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“A game of star-to-star strategy.”
Published by Whitman in 1969, Swoop was a strategy board game in which teams of spacemen raced around a grid, aiming to reach the centre of the board.
GAMEPLAY
Each player began with all six spacemen, represented by plastic tokens in a single colour. The circular game board featured a circular grid. The circular game board featured an outer ring marked with coloured starting dots, where players placed their tokens at the beginning of play.
The player with the red space team went first, followed by blue, yellow, and green. On each turn, a player moved one token along the grid, either left, right, or forward toward the centre. Tokens could not move diagonally or backward.
Players could hinder opponents by “checking” their tokens. A checked token could not move until the checking player moved their own token away. Once released, the affected player had to return that token to its starting position on the outer edge and begin its ascent again. Red star spaces were illustrated throughout the grid. These were safety zones that protected against being checked.
The game ended when one player successfully moved all six tokens into their coloured quadrant at the centre of the board. If play became blocked due to multiple checks, the player with the most tokens in the centre was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included the game board and 24 coloured tokens (6 each in green, blue, red, and yellow). Instructions were printed on the cardboard platform inside the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Swoop is an example of a board game that uses fixed movement to advance play, rather than relying on dice, spinners, cards, or other elements. This approach aligns it more closely with strategy games like Chess and Checkers. The absence of reading and counting made Swoop an accessible choice for younger players, early learners, or anyone who benefits from straightforward, intuitive gameplay. Swoop is relatively easy to find on the secondary market.
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