Alderac Entertainment Group will release the new transportation board game Planes in November.
 
This is the second major release in AEG’s "Destination Fun" line (which yes, will eventually include an Automobiles title for fans of the 1987 John Hughes movie).  The game is designed by David Short (Ground Floor, Skyline) who is also the designer on AEG’s upcoming sci-fi card game Cypher (see "'Cypher'").  
 
Planes combines elements of Mancala with modern game design, as players move from point to point checking luggage, passing security, getting food, and getting to boarding.  There are elements of hand management to the game, as cards allow players to take special actions to board the plane more quickly and also complete special goals, but they must also make sure their entire boarding party does not get separated in the terminal.
 
The box contains 60 cards, 4 player aids, 20 party cubes (5 each in red, blue, green, yellow), 20 neutral cubes, 4 Plane tokens (1 of each player color), 44 point of interest tokens (14 of which are blanks), 6 blockage cones, a boarding token, a double-sided airport board, and rules.   The game is for 2-4 players, ages 14 and up, and plays in 30 minutes.  MSRP is $39.99.
 
Alderac also recently announced a stand-alone follow-up to their other "Destination Fun" transportation strategy game Trains (see "'Trains 2: Rising Sun'").