Stonemaier Games is heading skyward with its latest strategy game, Braided Skies, a fantasy eurogame where players take control of airships and build their own magical travel companies! Known for games including Wingspan, Viticulture and Scythe, Stonemaier has now revealed a rather different kind of adventure. Instead of growing vineyards or collecting birds, you'll be flying through the clouds, picking up tourists, discovering wonders and trying to become the most famous airship captain around. Announced on September 23, Braided Skies is the first game in a planned trilogy set within the Smoking Bones universe. It is designed by Dan Germain and features artwork from Andrew Bosley, the artist and creator behind the wider Smoking Bones setting.
All aboard!
In Braided Skies, players become airship captains operating in a region known as the Shallows. Your goal is to build a magical travel company capable of taking tourists across the Northlands and visiting some of the world's most impressive wonders. Of course, running a fantasy airline isn't quite as simple as booking a few flights. Each player has three drop ships that can be sent out onto the shared board to collect resources and unlock new opportunities. You can visit different locations to gather tourists, collect tapstones, discover wonders, recruit crew, and improve your company's operations. Tapstones are particularly important. These magical gems fuel the airships and are also used when travelling to the various wonders scattered around the game world. Managing your supply will be a major part of keeping your operation moving.
Send them out!
The main action revolves around deploying and recalling your ships. When you deploy a ship, you send it to a location on the board to perform an action or gather something useful. You can eventually recall your ships back to your player board, triggering the different outfittings you've built up along the way. This creates an interesting push-and-pull between sending ships out to gather what you need and bringing them home to make use of your upgrades. You'll also have crew and captain meeples that can help activate actions or fill gaps when you don't have exactly the resources required. That means planning your turns carefully could make the difference between a beautifully efficient operation and an airship business held together with string and optimism!
Build your company!
There is plenty more going on behind the airships. Players can upgrade their own boards, add new outposts, recruit crew, and improve their ships with different outfittings. These upgrades are designed to make future turns more powerful, giving Braided Skies a strong sense of progression as your company develops.
The shared board changes too. As players explore the clouds and uncover new areas, additional spaces become available, opening up fresh actions and rewards. This means the game world isn't completely static, with your exploration helping to expand the possibilities available during the game. There is also another resource to keep track of called grit, adding another layer to the game's resource management. Stonemaier describes the overall experience as a high-complexity strategy game, so this definitely isn't looking like a quick game of "fly around and look at the pretty clouds"!
Welcome to Smoking Bones!
Braided Skies is part of the Smoking Bones universe created by Andrew Bosley. The setting has already been explored through Bosley's illustrated fiction, with the board game forming part of a larger planned universe. The good news is that you won't need to read the books before playing. Braided Skies is designed as a standalone game, so players can jump straight into the world without doing their homework first. Bosley's artwork should also make this one a particularly eye-catching addition to the Stonemaier catalogue. The game includes a three-dimensional board setup with cloud component trays surrounding the play area, while the fantasy setting gives Bosley plenty of room to show off the world he's created.
Ready for takeoff!
Braided Skies supports one to five players, with games expected to take around 60 to 90 minutes. It is recommended for players aged 14 and over. The game is also expected to be available at SPIEL Essen 2026, giving players their first chance to get their hands on it before the wider retail release. Stonemaier's own release information points to October 14 for its direct launch, with wider retail availability following afterwards. With worker placement, resource management, exploration, upgrades, and a fantasy world packed with airships, Braided Skies is shaping up to be one to watch. If you've ever wanted to run your own magical airline, Braided Skies might finally let you live the dream. Just remember to pack the tapstones!
