Draft:Learn to Fly (game)

Learn to Fly is a 2009 Flash game created by Light Bringer, and is the first in the Learn to Fly series.

Gameplay
The game starts with a skippable cutscene, where a penguin is seen searching for an article on emperor penguins on a parody version of Wikipedia, using a computer, "somewhere in Antarctica". The penguin sees that emperor penguins are called flightless and storms out of the house, enraged.

The goal of the game is to get as far as you can away from a snow ramp the penguin slides on to gain speed. The first ramp you get is 5ft tall, which you can replace for taller ones if you unlock enough achievements. The game counts every attempt as a day, starting with day one. You can adjust your angle using left and right arrow keys, as explained in a guide before the game starts.

For every attempt you get a certain amount of research points (sometimes denoted with a dollar sign), based on several aspects, which are:


 * Flight Distance
 * Max Altitude
 * Flight Duration (multiplier)

You can spend research points on either ramp height, acceleration, air resistance, or on gliders and rockets (including rocket fuel).

Excerpt from the game's guide on gliders:"'Gliding allows you to make longer and more controlled flights - Each glider has a 'redzone', a speed above which your speed drops fast. Avoid gliding for long moments in the redzone to get the extra speed you need!'" The second glider has a light indicator which shows you when you reach "cricitcal velocity", and the third shows you your speed on a digital display (keeping the analog dash as well), your air resistance in percentages and your distance from the snow ramp. Unlocking new snow ramps requires a specific amounts of achievements to be unlocked. After reaching 6000 feet, a cutscene plays with the following text beforehand:"'I did it... I can fly...'"Following this text the penguin is seen crashing into a ice wall, with its glider destroyed, and a crack in the wall.

Reception
Learn to Fly garnered an average of 4.36/5.00 stars on kongregate, with over 12 million plays as of July 2024.