Skybirds
Skybirds Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Key Terms
- Ace: Every card in Skybirds is a (flying) Ace, no matter the value of the card.
- Dogfight: one full hand/trick.
- Campaign: one full round of Dogfights, ending when all but one of the players are out of cards.
- The Great War: a series of Campaigns ended by a player acquiring their Armistice Token.
Rules Summary
Skybirds is a card-shedding game where players play cards (called Aces) in turn trying to beat the most recently played cards on the table. Each round of play (Dogfight) consists of players playing a single card, or sets of cards all of the same value (a Squadron); each Squadron played must match the number of cards played at the start of the Dogfight (the Squadron Size) and be of higher Squadron Value than the previous played Squadron, until the Dogfight ends and the process starts again.
After cards are dealt, whoever has Roland Garros plays that card (alone or with a set of matched cards). The number of cards played (Squadron Size) sets how many cards everyone plays this round (Dogfight). Players that follow may either pass or play a set (Squadron) with equal Squadron Size but with a larger Squadron Value. Or they can play a Squadron with a medallion, from cards (9s and 10s) or from tokens (acquired as the game progresses). One medallion always beats none, two beat one, etc. Cards with medallions can played as singletons to beat any lower-valued Squadron regardless of Squadron size. (If Garros is played alone to start, he wins. That player then starts a new Dogfight.)
The Dogfight ends when all but one player has passed. The winning player leads the next Dogfight, choosing the Squadron Size. The first person to play all their cards ("going out") gets to take any token they've unlocked (i.e., if they have a prerequisite token in hand). The Dogfight continues until all but one player goes out, with the second-place player taking their token, then the third, etc. Second place can take any token they've unlocked except the ones marked for 1st place only. 3rd place can't take tokens marked only for 1st and 2nd. Fourth place (or 3rd place in a 3p game) can only take the tokens worth +1VP from the bottom of the board.
After each campaign, you can trade +1VP tokens for progress tokens if you have the proper prerequisites: 3rd place tokens costs 2 of these +1VP tokens, 2nd place tokens cost 3, and 1st place tokens cost 4.
Tokens can be saved to score VP at the end of the game. Or, if the token has a bonus, you can choose to use it during play. The first time you use a token, flip it over to lower the VP value by 1 point. The second time you use it, put the token back onto your player mat, face up. You will need to re-earn that token to get it back again. This may mean you no longer qualify to take a more advanced token if you no longer have its prerequisite.
The final token, the Armistice Token, requires you to have both of its prerequisite tokens. Once someone takes the Armistice Token, finish the current Dogfight. Players also take a fractional VP token (in order of finish) if they don't already have one. Tally up your VP from tokens still in your possession. Highest VP (including the fractional VP tokens) wins.
Note to the reader: Tokens will be discussed at the end of the rules explanation, but just be aware that tokens are the rewards players get after each Campaign. The tokens in this game often let you break a general rule. So as you see rules which say "You can do X, but not Y" recognize there might be a token which lets you break that rule by doing Y in certain circumstances. Some tokens are played during play (Dogfight Tokens) while others are played prior to the start of a round (Pre-Campaign Tokens). This will all be explained below.
Components
Skybirds is a game about flying aces, so every card, regardless of its numerical value, is called an Ace. There are 40 Aces (cards) and 79 Tokens in Skybirds. The card distribution is presented on the back cover of these rules. Each player has 11 progression tokens and 8 non-progression (1VP) tokens, plus there are 3 fractional VP tokens. There are also 4 Aerodromes (punchboards), which you should keep after you punch out the tokens. You can lay those punched-out Aerodromes onto an "under-board" that shows the same artwork. Feel free to use some glue stick to make a low-tech (but eco-friendly) dual-layer board.
Setup
If they are not already assembled together, take one Aerodrome (player mat) for each player in the game, align them on top of their corresponding "underboards," and place the matching tokens on every empty token space on the Aerodrome.
For 4 Players: Shuffle all 40 Ace cards. For 2 or 3 Players: Locate the "Roland Garros" Ace card (has a special "starting player" icon instead of a Value) and hold it to the side. Then shuffle the 39 remaining cards and deal 4 cards into the box (without looking at them). If you are playing with 2 players, deal another 4 unseen cards (for a total of 8) into the box. Add the Roland Garros card back into the deck to create a deck of 36 (for 3 players) or 32 (for 2 players).
Regardless of how many players, deal out all cards remaining in the deck (40, 36, or 32, depending on player count). Every player will get the same number of cards, as shown in the chart below:
| Players | Ace cards per Player |
|---|---|
| 2 | 16 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 10 |
Every Ace card (other than Roland Garros) has a value from 1 to 10, with 10 (The Red Baron) being the most skilled Ace and thus the most valuable, and 1s (with some of the least skilled Aces of the Great War, such as Theodor Rumpel and Chester Duffus) being the least valuable. Even the lowliest of Aces is still an Ace, and thus was a cut above the average flier in WWI. (To qualify as an Ace, a pilot needed to have shot down 5 enemy planes. The exception is Roland Garros, for whom the term Flying Ace was coined by the French newspapers, who did not shoot down five German planes. Hence he has no specific value attached to his card).
The Red Baron's card also has a Medallion icon. Any card with any of these symbols can be played by itself even when the Squad Size is greater than 1. Squadrons with more Medallions always beat any Squadron with fewer Medallions.
Players may sort their cards however they wish (numerical order is often best), and whoever has Roland Garros (the Ace with the "Starting Player" icon) becomes the starting player.
Note: If a player uses a token that causes cards to be swapped, the ultimate starting player is whoever ends up with Roland Garros after the card swaps are done. However, it rarely will make sense to pass Garros, since it means giving up the chance to lead the first hand.
If the player with the Roland Garros card doesn't plan to pass it, they should announce they will be this round's starting player, even while people are still sorting their cards, just so everyone can plan, knowing where the round will start.
Once everyone has their hand sorted and is ready to play, players will announce if they want to use a "Pre-Campaign" token, starting with the player who has Roland Garros and proceeding clockwise. Pre-Campaign Tokens are one of the types of tokens you can potentially win after each Campaign; these tokens are only playable prior to the start of a given Campaign. After any Pre-Campaign tokens are resolved, the player who now has Roland Garros starts the first Dogfight of the first Campaign of the game.
Roland Garros must be played to start the Campaign. If he is played on his own, simply discard him and that same player starts a new Dogfight with a Squadron of any Size and Value. But, Garros can also be added to a Squadron (a singleton or a matching set) taking on that Squadron Value. For example, Garros plus a single 4 becomes a Squadron of Size=2, Value=4, and Garros plus a pair of 5s is a Squadron of Size=3, Value=5. When tokens change the value of the other cards in the Squadron, treat Garros as matching the final value of the Squadron. However, Garros can never be used with the token that allows players to play consecutive, unmatched cards; Garros's Value must equal another card in the Squadron.
Play
Overview
Players will play through a series of Campaigns until one player advances far enough along their Aerodrome progression to acquire their Armistice Token. Once that final Dogfight ends, all players will tally their Victory Points, with the winner being the player who has the most VP. This will probably be the player with the Armistice Token, but not necessarily.
A Campaign consists of a series of Dogfights (hands/tricks). Each Dogfight involves an initial player choosing how many matching-value cards to play to start the Dogfight. (It can be a single card or multiple same-value cards, from a pair all the way up to 6-of-a-kind). This group of cards is known as a Squadron (or just Squad for short). Players take turns laying down Squadrons (groups of the same number of matching cards) of increasing value until, in response to a player playing a particular Squadron, all other players choose to pass. Then those cards are put to the side. The player who played the last Squadron will start a new Dogfight, choosing any number of matched cards to lead the new Dogfight, which sets the Squadron size for that Dogfight. If that player is out of cards they claim their token, and play passes clockwise to the next player.
Each player has an Armistice Token on their Aerodrome mat (at the end of the progression). Whoever gets theirs first triggers the end of the game.
Tokens let you break the rules: A few tokens will allow you to include unmatched cards in a multi-card Squadron. For example, this token lets you make a 3-of-a-kind from 3 unmatched cards.
Dogfights
Whenever a player is able to start a new Dogfight (including at the start of a Campaign when the starting player is determined by who has the Roland Garros card), that player must choose how many Ace cards will be in a Squadron for the current Dogfight. A Squadron's Size is how many cards in the set: any number of cards from 1 to 6, as long as they all have the same value. A Squadron's Value is the value printed on the cards (perhaps modified by tokens). For example, a set of two cards each with a 5 on them has a Size=2 and Value=5. Some tokens make cards wild; when one of these tokens is used the player must declare the Value of the Squadron.
Thus, if the starting player in the first round plays Roland Garros and two other "2" cards, that starts the first Dogfight of the Campaign with Squadron Size=3 and Value=2. Alternatively, they could use Roland Garros and a single 1-value card for a Squadron of Size=2, Value=1.
Until the Dogfight is won, the Squadron Size cannot change, so all Squadrons in a given Dogfight will consist of the same number of cards. Exception: If a card or a token has a Medallion icon then that card (or card+token) can be played all by itself in Dogfights even where the Squadron size is larger than 1.
If Roland Garros is played by himself, he wins the Dogfight automatically, and the player who played Garros starts the next Dogfight, choosing any size for the first-played Squadron of the next Dogfight.
Play proceeds clockwise. Once the player who started the Dogfight has determined the Squadron Size for this particular Dogfight, each player choosing to play cards into the current Dogfight must play a Squadron of the same Size as the starting Squadron (or use a Medallion), and the newly played Squadron must have a strictly higher Value than the previously played Squadron.
Example: If the starting player played a Squadron of two matching cards of value 5, the next player would also need to play two matching cards, and the value would need to be 6 or higher. To be extra clear, you cannot follow a Squadron of 5s with another Squadron of 5s. It has to be bigger, not tied. Note that there are token bonuses that would allow each of the invalid plays above to become valid.
Players may not change the number of cards played. If two cards were played, each other player must play exactly two cards or a single card with a Medallion icon (via card or token).
Reminder:
- Ace: every card in Skybirds is a (flying) Ace, no matter the value of the card.
- Dogfight: one full hand/trick.
- Campaign: one full round of Dogfights.
- The Great War: the entire game, consisting of a series of Campaigns. The Great War ends when a player acquires the Armistice Token.
- Squadron: 1-6 cards, determined by the player who starts each Dogfight. Every Squadron played in a given Dogfight must have the same Size as the initial Squadron and a higher Value, or else use a Medallion icon.
- Medallion Aces: You can play these as Singletons even when the Squad Size is larger than 1. You may also lead a new Dogfight with a Medallion Ace.
Players may always pass (choose not to play a Squadron), if they wish, so that the next player in clockwise order would now be up. Even if players pass on their turn, they may still jump back in to play a Squadron in the same Dogfight if play circles back to them. However, if everyone passes so that play comes back around to the last person to play a card, that ends the Dogfight.
When a player plays a Squadron to the Dogfight and every other player passes, then the player who played the last Squadron wins the Dogfight. The winning player grabs the pile of cards, puts them to the side, and starts the next Dogfight, choosing any new Squadron Size from their remaining cards, based on how many matching cards they choose to play. The new Squadron may have the same or a different Size than was used in the just-completed Dogfight.
Once this new Squadron Size is set, during this Dogfight players may only play Squadrons of that Size, with increasingly higher Values, though a single Ace card with at least one Medallion icon can always be played as a Squadron matching the current Squadron Size.
Exception: Players can acquire certain Upgrade Tokens that will allow them, once per token, to mix Ace cards of different values into a single Squadron or to add one or two Medallion icons to that card.
Campaign
A Campaign consists of a series of Dogfights, one after another, until all but one player runs out of cards. As players run out of cards, they are each entitled to acquire a token from their Aerodrome (player mats) and take it into their possession, based on the order they finished (with players who finished sooner entitled to more powerful tokens). Except in a two-player game, the player who ended the most recent Dogfight of the Campaign Season with cards left over (last place) may only take a +1VP token (with no bonus) regardless of whether there is a token available corresponding to their finishing position.
Example: In a three-player game, the first and second place finishers are entitled to take a Progress Token if they can, but the player who was left with cards (3rd place) can only take one of the +1VP tokens along the bottom of the aerodrome and may not take the ones marked as available for 3rd place, even though they finished 3rd.
Which token you take also depends on where you are in your progression. If you have not yet taken any tokens, you can only take tokens from the starting positions (on the far left) indicated with a special color. For all other progression tokens, you also need to have an empty space in at least one immediately preceding space.
Having the appropriate preceding space empty is called "meeting the progression requirements" or "meeting the prerequisites" in the rules below.
Example: Your first token has to be taken from one of the 3 tokens marked A unless you are taking a 1VP token from the bottom of the board. If you decide to take the middle token, your next token can be either B or C, if you finish high enough in the next campaign.
Example: You have earned tokens A and B. If you want to use the token you earned from B, you should first earn the token at C, otherwise you will need to earn the token in B again before you can earn the one at C, as you can only claim a token if the preceding space is empty.
Aside from having to meet the prerequisites, you also need to have done well enough in the Campaign Season to merit the token you take. If you finished in last place (except in a 2-player game), you can only take a +1VP token from below the progression chart. If you finished in 3rd place (in a 4-player game), you are only entitled to take tokens marked as available for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. If you finish in 2nd, you can take the next token in the progression as long as it does not say "1st" only. And if you finish in first, you can take any token you want, assuming you meet the progression requirements. You may also always take a +1VP token instead of a progression token.
Once acquired from the Aerodrome, tokens can be used for their special bonuses, starting in the next Campaign. Every token offers some bonus, except for +1VP tokens (below the progression path). Tokens still on the player mats are never usable by the players until earned. Plus, if you use a token two times, you have to put it back onto the Aerodrome, losing the VPs until it is re-earned. This also may block your progression if the returned token was a prerequisite for the next token you want, requiring that you re-earn it before you can move forward.
To avoid having to re-earn tokens, players should try to progress beyond the token they want to use before using it more than once.
Prior to the start of a Campaign, if you have two or more +1VP tokens, you may choose to trade them in for a token with a bonus. The cost is two +1VP tokens for any token available to a 3rd place finisher, three for any token that is not restricted to 1st place only, and four for any token that is restricted to 1st place only. These newly acquired tokens can be played immediately (if applicable) or held for later, like any other token. You can never take the Armistice Token this way.
The final token in the progression is called the Armistice Token. The Great War consists of a series of Campaigns, and continues until one player has taken their Armistice Token. Players finish up that final Dogfight (so the other players can earn a final token). In addition, and only for the Dogfight in which the Armistice token is taken, each player may also take a fractional VP token if they do not already have one, in order of their finish. Players add up their Victory Points from tokens (including points from fractional tokens) and whoever has the highest total wins. No matter what place you finished in, congrats, you've ended the War to End All Wars.
Tokens
Players start with an Aerodrome that contains 11 tokens on a progression track, plus eight +1VP tokens below the track. All 4 players' tokens are the same. (The three fractional VP tokens start on no one's Aerodrome.) As long as these tokens remain on the Aerodrome mats, they are of no use to the players. However, as Players finish a Campaign (i.e., as they manage to shed all of their cards), they will be eligible to take a token from their Aerodrome mat and put it into their reserve pile. This process of removing a token from the player mat, ("taking a token") does three things:
- VP Value: First, it earns potential end-game VP bonus (full value on the front face of the token and one VP less on the back).
- Two-time Bonus: Second, each progression token offers a two-time bonus which you may use when it most makes sense. You will flip the token over after the first use (losing 1 VP), and then return it to the Aerodrome face up after the second use (losing all VP).
- Aerodrome Progression: Third, each token on the progression track (other than the three starting tokens on the left side of the Aerodrome) requires you to have the preceding token in your supply in order to take the next token in the progression towards victory. Thus taking a Progression Token unlocks a prerequisite for the next token along the Aerodrome track.
VP Value
When you remove a token from your Aerodrome, you will earn potential end-game VPs. Unless you return that token to your Aerodrome (by using its bonus twice), you'll earn the VP showing on your token when The Great War ends. The first time you use a token, you keep it but will flip it over to indicate it is worth one fewer end-game VP than before. After the second use, you will put it back onto the progress track (face up at its full value). You won't earn any VP from this token unless you reclaim it in a future Campaign.
Note: If a Campaign comes to an end and you do not qualify for any of the tokens on your player mat, you may only take a +1VP token, which is sort of a booby prize. Plan ahead!
Using Bonus Tokens
Tokens can be held in your reserve, untriggered, until the end of the game to earn their full VP value. However, you can also trigger the bonuses printed on most of the tokens. The first time you use a token, you flip it and reduce its value by 1VP. If you trigger the bonus a second time, return the token to your Aerodrome, face up. You won't get any VP for that token unless you reacquire it. Also, because the token now covers up a spot on the Aerodrome, it may make it impossible for you to progress further until you retake that token at the end of another Campaign.
Some tokens have an icon on them that forms part of its one-time bonus, explained in the rules below. The various Medallion icons discussed above are examples of icons. The medallion symbols differ only to show the Ace's nationality; they are all functionally identical.
Some tokens have the colors of their end-game VPs reversed from the other tokens, which indicates that they are Pre-Campaign Tokens with bonuses that can only be triggered prior to the start of a Campaign. The player with Roland Garros in hand should always be sure to ask if anyone wishes to play a Pre-Campaign Token prior to starting the first Dogfight of a new Campaign. In rare cases, this may cause the Roland Garros card to switch hands and change who is the starting player.
The second time you use the bonus on a token, you must return it to your player board. For example, after using the token that lets you trade cards with one of your opponents prior to the start of a Campaign, you would flip it over, losing 1 VP. But when you use it at the start of another Campaign, you would then immediately return it to your Aerodrome, face-up at its full value.
You cannot use the same token twice on a single turn, nor can you use a Pre-Campaign Token twice before the same Campaign.
Two tokens (the Tiebreaker Token and Armistice Token) behave differently. Whenever a player claims their Tiebreaker Token, that player also takes one of the fractional VP tokens, which are not on the Aerodrome board at all. The first player to claim their Tiebreaker Token gets the ¾ VP token. The second to claim their Tiebreaker Token gets the ½ VP token, and the third takes the last one, worth ¼ VP. These prevent ties at the end of the game.
Whenever a player claims their Armistice Token, the game ends at the end of that Dogfight. This game-end triggers automatically, even if the player taking the Armistice Token doesn't want the game to end. Triggering this effect DOES NOT return the Armistice Token to the player mat. When a player claims the Armistice Token, finish up the current Dogfight. As each player completes their Campaign by going out (including the winner of the Campaign), they will take the largest remaining fractional VP token (in order of finish) if they have not already claimed one. Thus, over the course of the Great War, three of the four players will earn fractional VPs of varying values, meaning there should never be a tie. Tiebreaker Tokens are never returned to the Aerodrome nor flipped over.
Aerodrome Progression
Your Aerodrome starts with 11 progress tokens, face up, plus eight +1VP tokens beneath the track. When a Dogfight is finished, players will be eligible to take a token from their player mats. Which token they can take will depend on their order of finish and whether they already have the required prerequisite token in hand.
Below every progress token is a small ribbon with the numbers 1, 2, and/or 3 on them. To be eligible to take a token marked "1", you must have finished first in the most recent Dogfight. To be eligible to take a token marked "1 or 2", you must have finished first or second in the most recent Dogfight. To be eligible to take a token marked "1, 2, or 3", you must have finished in first or second in the most recent Dogfight (in a 2-player or 3-player game) or have finished third (in a 4-player game). 4th place never takes a progress token, nor does 3rd place in a 3-player game. If a player is not eligible for a progress token (or chooses not to take one), they may instead take a +1VP token from the bottom of the player mat. These +1VP tokens are not Progress Tokens and have no associated bonuses.
In addition to meeting the requirement for a token based on your order of finish in the Dogfight, you must also always have the prerequisite token(s) in your possession in order to take the next token on the track. Prerequisites are indicated by arrows, where the arrow points from the prerequisite to the token it is a prerequisite for. Unlike other tokens, which never require more than one of their prerequisites, the Armistice Token requires both of its prerequisites.
Thus, each time you finish a Dogfight, you may be eligible to take a progress token with a symbol equal to (or worse than) your finish order for that Dogfight, but you must also already have that token's prerequisite(s) in your possession (taken off your mat). If you are not eligible for any progress token (or you opt not to take one), you may always take a +1VP token instead.
Example: At the top of the board there are four token spaces connected by arrows. In order to take a token, you would need to finish a Dogfight in 1st or 2nd place, and also have one of the two tokens to the left of the token you want in your possession. If both of those prerequisite tokens to the left of the token you want are still on the player mat, you cannot take it.
For four tokens in the progression, there are two paths to reach it (and thus two arrows pointing to it), and for the first three on the track you need only one of the prerequisites to progress. However, to take the Armistice Token, you need to finish a Dogfight in first place and then have both of the prerequisite tokens in hand. This is indicated on the Aerodrome mats by those two arrows being differently colored and by a bar linking the two paths with a "+" symbol.
Optionally, if you want a shorter game, you can allow players to skip one of these final prerequisite tokens to progress to the end, but this can result in very quick victories if a player gets on a hot streak.
Important: To see if you can progress, you only look at the immediate prerequisite(s) spaces for a given token, not earlier spots in the progression.
It is vital to remember that if a token's prerequisite tokens are on the board, a player may not take that next token in the progression. But it is okay if you've used a token from an even earlier prerequisite, as long as the current prerequisite is in the players' possession. This means that once you have taken a given token, you are free to use, and thus return to your player mat, all of that most recent token's prerequisites, without interrupting your progression. Just keep the immediate antecedent and you're fine.
Example: In order to get Token C, Token B is a prerequisite. To get Token B, Token A was a prerequisite. You cannot take Token C if Token B is currently on your Aerodrome, even if you previously owned Token B. However, if you already have Token B when you return Token A, you can keep Token B and thus can still earn Token C, even though Token A has been returned to the board. So basically, once you get Token B, you are free to "use up" Token A without hurting your ability to get Token C.
Trading In +1VP Tokens
At the end of a Campaign, after players earn their new tokens, players with two or more +1VP tokens may use them to purchase tokens from the progression track, if they otherwise meet the prerequisite for the token they wish to purchase. Tokens marked for 3rd place require a player to return two +1VP tokens to their Aerodrome mat. Tokens available beyond 3rd place restriction require a player to return three +1VP tokens to their Aerodrome mat. Tokens restricted to 1st place only require a player to return four +1VP tokens to their Aerodrome mat. You can never trade for the Armistice Token; it must be earned by winning a Campaign.
Declaring an Armistice (Ending the Game)
As soon as any player acquires their Armistice Token from their Aerodrome, it is 11:11am on November 11, 1918 and the Great War comes to an end. The current Dogfight finishes up so the final tokens can be taken by other players, and each player who has not yet taken a fractional VP token may do so, in the order of finish.
Players then add up the value of all tokens in their possession, including their fractional VP tokens. Whoever has the most Victory Points wins. Congratulations, you've ended the War to End All Wars.
Ace Distribution
The number of propellers in the upper left corner of a card tells you how many Aces of that value are in the deck. Here is the distribution of card values in the 40-card deck:
| Ace Value | Count in Deck |
|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 5 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 5 |
| 7 | 3 |
| 8 | 3 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 1 |
| Roland Garros | 1 |
Total: 40 Aces.