14 DAY TRIAL // 
The best way to run downtime on a long flight is to simply close your eyes and go to sleep, which is why I always made sure to be relatively tired before showing up to a transatlantic voyage by air. Reading a solid novel is the second-best way. Watching a good and relatively new movie is a distant third.
Airplane Mode is a video game that aims to simulate, in real-time, the tedium associated with flying. Given that the title, created by Hosni Auji, arrives in the middle of a pandemic that has massively reduced most occasions to fly, this might be an interesting and immersive idea. After all, some companies book entire pretend flights in the real world.
Unfortunately, the game is repetitive and lacks any engaging content, meaning that it can only point out how bad flaying can be. Players can choose to go from JFK to Canada, for a little over 2 hours, or from the same New York airport to Reykjavik in Iceland, for close to 6 hours. The character starts out in his seat and, from that point on, everything happens in real-time, from the safety video to take-off to some random events and, finally, arrival.
The time passing options are apparently varied but actually very limited. The safety video is kinda funny but short. The screen embedded in the seat in front of the player also offers tracking for the flight and a messaging system. There are some movies, all of them built around the theme of flight, including the famous “A Trip to the Moon” (1902), but nothing is engaging about them. There are two games, blackjack, and solitaire, but they are rudimentary. The promised trivia will probably prove more engaging if it is ever implemented.
The player’s bag, stashed under the seat, offers little more. A notebook that can be scribbled on with the included pen. A novel can be read, although the Internet tells me that it is slow and contemplative, not something that most gamers might have on their list. Earbuds are also included, alongside the phone.
This mobile device contains quite a bit of original content, apart from the repetitive images of cats. The podcasts are actually interesting to listen to and you can cover the shorter featured flight by listening to them. There’s also some music, a purported mobile game, and a camera to take your own photos with.
The best-designed element of Airplane Mode is the airline magazine that you can pick up with a click of the mouse. It has at least three fully written articles that mimic the style these kinds of publications use in the real world. And, even better, it has crosswords, with a traveling them, and sudoku. I actually enjoyed everything it had to offer for around half an hour, listening to the ASMR podcast and, sometimes, looking out the window at the simulated clouds.
The lavatory is also available as a location, although there’s nothing much to actually do there. The seat to the right is always empty. The passenger at the end of the row never talks to the player. There are announcements from the captain, which seems to be on the verge of laughing, and there’s some cross-talk in the cabin but nothing to hold the attention of a player for long. Turbulence is included but does it matter if it can’t make anyone even a little afraid?
The Good
- The podcasts
- The in-flight magazine
- The real-time concept
The Bad
- Limited activities
- No conversations with other passengers
- No trivia game
Conclusion
I understand that the game can be seen as a commentary on the indignities suffered on most of us when we take to the air. But it is too one-note for anyone to play for long. There’s also not enough effort made to actually satirize anything outright or to create at least interesting situations.
Airplane Mode would have probably been a better game if it also included the check-in process and some extensive and tension-filled passport control moments. It should also have worked harder on the humor angle.
