Airplane Mode Gameplay Preview – A literal waiting simulator

Airplane Mode is a game that makes me question reality. Who in their right mind would make a game about waiting in a flight, in real time no less. Yes, you heard me correctly, you have the option to take a virtual flight lasting either around two hours or five hours. In real time. Stuck in an airplane cabin.

The game does have some charm, although it does wear off fairly quickly. You have a variety of tasks to choose from to hopefully keep yourself occupied long enough not to have an existential crisis.

The tasks can vary from watching an assortment of public domain movies, chatting with an AI posing as another passenger by painfully typing out each letter on the virtual keyboard, read a book, doodle on your note book, or listen to a limited selection of music and podcasts on your phone.

You can also infringe on everyone’s privacy by taking pictures and editing them, and annoy your seat mates by turning on all the lights and air conditioning. You can also read the inflight magazine, which has some challenging crossword and sudoku puzzles. The sudoku is probably the best part of the game, I need more! To top this off is the paltry offering of a soda and some pretzels.

Overall, Airplane Mode is a bit charming due to it accurately capturing the mundane nature of flying but that charm does wear off soon. It’s best played as an idle game while doing something else or alongside a flight simulator for maximum immersion.