''Air Charter'' is a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

previously published by

Waddingtons Waddingtons was a British manufacturer of card games, card and board games. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and the manager, actor and playwright Wilson Barrett, under the name ''Waddingtons Limited''. The name was c ...

. The

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

is named after the concept of

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

, the commercial use of aircraft on non-established flight routes. The game is set in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The scenario involves a number of small companies competing for

air freight Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: * Passenger aircraft use the ...

business where the transportation is between the lesser known airfields. There are 2 games, the short game designed more for younger players and as an introduction to the basic flying rules of the game. The more complex full game involves more by way of trading strategy.

History

The history of ''Air Charter'' can be traced back to 1970.Air Charter Board Game BoardGameGeek
/ref> It was made around the same time as a similar game called The Business Game which was originally known as Mine a Million by John Waddington Ltd (aka Waddingtons).

Equipment

Each player is represented by a small plastic aircraft with a peg for carrying the freight tokens. There are four aircraft differentiated by colour. The aircraft are moved around the flight paths between airfields making use of a single die. The games also includes the playing board representing a map of Australasia and Southeast Asia, four fuel gauges, freight cards, incident cards, paper money and several plastic pyramid shapes representing freight of three types, special foodstuffs (white), basic foodstuffs (white) and machinery (coloured). The board is marked up with

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

s which are connected by air lanes. Airfields have runways, some with two at right angles to each other some with just one. Every airfield has a Control Area where the planes circle before landing. Four of the airfields, Manila, Makassar, Derby and the Palau Islands act as home airfields for the four players. Finally the airfield has a warehouse where the foodstuffs and machinery tokens (pyramids) are stored. The fuel gauges are marked off in fuel units and freight units. Each fuel unit represents 70 gallons of aviation fuel. The more fuel a plane carries the less freight it can carry.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Charter (Game) Board games introduced in 1970