Choose an aircraft
Begin with a HexFlight aircraft and its tabletop role.
Flagship in development
Death Spiral
A 3D-printable WWI air combat tabletop system.
Take command of a pilot and aircraft in fast, dangerous dogfights where position, nerve, aircraft handling, and pilot skill matter more than dense simulation. Death Spiral combines accessible air combat rules with a connected printable tabletop ecosystem.
The game
Readable dogfights. Named pilots. Dangerous choices.
Death Spiral is a tabletop WWI aircraft combat game designed around dramatic, readable dogfights. It focuses on pilot identity, aircraft character, energy, positioning, and risk without presenting itself as a dense flight simulator.
The wider design supports campaigns and legendary aces while keeping the immediate table state legible.
01
Position. Where an aircraft is placed, faced, and committed should be clear across the table.
02
Pilot identity. Pilots and historical aces give the aircraft a human story and a distinct table presence.
03
Aircraft character. Different aircraft should feel recognizably different without burying the dogfight in procedure.
04
Risk. Energy, handling, and nerve create decisions that can put a pilot in control or into a death spiral.
On the table
Aircraft, stands, and battlefield in working form.
These are current studio prototypes, not product renders. They show the physical systems being printed, painted, assembled, and used together.
The complete ecosystem
Four physical systems around one game.
The game, aircraft, stands, battlefield, and table tools each have a job at the table. Together they support a readable dogfight.
At the table
How the ecosystem works.
Mount it on HexAxis
Set the aircraft on the flight stand that carries it into play.
Build the battlefield
Set the Death Spiral Battlefield beneath the dogfight.
Select a pilot
Assign a pilot or historical ace and prepare the aircraft card.
Fly the mission
Bring the game, aircraft, stand, terrain, and tools together.
Aircraft Hangar
A roster built to grow carefully.
The Hangar will collect aircraft profiles, model photographs, and tabletop roles as each aircraft takes shape.
Current development
Building one table at a time.
Death Spiral is taking shape through rules, aircraft, stands, battlefield sections, pilots, and mission play.
Core rules
Core rules are in active development.
In developmentAircraft models
Painted HexFlight prototypes are guiding a growing Death Spiral hangar.
PrototypeHexAxis stands
Printed stand prototypes are in use alongside the aircraft.
PrototypeDeath Spiral Battlefield
Modular printed battlefield sections are in use beneath current prototype games.
PrototypePilot and aircraft cards
The live Force Builder creates legal forces, assigns historical aces, and produces print-ready aircraft cards.
Builder availableMissions and campaigns
Mission and campaign play are being built alongside the core game.
In developmentSolo rules
Solo play remains under consideration for a later stage of the game.
Under considerationPublic playtesting
Current playtest details, questions, and development discussion are handled through Discord.
Ask on DiscordCommunity and playtesting
Developed in the open.
Death Spiral is being developed in the open with tabletop players, miniature painters, aviation enthusiasts, and public playtesters. Discord is the current source for participation details.