Paper Glider

Paper Glider is a one-button flight through a canyon painted in watercolour. Hold anywhere and the folded plane pulls its nose up and glides; let go and it dips, gathers speed and carries that speed into the next climb. That is the entire control scheme, and the whole game is learning how to spend speed well.

The canyon does the rest. Wind gusts show up as pale streaks in the air and lift you when you fly into one. Paper rings hang in the gaps and pay out bonus distance when you thread them. Rock spurs, tethered kites and canyon birds are the only things that end a flight, and the next one is always a single tap away — nothing here is out to punish you.

There are three ways to fly. Endless runs the canyon forever with a gentle difficulty ramp and keeps your best distance in your browser. Daily Flight is seeded from the date, so everyone who plays that day flies exactly the same course. Zen removes the obstacles altogether and leaves the gusts, the rings and the quiet, which is the one to pick when you only want to relax. It plays the same with a mouse, a finger or the space bar; P pauses and M mutes.