Have you ever dreamed of flying?

Herbie hasn't. He's a ladybug too lazy and chubby to fly with his own wings — so you build the machines. Bolt planks, boxes, wheels and rockets together on the drawing board, strap him in, hit GO, and see how far physics lets you get before something gives.

Free to play, with one optional premium unlock. iPhone, iPad and Android.

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Watch the trailer

How it works

One loop, straight out of the notebook: build, launch, fly, crash — and go again.

Sketch: a finger drags a wheel from the parts sidebar onto a plank cart with Herbie on top.

Build

Drag parts onto the drawing board — wood planks, steel beams, cardboard boxes, wheels — and bolt them together. Herbie sits on top and hopes for the best.

Sketch: the cart rolls down a curved ramp after a GO! shout.

Launch

Hit GO. Your machine rolls down The Leaf Ramp and leaves the edge at whatever speed you managed to build into it.

Sketch: the cart flies through the air on a burning rocket.

Fly

In the air, fire rockets, pop soda cans, spin up propellers and turbines, and trim the wings and tail. Every centimetre counts — distance is the score.

Sketch: the cart hits the ground and its parts fly apart in a burst.

Crash. Rebuild.

Something questionable always gives way. Watch the replay, then head back to the board with a better idea — distance milestones unlock new gadgets.

Screenshots

From the drawing board to the crash site.

The drawing board over the forest: Herbie sits on a plank cart with a soda can, a steel beam and a bike wheel; the parts shelf on the left shows locked rockets and a padlock, a weight readout says 22.3, and a big red GO! button waits at the bottom right. — Looks fine. Ship it.

The craft rolls down the green Leaf Ramp with the soda can puffing bubbles behind it; the distance readout still says 0.0cm. — Down the Leaf Ramp, soda can hissing

Mid-flight over the forest: the rocket-powered cart is airborne with an exhaust flame, the readout shows 4.1cm. — 4.1 cm and climbing

The cart tumbles upside down in mid-air, wheels and rocket flailing, at 10.6cm. — This was not in the plan

The hangar, a plywood drawing board: a saved craft sketched on a taped note, an empty plus slot, a pencil, a compass and Herbie waiting at the bottom right. — The hangar: one keeper, eight empty slots

Parts catalogue

Fourteen gadgets. Four come with the board; the rest are earned by flying farther. Distances are in centimetres — Herbie is small.

Wood plank
unlockStart kit
Light, cheap, structural. The honest backbone of every first craft.
Steel beam
unlockStart kit
Much stronger than wood. Also much heavier. Choose wisely.
Cardboard box
unlockStart kit
Structural, sort of. Mostly there to shift your weight around.
Bike wheel
unlockStart kit
Small, light and breaks easily. Not great on the leaf, but it's what you've got.
Tractor wheel
unlock10 cm
Heavy duty, low drag, very strong. Rolls down the leaf like it means it.
Soda can
unlock14 cm
The amateur's thruster. Pop it open mid-air for a small burst of fizz-powered push.
The Rocket
unlock18 cm
Real thrust at last. Note that it takes a few seconds for the fuse to burn.
Wing
unlock50 cm
Generates lift. Angle it properly against the wind and fly higher.
Propeller
unlock100 cm
Steady power you can switch on and off during the flight.
Bike horn
unlock120 cm
Get out of the way!!!
Plane wheels
unlock200 cm
Super awesome wheels with suspension and everything. Very high-tech.
Plane tail
unlock250 cm
Stabilises your machine. You can adjust its angle mid-flight.
Rocket X
unlock300 cm
The Rocket, with more fuel. Burns longer, goes farther.
Turbine
unlock350 cm
Push-activated power. Short taps or long burns — your call.

More than one flight

Every launch leaves something behind: a number, a badge, a replay, a craft worth keeping.

Global leaderboard

One number matters: Max distance. See how your best flight stacks up against everyone else's.

13 achievements

From the first crash to “Felix” — an altitude of 1,000, with a nod to a certain skydiver — and “Fly 1,000,000”, a lifetime of distance.

Replays

Every flight is recorded. Rewatch the exact moment it all went wrong, and share it.

Hangar

Nine slots, three by three, for the builds worth keeping. And the ones that aren't.

The story

Thirty days, one ladybug, and a game engine written from scratch.

FlyCraft was created by independent developer Harry Kalogirou with Thanasis Lightbridge. It was built in 30 days as an entry for the Ludum Dare October Challenge 2012, whose whole brief was: “Finish a game, take it to market, and earn $1.” It runs on Harry's own custom game engine, not commercial software.

2012 early October Herbie is born
A one-day brainstorm settles the hero: a ladybug too lazy and chubby to fly with his own wings, so players will have to build machines for him.
2012 October Thirty days of building
Engine, physics, gadgets, ramp, art and sound come together for the Ludum Dare October Challenge deadline.
2012 1 November Release
FlyCraft ships and quickly becomes the #1 Top Paid Game on BlackBerry — ahead of Angry Birds at the time.
2012 Awards season “Best New Game”
CrackBerry's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards name FlyCraft Best New Game, and BlackBerry executives feature it in their keynote at the BlackBerry Developer Conference in Amsterdam.
2017 March iOS and Android
FlyCraft is ported to iPhone, iPad and Android, where it lives today.

Press kit

Logo, icon, key art and a fact sheet. Use them freely when writing about FlyCraft.

Have you ever dreamed of flying?

How it works

Build

Launch

Fly

Crash. Rebuild.

See it fly

Screenshots

Parts catalogue

Wood plank

Steel beam

Cardboard box

Bike wheel

Tractor wheel

Soda can

The Rocket

Wing

Propeller

Bike horn

Plane wheels

Plane tail

Rocket X

Turbine