The Passage du Désir shop sent us the naughty game Air Désir.
It is an erotic board game, played by two or more people, and closely resembles Snakes and Ladders, but in an adult version.
By rolling the die, each player moves their piece around the board and tries to be the first to reach the final square… But 69 sexy dares get in the way.
Here is our review of the Air Désir game.
Introduction
Format
The Air Désir game comes in a sturdy cardboard box, slightly smaller than the packaging for a small puzzle. It doesn’t fit in a handbag, but it’s not excessively bulky.
Inside, you find :
- A thick cardboard game board. Once unfolded, this board is twice as long and twice as wide as the box.
- Six pieces, which you assemble by fixing a pre-cut rectangle of cardboard onto a transparent base. Each one represents a character or an accessory you might expect to encounter on a plane journey: the pilot, the flight attendant, the passport, the luggage, the camera and the champagne.
- A six-sided die.
- A leaflet containing the rules for the Air Désir game and the list of dares. There are 69 dares in total, one for each square, apart from the start and the finish.
The box has a double cardboard base forming two recesses: we expected to find dare cards underneath. There are no cards, but simply this numbered list in the rulebook instead: a bit disappointing. In itself, it doesn’t take anything away from the playability, but it’s not very classy.
The players
The instructions state that “the game is played by two people (mainly…) or by several players (for the more adventurous….)”.
In practice, most of the dares listed ask you to do something to your partner. If you decide to play with more than two people, you’ll need to come up with an additional house rule: either play as non-mixing couples, with each player carrying out their dares on their own partner throughout the game, or decide on a way of changing partner each turn.
Many of the listed dares involve sexual acts, so the game is aimed at people who sleep together or intend to.
Game rules
Each player chooses a piece and places it on the “Watch out at the start!” square.
In turn, each player rolls the die and moves forward by the number of spaces indicated. They then consult the rulebook to find out which dare corresponds to the square they have landed on. There, they can choose between carrying out the indicated challenge and staying where they are, or moving back three spaces.
The first player to reach the “Landing” square wins the game, and therefore a favour from the loser (it may be worth adapting this rule if there are more than two players…).
A game?
The context
Not having any friends on hand who were keen to try a game of sexy Snakes and Ladders (then again, described like that, it’s not really easy to suggest…), we played Air Désir for two.
The game seems, in any case, to be mainly aimed at couples.
The dares
The dares are fairly classic; you get the same kind of challenges as in many erotic games (including dares that involve licking ears, pff…). So nothing transcendent, but the ideas are rather well put together.
It involves kissing, caressing, massaging, fondling, licking, nibbling, sucking or pinching your partner, saying or writing
crude words, or simulating a sexual act… All perfectly doable regardless of the players’ gender, and fairly well balanced. There are no challenges that are excessively bolder or excessively softer than the others.
The dares are clearly meant to raise the temperature and make you want to go further, while maintaining a hint of frustration… You have to wait until the end of the game to satisfy that desire, and that’s the whole point.
A few examples of the challenges suggested by Air Désir:
- Among the softer ones: “Sensitively massage your partner’s scalp and caress their earlobes”.
- Among the bolder ones: “Place your hands on your partner’s genitals; they then place theirs over yours. They guide your hands so they can caress themselves”.
It is worth noting that before starting the game, it is best to make sure you have a few simple accessories to hand, as some dares require them. A piece of paper and a pen, some massage oil, a scarf and some sweets. Or any other food that doesn’t break the sexy atmosphere. If playing sensually with pâté and crisps appeals to you more than with sweets, go for it.
Conclusion on the naughty game Air Désir
The good points:
- The game board is pretty.
- The dares are doable regardless of the players’ gender, and are all around the same level of daring.
- The game is a nice way to build desire and make you want to pounce on each other once the game is over.
The bad points:
- The dares are simply written in the rulebook. A more user-friendly format would have been welcome.
- The dares are relatively classic (for dares in sexy board games).
As for us, the Air Désir game doesn’t quite match what we would like to find in a naughty game. There is too much massaging and licking among the challenges for our taste. We would have preferred dares that were a wee bit less run-of-the-mill than those in your average sexy game.
But it will probably appeal to others. In fact, it is rather well made, balanced, its “Snakes and Ladders” style format is original, and all its dares are easy to do and don’t require too many accessories.
Review score
Pros
- The game board is pretty
- The dares are balanced and doable regardless of the players' gender
Cons
- The dares are too classic
- We would have preferred a more user-friendly format than the rulebook to read the dares
