First in Flight

Build a flyer deck, push your luck in blackjack-style test flights and try not to crash.

Designers: Ben Rosset, Matthew O'Malley
Published by: Artana
Editions by: Maldito Games, CrowD Games, Schwerkraft-Verlag, One Moment Games, Happy Meeple Games

First in Flight is a push-your-luck deck-builder about the race to early flight. You play the Wright Brothers, Samuel Langley or another pioneer, building and piloting the flyers that came before modern airplanes. Your flyer design is a deck of cards that you improve and refine, and it may hide design flaws that threaten your success. A flight is a blackjack-style test: you flip cards to break records and gain experience, and you hope not to crash. Then you go back to the workshop to refine your machine. Dozens of technologies, pilot skills and friends in the field let you tailor your approach. One to four players, about seventy-five minutes, a 2023 design.

Your flyer design is a deck of cardsBlackjack-style push-your-luck flightsTechnologies, pilot skills and friends

Who it's for

You like push-your-luck and deckbuilding together, and a history-flavoured theme about early flight appeals to you.

Not for you if…

You dislike risk and crashing. Some flights will fail, and part of the fun is accepting that.

Vibe's take

Nervy and fun: every flight is a gamble between one more card and a safe landing, and your workshop upgrades slowly turn a rickety contraption into a record-breaker.