First in Flight: My Favorite Mechanism

[@gcanceko]

I backed this game because of the theme - my 7yo is really into planes and history - and it sat on my shelf for six months before we removed the shrink. When we did I was so taken with how the flight action was so thematic! I also loved how it did a great job of modeling what iterative design is like - which my 12yo appreciated - you need to fly to out your flaws so you can fix them and when you upgrade of course you’re going to introduce possibly new flaws! My kids love watching each other take flights and looking through the skills and tech cards. Also kudos for the diverse representation! It was good and integrated well! ❤

[@jameystegmaier]

I completely agree! I love the flight mechanism from start to finish.

[@Nathan-P-Moomaw]

My first question was also "why not just wait until you have built the perfect design to do a flight?" and then realized all the clever ways they've built the design to encourage frequent test flights. I thought for sure Jamey would mention that that aspect is also very much like game design itself, in that you just can't see all the flaws until you playtest it. And a common hang up of new designers is to try to perfect the design before playtesting, when it's actually better to get it to the table as early as possible, so that you can iterate faster. I love that this game (which went through that iterative design loop) is specifically about that kind of design loop and the value in testing something even when you know it won't yet work as well as you want it to.

[@jameystegmaier]

I wasn't looking to make a comparison to the game design process in this video, but I can see what you're saying!

[@kristinleydigbryant8460]

It’s really clever, and the flight tests are surprisingly exciting and suspenseful! 😂

[@michaelsprague1081]

Really enjoyed my first play. I love games that give players the "encore" play at the end. Glad you featured this one, I haven't seen a ton of press or buzz since the campaign ended. It deserves more praise.

[@jameystegmaier]

I really like the encore element as well! Even if you don't break the 40 barrier, it's still nice to have one final attempt.

[@Jeff_Pusch]

Agree with this. First in Flight might be my favorite new game this year

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

In _Renature,_ unresolved plots will resolve at the end of the game, but it still behooves people to surround the plots to resolve them earlier because the player who closes up the plot gets a bonus token worth a few points - these tokens are just removed from play during the endgame resolution.

[@hpshovecraft]

Very excited to play this one. I'm not surprised you love it, it seems tailor-made to your tastes.

[@kickthesky]

I need this game! Thank you for shining light on it for me.

[@richardz8199]

This sounds super fun. Thx for the review.

[@tbahr123]

This game seems so cool

[@cristianpelle4567]

Is Aurel Vlaicu or Traian Vuia characters in the game?

[@jameystegmaier]

Here are the characters I have: Shivkar Bapuji, Wilber & Orville Wright, Therese Pettier, Samuel Langley, Louis Bleriot, E. Lilian Todd, Hubert Latham, Bessie Coleman, Alberto Santos-Dumont, and Glenn Curtiss.

[@cristianpelle4567]

@@jameystegmaier, many thanks. The game looks good, but the absence of those 2 is a bit desapointing.

[@steveschlepphorst]

​@@cristianpelle4567 It was tough to narrow characters down and balance the international parallel engineering with the more direct relationships / conversation in France & the US.. Vuia is on my list if we'd get to do a few more pilots.

[@cristianpelle4567]

@@steveschlepphorst, in expansion is also ok. Also I would suggest geography as idea, as next step, you know, like crossing the Carpathians, The Channel, Atlantic etc. Thanks