in six rounds: one card a round, so a speed of 5 to 8 while the gear is still up; a round that doesn't move must be made up by a two-card round, and every flap makes that harder. Turbulence halves the room on the axis: a difference of one already moves the coin two marks.

In our simulation of 2000 flights per level – two computer crews who each see only their own cards, don't talk and use no agreed signals, and before every card weigh the partner's possible hands – the crew landed about 79% of the flights on Easy, 56% on Normal, 36% on Hard and 14% on Expert. Turbulence alone, without the busy sky, is about as hard as Hard (30%). Most crashes were spins, collisions or landings short of the runway. Human crews learn to read each other's cards and may well do better; if you land easily, go up a level – and if you keep crashing, try the open cockpit (see "Variants").

Cards instead of dice

Each flight card is an Ace to 6 with the same chance, as a die would be. But your four cards come from twelve, with each value only twice: you can never hold three of a kind, and all four differ in about half of your hands (48%), against 28% with four dice. A particular value – say the 2 for the first brake – is in your hand 58% of the time instead of 52%. Hands are therefore more varied – and in a game without talking that helps a lot: the more different values you hold, the more likely you can answer your partner's axis and engine cards. With the same strategy, our computer crews landed 79% of the flights on Easy with cards, but only 44% with dice. The levels are set for the cards; with dice the plain approach would lie between Normal and Hard.

Other deviations: the rule for a card you can't place is ours, and the approach and the altitude are rows of cards that get shorter as you fly on.

Tips for beginners

• Play the axis early. The first card on the axis should be a middle one – a 3 or a 4 – so that your partner can answer it. If you leave both axis cards to the end, the last card may be the wrong one, and a spin ends the flight.
• Radio before engines. Clear your current position before the second engine card, or the plane can't move. A radio card on a far card is useful too – but rarely as your first card.
• Watch the ranges. Gear down makes it easier to stay put, flaps out make it harder to move two cards. Don't extend all flaps while you still need a two-card round.
• Plan the brakes. They need a 2, then a 4, then a 6 – and you need at least two of them for most landings. When the pilot holds a 2 and the brakes are still down, that's their card.
• Coffee is time. A card you can't use goes on concentration. One coffee later turns a 3 into the 2 you need.
• Read your partner. Each card says something: where it went, which value – and what your partner didn't do with it.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Open cockpit: play with your hands face up, still without talking – good for a first flight.
• Stopwatch: each round, after drawing, you have one minute to place your cards. Cards not placed in time are lost; if axis or engine cards are missing, you have lost.