Airport Mania: First Flight

Become an air traffic controller for the day

I can't think of a more stressful job than being an air traffic controller. But after playing Airport Mania: First Flight I've realized it could actually be pretty fun.

The game charges you with the unenviable task of running an airport. Your roles include guiding planes in safely for landing, sending them to the boarding gate, offloading passengers, loading new passengers, then sending them back to the runway for takeoff.

Along the way you'll also need to park planes in waiting bays if there are no gates free, send them for repairs or refueling if they need it, and even empty helicopters full of cash. The controls within the game are pretty straightforward. You just tap on a plane to highlight it then tap on where you want it to go next. The problem, of course, comes when there are loads of planes waiting to come in and out. The interactive tutorial at the beginning of Airport Mania: First Flight provides a good training ground for getting used to the controls and staying on top of everything.

The main goal of Airport Mania: First Flight is to ensure that flights take off and land on time, and that customers are happy. Points are awarded in the form of cash, which you can use to upgrade your airports.

The presentation of Airport Mania: First Flight is immaculate, with cute graphics, amusing sound effects (the planes actually giggle and whistle to themselves), and a peaceful classical music soundtrack that somehow makes this seemingly stressful pursuit feel strangely relaxing.

Airport Mania: First Flight is great fun to play and perhaps the only criticism you could make is that it's quite repetitive. But upgrading the full version could solve this, as it contains more airports.