The galaxy is in peril! The evil robot Zaxxon and its legion of followers have conquered an asteroid belt! It's your job to ward off this threat before it's too late.
Published in 1983, the Zaxxon Board Game was one of Milton Bradley’s numerous attempts to translate video games to board games.

Will You Volunteer for this Dangerous Mission?

You and your opponent compete to be the first executive your perilous mission. Maneuver your fighter planes over the enemy fortress by die roll. "Fly" at high or low altitude by raising or lowering your planes on their bases for real 3-dimensional game play Zoom up and over fortress walls and dive down to blast enemy targets. Engage in dogfights at close quarters to force your opponent to retreat. Penetrate enemy radar to challenge Zaxxon to a showdown!

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME:
1. ROLLING THE DIE: both players roll their die AT THE SAME TIME. Reroll the die if there is a tie. On EACH turn, the player rolling the Lower Number on the die ALWAYS plays first. Then the player rolling the Higher Number plays second.
2. USING THE SPINNER: the player rolling the Lower Number spins the spinner. The spinner controls enemy fire directed at fighter planes from missile silos and gun turrets (later in the game the spinner will also control the movement of Zaxxon). When RED is spun, any plane that is in or enters a missile silo area CONTAINING A MISSILE SILO is shot down and returned to its home base. When BLUE is spun, any plane that is in a gun turret area CONTAINING A GUN TURRET is shot down and returned to its home base. If a missile silo or a gun turret has been shot and removed from the board, there is no enemy fire from that area so any planes in that area are safe. Notice that the missile silo areas are surrounded by a red border and the gun turret areas are surrounded by a blue border. See Figures 5A and 5B for locations. When WHITE is spun, all planes are safe. Please Note: if your plane is shot down by a missile silo or gun turret in the inner fortress, return it to a RESTART space in your outer fortress.
3. ORDER OF PLAY: after spinning the spinner, the player who rolled the Lower Number moves his or her plane or planes according to the die count just rolled. Then the player who rolled the Higher Number moves his or her plane or planes according to the die count just rolled. You can move one of your planes the full amount on the die or move both of your planes, splitting the die count between them in any combination
4. HOW A FIGHTER PLANE MOVES: a fighter plane can move from one space to any adjacent space by die count as shown in Figure 6. A plane can change direction or land on the same space more than once on the same turn. A plane cannot pass over or land on a space occupied by another plane. A fighter plane can "fly" at High Altitude or Low Altitude by raising or lowering it on its base. Each change in altitude (either High to Low or Low to High) counts as ONE on your die count. Your plane must be at Low Altitude to shoot a target and at High Altitude to cross a wall.

HOW TO WIN THE GAME:
Be the first player to destroy your enemy targets and shoot Zaxxon with both of your fighter planes.

QI the Board Game