Welcome Time Wasters!
It’s been some time since I’ve done a browser game review for this piece and I figured this was a good enough week to throw one in. This decision resulted in me finding Learn to Fly 3, which is a new game in a series that I’ve actually covered quite a bit with the Time Waster.
The Learn to Fly series of games are all about trying to help penguins learn to fly. Simple stuff, huh? The last two entries in the series, minus the idle game, we’re all about helping them reach their goal a certain distance across the planet. Learn to Fly 3 instead has the penguins trying to get to the moon, which actually changes the game up a bit.
Since we’re aiming for the moon this time around, this game is more focused on vertical distance than horizontal. This means that the different upgrades available are focused on rockets, capsules, boosters and other devices to help get to space, rather than gliders and such from the rest of the series.
Learn to Fly 3 has a lot of different parts to buy and each of them can be upgraded to make them better. Sometimes its best to upgrade parts rather than moving on to new ones. There’s also weight to the parts, which means that adding heavy parts too early can actually result in a loss of altitude when launching. It’s also important to note which rockets activate first and how their weights will affect the ship.
Getting a high altitude is very important in this game. The higher the player gets, the more money they earn. This money is used to buy the upgrades and parts mentioned above. There are also bonus points that can be earned by achieving certain tasks. These points can be used to decrease gravity, reduce wind resistance and change other aspects of the game.
Once players manage to complete Story mode and get the penguins to the moon, two other modes are unlocked. They are Classic and Payload. Classic plays like Learn to Fly 1&2, but is a bit more difficult without anything like gliders. Payload is like the Story mode, but it adds extra weight to the ship to make it harder to reach the moon.
Completing one of the two extra modes unlocked will get players Sandbox mode. There isn’t a goal to this mode, but it does let players adjust all sorts of aspects of the game. This includes changing how much money is earned, the amount of time boosters last, the game’s overall speed and more. It’s a fun extra mode to mess around in. However, it’s possible to break the game if the stats are messed with too much. Luckily, the game mentions this when the player enters this mode.
The visuals in Learn to Fly 3 aren’t bad, but they aren’t spectacular either. One thing that does help it stand out are small cutscenes for the story elements of the game. They aren’t extravagant or anything, but they’re better than what most other browser games offer players.
The audio in Learn to Fly 3 is a little better than I expected. The game actually has some fun music to listen to and more can be unlocked with bonus points that are earned in the game. The sound effects are also well done. The music and sound effects are also balanced well and don’t conflict with each other.
Overall, I can’t help but suggest Learn to Fly 3. It’s a solid browser game that offers a good bit of play time to the player and it can be spread out over several days with the help of save files.
Learn to Fly 3 earns 3.5 GiN Gems out of 5!