How to Play Air, Land, and Sea

Last Updated on July 21, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Air, Land, & Sea is a strategic card game where players battle for dominance across three theaters of war. With its quick playtime and tense gameplay, Air, Land, & Sea offers a satisfying strategic experience for both casual and seasoned card players. Prepare to deploy your forces, anticipate your opponent’s moves, and claim victory in this compact war game.

This page provides a clear and concise breakdown of the rules, guiding you through the tactical decisions and hand management that define this engaging game.

Air, Land, and Sea strategy card game box

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How to Play Air, Land, & Sea

Components

1 Rulebook
18 Battle Cards
2 Supreme Commander Cards
14 Victory Point Markers
3 Theater Boards (Air, Land, Sea)

Game Objective

Your goal is to be the first player to collect 12 Victory Points (VPs) by winning Battles across multiple Theaters.

Setup

Arrange Theaters
Place the three Theater boards (Air, Land, Sea) in a horizontal row in any order.
Deal Battle Cards
Shuffle the 18 Battle cards and deal 6 cards to each player. These form each player’s starting hand and must be kept secret.
Prepare Remaining Cards
Set the leftover Battle cards aside, face-down, to form a draw pile (used only if specific abilities allow).
Set Up Tokens
Place all Victory Point markers off to the side in a supply pile.
Assign Supreme Commanders
Shuffle the two Supreme Commander cards and give one face-down to each player. Reveal them simultaneously. The player with the red card is the First Player and takes the first turn.

How to Play

Game Structure

Air, Land, & Sea is played over a series of rounds called Battles. You win a Battle by:

Controlling more Theaters than your opponent at the end of the round, or
Forcing your opponent to withdraw early.

Winning a Battle earns you Victory Points based on how the round ends.

Playing a Battle

Each Battle involves players taking alternating turns, beginning with the First Player. On your turn, choose one of the following actions:

1. Deploy a Card

Play one Battle card from your hand face-up into the matching Theater:

Air (gray) cards go to the Air Theater.
Land (green) cards go to the Land Theater.
Sea (blue) cards go to the Sea Theater.
Cards must be played on your side of the board.
If you already have cards in that Theater, stack the new card slightly overlapping the previous ones (keeping key details visible).

Most face-up cards trigger a Tactical Ability immediately when played.

2. Improvise

Play a Battle card face-down to any Theater, regardless of its type:

Face-down cards always have a Strength of 2.
They do not activate Tactical Abilities.
You can always look at your own face-down cards, but never your opponent’s.

3. Withdraw

If you believe you can’t win the current Battle, you may withdraw:

Your opponent immediately wins the Battle.
They score Victory Points based on how many cards you had left in hand, as shown on your Supreme Commander card.

Strategic Note: Withdrawing early can limit how many points your opponent earns!

Battle Cards Explained

Each Battle card has three key elements:

Strength: The large number indicates its power. The player with the higher total Strength on their side of a Theater controls it.
Tactical Ability: Most cards include a special ability that either activates immediately (Instant) or continues as long as the card is face-up (Ongoing).
Theater Type: The color of the card determines where it can be deployed face-up—gray for Air, green for Land, blue for Sea.

Face-Down Cards

Treated as wild cards.
Strength of 2.
No Tactical Abilities.
Can be placed in any Theater.

Covered Cards

New cards are placed on top of existing ones in the same Theater.
Covered cards can still use abilities or be moved, but they can’t be flipped by Tactical Abilities.

Tactical Abilities

Tactical Abilities enhance your strategic options during play. There are two types:

Instant Abilities

Activate immediately when the card is played face-up or revealed from face-down.
Once triggered, the effect ends.

Example:
Transport lets you immediately move one of your cards to another Theater.

Ongoing Abilities

Stay active as long as the card remains face-up.
If flipped face-down, the ability ends.

Example:
Escalation raises the Strength of all your face-down cards to 4 while it stays face-up.

You must resolve all Tactical Abilities unless the word “may” is included.

Tactical Effects

Flipping Cards

Some abilities allow you to flip cards (face-up to face-down or vice versa). You can flip either your own or your opponent’s cards—unless stated otherwise.
Important: Covered cards cannot be flipped.

Moving Cards

Abilities may let you move cards between Theaters. Moved cards stay on the same side and now count toward the new Theater’s control. Always place moved cards on top of any already in that Theater.

Non-Matching Theaters

If a card ends up in a Theater that doesn’t match its type due to movement, that’s okay. It still functions normally and its Strength counts.

Discarding Cards

Some abilities will instruct you to discard. Place discarded cards face-down at the bottom of the Battle deck.

Ending a Battle

A Battle ends in one of two ways:

A player withdraws.
Both players have played all six of their cards.

Then, determine who controls each Theater. A player controls a Theater if their side has the higher total Strength.

Tied Strength? The First Player wins the tie.
Empty Theater? First Player controls it.

Victory Example

Player A controls Air (6 vs. 3).
Player B controls Land (4 vs. 1).
Sea is tied (3 vs. 3), so Player A (First Player) also wins that Theater.
Result: Player A controls 2 of 3 Theaters and wins the Battle.

Scoring Victory Points

Victory Points (VPs) are awarded at the end of each Battle:

6 VPs if the winner wins without either player withdrawing.
Variable VPs if one player withdraws:
- The winner scores points based on how many cards the withdrawing player had left. Refer to the withdraw chart on the withdrawing player’s Supreme Commander card.

Preparing for the Next Battle

Gather all Battle cards and reshuffle the deck.
Deal a new hand of 6 cards to each player.
Rotate the Theater boards (e.g., shift them one position to the right).
Swap Supreme Commander cards—the First Player becomes Second Player.

Winning the Game

After each Battle, check the VP total. The first player to reach 12 Victory Points wins.

Optional Variant: For a longer game, play to 18 points.

Beginner Mode

To ease into the game, try this simplified version:

Ignore the withdraw chart.
The Battle winner scores 1 Victory Point.
First to 3 VPs wins the game.

Air Land and Sea is a fast-paced and strategic game that’s perfect for a quick and exciting game night. So gather your fellow commanders, deal the cards, and conquer the skies, land, and seas!