Air Combat Games

Board Games

• These games are typically for multiple players. "The Burning Blue," for instance, is based around the events of the Battle of Britain, in 1940. The game is played out over a color map and has the feel of a realistic war-game with participants taking on the roles of either the German planes attempting to bomb England or of the British defenses. "Birds of Prey: Air Combat in the Jet Age" is intended to simulate dog-fight combat and uses tiles and tilt-blocks, alongside miniature jet models and a grid-like play mat to recreate the precise manoeuvres involved in air combat.

Card Games

• These games utilize playing cards as a method of representing the action in air combat battles. "Down In Flames," for instance, puts each player in the role of an aircraft crew; participants play cards to symbolize certain actions, while these moves can be countered by other players laying down specific cards in retaliation. Aircraft have various statistics representing their prowess, including airframe and horsepower. "Air Combat: The Card Game" is a 2011 release intended for two players, with each participant fielding aircraft from countries such as the United States and France. The game pits each player against one another in a bid to win territories, with cards used to represent plane squadrons, with other cards symbolizing the objectives players are fighting over.

P.C. and Console Games

• These air combat games tend to be rather technical in nature, and an understanding of flight mechanics may help ease players into these titles. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey" is a dog-fighting simulation for the PlayStation 3, and combines an arcade gameplay feel with a sense of authenticity. The game, which depicts historical planes, features tutorial missions to aid players new to the genre.

  "Lock On: Modern Air Combat", meanwhile, was released for the P.C. in 2003, and features a variety of noted aircraft, such as the MiG-29 and the F-15C, which all operate differently to each other during gameplay. As the Gamespot U.K. website points out, the rather technical targeting system in this game can take some getting used to.

Online Flash Games

• These games are played through a user's web browser, and are typically available for free. "Air Combat" is a simplistic arcade-style game; the player controls a fighter jet using the keyboard, and must blast her way through vertically-scrolling levels. "Ninja Air Combat" takes place in the sky, but doesn't feature planes; instead, the player controls a flying ninja. The player must defeat legions of enemies by utilizing her throwing star weapons in a series of horizontally-scrolling levels.