Top Gun Strategy Game: ’80s Nostalgia at Its Finest

The great thing about board games is that there’s quite literally something for everyone. Whether you prefer classics like Snakes & Ladders, the brain-teasing Scrabble, adventure titles like Settlers of Catan, or even the action-filled Battleship, you’re sure to find something to tickle your fancy. Even better if you love to consume media—because plenty of board games are based on popular franchises!

Our post 4 Amazing Board Games Based on Books that with its intriguing list of high fantasy and mystery entries like Lord of the Rings – The Confrontation, Nancy Drew – Mystery at Magnolia Gardens, and even Harry Potter – Hogwarts Battle. You’ve also got titles inspired by TV shows, like James Clavell’s Shōgun and Star Trek. But why stop the hunt for your next favorite board game there? Even some of pop culture’s most beloved movies have entered the tabletop world. 

That includes none other than the cult classic 1986 flick Top Gun. It’s one of the highest-grossing films Tom Cruise ever did, earning more than $357 million at the box office. More importantly, it’s one of those films that encapsulate the spirit of the ’80s. And with Top Gun Strategy Game, you’ll definitely get a whiff of ’80s nostalgia at its finest. 

Capturing the spirit of Top Gun’s ’80s nostalgia

Top Gun truly stands out for how it captures all the boldness of 1980s pop culture in a runtime of less than two hours. Its soundtrack alone is sure to bring you back with its synthesizer-heavy tracks and the quintessential ’80s hit Take My Breath Away by Berlin. The film’s go-getter, patriotic attitude even reflects the overall atmosphere of optimism and economic growth the US experienced in that decade. 

And, of course, you can’t talk about Top Gun without discussing its lasting impact on the fashion world. The MR PORTER piece High-Flying Style Lessons from Top Gun notes how the film popularized pieces like T-shirts with breast pockets, camo field jackets, and patches to go with them—but if there’s one thing people remember Cruise donning, it’s the iconic Aviator sunglasses. Top Gun helped them skyrocket to legendary status so suddenly that it even helped save Ray-Ban from bankruptcy. Today, the design remains so popular that Ray-Ban now also offers a dedicated Optics line for it, with models you can get with prescription lenses, anti-glare coatings for modern device use, and frames in today’s trendy hexagonal styles as well as different kinds of metals and colorways to boot. Now symbolic of the film’s iconography, the Aviators truly illustrate how well the film encapsulates the ’80s. 

But does Top Gun Strategy Game do the same? Arguably, the answer is yes—and that’s something you’ll see as soon as the box lands on your doorstep. Adorned with bright hues of pink, purple, blue, orange, and yellow, the game’s logo design, packaging, and components call back to tropical and deco ’80s aesthetics. And once you open the game and start your first session, you’ll find the film’s elements translated into mechanics that help you relive Top Gun and make the game night feel like you’ve opened an ’80s time capsule. 

Reliving the ’80s through Top Gun using strategy game mechanics

Ready to go back to the ’80s? Play Top Gun Strategy Game with two to four people. The team at Prospero Hall, who also designed board games for other popular ’80s flicks and franchises like Indiana Jones, created game mechanics that bring Top Gun back to life right on your own tabletop. Pick the character you want to play—Maverick, Goose, Iceman, or Slider—and you’ll be all set to start the volleyball phase, which appropriately is the same sport the US had its best-ever Olympic outcomes for during the ’80s. 

The volleyball phase

Reviewers on sites like BoardGameGeek compare Top Gun Strategy Game to chess boxing, which Rules of Sport essentially definesas a game where you can play two sports in one go. In this case, you’ll spend some time on the volleyball court before taking to the skies. Separate your cards from your opponent’s with the game’s net, then lay them out face-down on a 3×3 grid. “Serve” by taking the game’s volleyball token and placing it on any of your opponent’s cards, then take a specific action depending on whether the card is labeled “Set,” “Bump,” or “Spike.” The goal? Uncover all three of your opponent’s “Whiff” cards. Doing so will allow you to gain Pilot Tokens and Weapons System Operation or WSO Cards you can use to your advantage in the next round—and let you decide if you want to play as the Attacker or Defender in Top Gun Strategy Game’s next phase:

The hop phase

From here, Top Gun Strategy Game will help you truly relive the film through combat. Lay out the board, set up your equipment behind a privacy screen, and draw a scenario card to place four waypoints on the board and determine the elevation of the attacking and defending jets on the game’s accompanying rod. The first person to gain five points will effectively target, lock the other player, and win the game. Unlike the Attacker, the Defender can also collect three waypoints to win. Each turn will see you drawing two Pilot Tokens and one WSO Card, then using the specs listed to maneuver your jets around the board to try to target-lock your opponent—or avoid being target-locked in turn. 

The most interesting mechanic? Flip the Bird. If your movement ends on the same “hex” or tile as your opponent, with your jet pointing in the same direction and exactly one elevation above theirs, you can effectively turn your jet upside down in a great callback to Top Gun. This fun flourish allows you to essentially collect all remaining waypoints on the board (the only way you can do so as the Attacker), net up to eight points, and effectively win the game. 

Looking for a nostalgic tabletop title? Look no further than Top Gun Strategy Game—a fun, turn-based combat game that lets you live out your Top Gun dreams in ways that can truly help game night feel like you’re right back in the ’80s.

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