Clear For Takeoff

Clear For Takeoff is a small game from Blue Orange Games for 2-4 players ages 7+.  In the game you are managing a small airline trying to be the first to get all three of your planes out of the hanger and into the air.  The gameplay is easy to lean but still offers enough of a challenge for those looking for a lighter game.

Each turn players take one of two actions, they may discard up to 3 cars or play cards to advance their planes down the taxiway and (hopefully) into the skies.  Players start the game with a hand of 6 cards either with letters A-D, Lucky Captain (wild card) or Delay (a nice take that aspect to the game).  To advance their planes down the taxiway and take off players must play sets of matching letter cards depending on which of their airplanes they are moving.  The smallest airplane takes only one card, the medium size takes two, and the largest takes 3.  Each part of the taxiway has a letter corresponding the cards that let’s players know which cards they need to be collecting in order to move along to the next step.

Players may also play a Delay card to move another jet backwards one place along the taxiway.  This can be countered if the effected player plays a Lucky Captain card.   Lucky Captain cards can also be used as wild cards in lieu of letter cards.  Finally once planes reach the end of the taxiway they may attempt to take off by playing the required number of ”D” cards and then checking the weather.  To check the weather players turn over the top card of the supplied Weather deck.  If the weather conditions are favorable for the type of plane taking off they are successful and the plane is removed from the game.  The first player to get all three of their planes in the air wins the game.

In all the game lasts about 20-30 minutes and goes very quickly with a decent amount of player interaction.  This game was an instant hit with our family hitting the table multiple times after our first play through.

 

Blynken’s Thoughts:

I liked the weather cards because they added an extra level of dificulty to the game since you sometimes couldnt take off even if you had played the cards.  I also liked that the different sizes of planes needed diferent amounts of cards so you had to collect them try to keep the cards you needed for your planes.  I liked the lucky captain cards a lot because they were wild cards or let you not get delayed.  It was really cool that this game was made by a real airline pilot.

10/10 Stars

 

Wynken’s Thoughts:

I liked that weather cards made it impossible for different planes depending on which type of weather you drew.  I enjoyed the set collection for the different sized planes which was fun tryign to get the cards you needed to move your planes.  I really liked the delay cards which would cause a plane to move back along the track if the pilot didn’t have a Lucky Pilot card.  This is a really cool game and I liked the art a lot.  

10/10 Stars