home> projects>arcade>drafty

Drafty

A paper plane adventure through a house frozen in 2002 — an original homage to Glider (1991).
▶ PLAY DRAFTY

DRAFTY is an original game built for muhamad.org — a loving, from-scratch homage to Glider, John Calhoun's 1991 Macintosh classic about a paper airplane braving the rooms of a house. Everything here is original: the code, the art, the sounds, and the house itself — which happens to be frozen somewhere around 2002, beige tower PC and all.

How it plays

You are a paper plane, and paper planes cannot climb. Gravity never stops; all lift comes from the house itself — shimmering columns of air rising from floor vents, the warm wobble above a candle, the sideways shove of a desk fan. Steer with ← → or the mouse, and plan your route through the air the house gives you.

  • Ten rooms, hall to sunroom, each connected to the next. The goal: reach the open window at the far end of the house and fly free.
  • Everything solid is deadly. Furniture, floors, ceilings — paper is fragile. You get five sheets of PAPER per run; each crash costs one.
  • The hazards have manners: the toaster rattles and glows before it fires, the wall outlet crackles before it zaps, the basketball's shadow shows where it will land. If something gets you, you'll know why.
  • The clock is running. Every run is timed — and alarm-clock pickups add +30 seconds each, plus points. Finish with time to spare for a bonus.
  • Stars are for the brave. Eight of them hide along risky lines — over the bouncing ball, past the candle flame, deep in the shelf stacks. Every one is provably reachable, and every one has a way back out.
  • Rubber bands are scarce. Find a bundle and Space (or a second finger) shoots one — balloons and toy copters can be popped, or simply dodged.

Three folds

Pick your plane on the title screen: THE DART, the trusty balanced classic; THE NEEDLE, long and sleek — faster in a straight line, but wide in the turns and quicker to sink; or TUBBY, short and stocky — floats forever and turns on a dime, but wins no races.

Breeze mode

A gentler wind for calmer flights: softer sink, a little more time, an extra sheet of paper, slower hazards. Phones and tablets get Breeze by default — drag to steer, hold to keep gliding.

The fine print

The ground floor is complete; the upstairs is still being built. Your best score, found stars, and plane choice are saved in your browser. An original homage to Glider (John Calhoun / Casady & Greene, 1991) — mechanics in spirit, everything else folded fresh.

THE OPEN SKY

Clear the ground floor and the window is no longer the end — it's the launch. Outside waits a golden-hour bonus flight across the whole neighborhood: hold to dive, release to soar, and ride the exchange over bungalows, rooftops, a barn, a pond you can skim, and a street of awnings that bounce you like trampolines. Chase runaway balloons, high-five a kite, scatter the pigeons, punch through a cloud. Nothing out here can hurt you — and whenever you run out of height or speed, a friendly gust arrives to lift you on. About a minute later, the lit window of the house next door glides into view, curtains waving you in.

▶ PLAY NOW