Return with us to the glory days of yesteryear when behemoth Zeppelins cruised the airspace above these non-United States and the constant drone of security forces and pirates filled the sky. A time of national bickering between the Soviets and the British, and the 23 separate Nation-States of America were at each other's throats. A world filled with femme fatales, moustache-twisting villainy, plunder and loot and devil-may-care pilot heroes out to woo the ladies as well as cross wings with them. It was a time when swashes needed buckling and your only source of warmth was the smoking muzzle of your guns. An era when pirates were gentlemen, people liked to fly through the ‘O' in the Hollywood sign and getting blown out of the sky meant hitting the silk. It sounds like a fun time to be alive, doesn't it?

Yeah, in the real world the 1930s were marked by a depressing time period generally known as the Great Depression. A time when mankind was mostly earthbound and scrabbling for a dime or two and zeppelins were synonymous with “horrible tragedy.” Imagine an alternate reality more in keeping with the pulp novels and comics of the day. That's what creator Jordan Weisman did when he created the Crimson Skies board game universe a few years ago. In doing so he injected a freshness, verve and spirit into gaming and he put a little ‘ring-a-ding-ding' back into PC gaming with this flawed but inspired conversion.