Spare Altitude

You step out at 400 metres. Below you are six places to land, worth 100, 250, 600, 1250, 2500 and 5000, and all but the two nearest are deliberately further than you can reach in still air.

So the question is never where you want to go. It's whether you can still afford to get there.

TURNING COSTS DISTANCE

Hands up, you glide almost three metres forward for every one you drop, whatever canopy you fly. Pull both toggles and you slow down, but on the standard canopy you fall at a little over one-and-a-half to one, so braking buys you time and takes away range. Turn hard and your sink rate climbs by half again.

Every input is a withdrawal. The good line isn't the one that points at the target, it's the one that arrives with something left over.

YOU CAN'T PLAN THE MIDDLE

The wind comes in three layers. Up high you're already in it, so you can read it off your own drift. Down low you can see it before you arrive, because there's a windsock at every zone.

The middle layer you cannot see at all. You find out what it's doing by flying into it, with about a third of your altitude already spent. That's the moment the run is actually decided, not at the door.

SIX MAPS, FOUR CANOPIES

Land once and two choices open on the title screen. Six maps change the country under you, while the targets stay where they are. Four canopies change how hard you turn, what the turn costs and how long the flare lasts, but none of them glides further; the harder ones pay more, and two unlock with career points. Your career, canopy, map and best on each map are kept on your device.

HOW TO PLAY

Hold one side of the screen to turn that way. Hold both sides to slow down, at the cost of range, and hold both as you touch down to flare: land without it and you tumble for half the points.

With a mouse, hold the button down on the side you want to turn to. Or, once you have clicked the game, Left and Right (or A and D) turn, and Space holds both sides at once, which is the only way to slow down and flare without a touchscreen.

More free games from Launchway, playable in your browser:

https://launchwaygames.com