In-Crease Altitude: Fold & Fly Review

All images are from Fold & Fly by BW Labs, all images are by me

I am very old. 

How old? I remember how big of a deal it was when my elementary school classroom got their own pair of computers. There were no carts of Chromebooks fueling campuswide power struggles, yet. The screensavers that would routinely kick on were the perfect distraction for a ten year old with an overactive imagination. I could watch a disembodied camera navigate a maze of flat textures or wait for that ball to bounce into the corner of the screen for hours (or at least until math finished for the day). Fold & Fly sparked that same sort of primitive excitement in me. And while I just compared this game to a screensaver, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. 

In Fold & Fly you pilot one of three paper airplanes each with their own subtly different stats. They feel pretty good (turn your graphical settings down for the best results) and control entirely using WASD or the arrow keys. It’s a game about maintaining momentum and on the fly risk assessment–making split second decisions of when it’s worth threading the needle and when to pull up. Hold your nose too high for too long and you’ll stall out. There’s no time limit or end goal–you’re free to weave and watch the numbers go up until a collision transforms you back into a crumpled ball. 

The randomized landscapes offer a decent variety that range from asteroid fields to cardboard mountains. The friendly and unfriendly skies are filled with constellations of stars to collect (these create combos) and green dragonflies. If you snag a pair of the glowing insects, a portal will open to a new world with better scoring opportunities (for instance, those stars I mentioned go from being worth 100 points to 200, then 300, so on and so forth). If you’re chasing a personal best while you chase the horizon, you’ll need to repeatedly venture into uncharted territory.

Despite the solid gameplay foundation, Fold & Fly desperately needs some kind of progression. Even different colors of construction paper or unlockable stickers to customize your craft would go a long way. While I am occasionally susceptible to the pull of “just five more minutes” or “just one more run,” I felt like I’d seen everything here after my first hour. Racking up close calls at max speed as lightning crackles in the distance is exhilarating–but the carrot on a stick approach only works until you realize it’s just a carrot. 

Many of the other quirks I encountered are a direct result of the procedural generation. I once flew into a crystal clear sunset for a solid 30 seconds until the game remembered to spawn new obstacles. The dragonflies also have the habit of buzzing a little too close to (or inside) the terrain. Their metaphorical siren song will leave you literally smashed on the rocks. None of these issues affected my experience in an overly negative way, but they are common enough that they’re worth mentioning. 

The introduction that came with this review code stated that BW Labs are selling this project for the price of a cup of coffee ($2.59 at the time of this writing–which is about 50% of what a Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte costs) and I feel that’s the right spot for it. Its loop reminds me of a browser game that you’d boot up in the back corner of a computer lab to burn a period of AP History. And yes, “browser games” usually carry the stigma of being a mindless way to kill time–but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. 

66/100

*This review was conducted using a Steam key provided by the developer through Keymailer.*