Paper Pilot

Like many people, I went through a phase of being fascinated with paper planes when I was a kid. I used to read books on the art of making them.

Whether it was the allure of powerless flight or the prospect of hitting my sister in the eye from 15 feet, I’m not sure. Probably a bit of both.

Paper Pilot attempts to replicate such humble free-flying bliss, but it fails in one vital respect – the actual physics of flight.

Domestic flight

You control a paper plane as it flies through a series of impressive locations. These are suitably familiar locations, such as an office, a home, and a playground. All are very well rendered, proving a good technical showcase for your Android’s 3D capabilities (more on which later).

The controls feel natural, with your height and direction determined by tilting your phone. A virtual slider to the left lets you adjust your speed.

And this is where the alarm bells start ringing. You have full control over your speed, which completely goes against the whole free-flying concept. It’s impossible to crash – you can slow your plane to a crawl or run it into the ground or a wall and still turn on a dime and accelerate away.

Without any form of recognisable flight physics, there’s not only no challenge (the goal is to collect a bunch of awkwardly placed paper clips), but Paper Pilot simply isn’t as much fun as you’d hope it would be. It feels like you’ve turned a cheat mode on, allowing you to go anywhere without consequence.

And this is where my earlier point about the game being a good technical showcase comes in – it feels more like a tech demo than a game. Or rather, it feels like a tech demo that’s been hastily turned into a game.

There’s still some fun to be had here with Paper Pilot when it comes to improving your times, and it certainly looks nice enough, but those looking to replicate those childhood paper plane experiences will be somewhat disappointed.