There is a distinctive charm to this easy to learn and play ‘push your luck’ game. Players each have a hand of cards, most of which bear the image of one of four perils. They place their character pawns on board a steam punk style airship and set sail.
Each turn the ‘captain’ rolls dice and has to play peril cards that match the perils showing on the dice. If players think the captain can meet the requirement, they stay on board. If they think he can’t, they can choose to disembark. If they disembark they take a card scoring points for the city the airship has so far reached. If the captain succeeds, the airship moves on.
The further the ship goes, the more points the city cards are worth. The captaincy passes to the next player and the process is repeated. If a captain cannot play peril cards meeting the requirement of the dice, then the airship crashes and the players who remain on board get nothing…
There are special cards that introduce some modifying special effects, but essentially that is the game. Celestia is simple yet fun, and at its best with 5 or 6 players. In my group, Celestia has held its position as a popular game to round the evening off, especially after a rather longer strategic tussle, but it is also a game that can be played with the family because it can be enjoyed by both adults and children competing pretty much on equal levels.
If you are left wanting more, the publishers (BLAM) have added a couple of small expansions - A Little Help and A Little Initiative - that add further special effect equipment cards and which give each of the characters a special ability.