Air, Land, and Sea

Air, Land, and Sea is a two player micro game with a grand military theme.

Players are battling for supremacy in three theatres, the Air, Land and Sea of the title, using battle cards from a deck of 18; 6 cards for each theatre numbered 1 to 6, representing strength.

At the beginning of a game, the three theatre cards are laid between the players across the table in a random order, and starting player is established by players taking one of the two face down supreme commander cards (in subsequent battles players switch).

A game is made up of a number of battles. In each battle, the players are dealt six cards each, and the remainder put to one side. Players take turns adding cards to their side of each theatre, until all cards are played; the player with superior strength in at least two theatres wins the battle (ties go to player one) and gains 6vps. Cards are shuffled back into the deck, the order of the three theatre cards is rotated and a new battle ensues. Play continues until one player has 12vps – this wins them the game.

So it’s a best of three? Well not quite, because at the beginning of a player’s turn, if she/he feels the battle is lost, they can withdraw. Their opponent automatically wins, but not necessarily the full 6vp – an amount depending on the number of cards the withdrawing player has left in hand. This adds an interesting tactical wrinkle – can you convince your opponent you can win even when you’re not sure, causing them to withdraw from the fight.

Normally during a battle, cards can only be played to their matching theatre. However cards can also be played face down to any theatre (all face down cards have a strength of 2). Crucially, all the cards played face up have a special ability, either instant or ongoing, and these can affect where subsequent cards are played, allow drawing from the remaining deck, changing the value of cards already played etc. One of the most important abilities is flipping an open card (one without a card played over it). This might mean flipping a card face down, or flipping it face up, in which case its ability immediately triggers.

Despite its very few components (not all of which even feature in any given battle), Air, Land, And Sea manages to create an intricate web of causes and effects, along with some double-think and bluffing to boot; it all adds up to a very satisfying 20 minute game for two would-be military masterminds.