As The Crow Flies

What it is

As The Crow Flies is a flap-to-fly game drawn in wireframe on the screen of a fake field terminal. The page is a beige portable unit with a tall monochrome screen, knobs and a coiled cable, and the game runs on that screen in teal lines. You are a crow seen from behind, flying down a corridor into the distance, and square window frames come toward you. Flap to rise, stop flapping to sink, and fit through the windows.

How to play

Press Start Flying once the title screen settles. The footer line says it: fly through windows, click here or hold space bar to flap. Click and hold on that footer, or hold space on a keyboard, and the crow climbs, with its shadow drawn as a small diamond on the corridor floor below it. Let go and it glides down. Window frames approach from the far end of the corridor, and the score top left should count the ones you get through.

What makes it different

What sets it apart is the frame around the game. The terminal is drawn in detail, down to the labeled sockets and the coiled cable, and the game inside it is all wireframe lines on a dark screen, the crow included. It is a one-button game dressed as a prop. The page calls it a tiny taste of a larger project on the same site, and the site menu lists around thirty other small toys and a live count of people on the site.

Why it is on Bored

The one-button flap game is a browser staple, and this version earns its slot on looks alone. A crow in wireframe, a corridor in perspective and a counter in the corner is the whole thing, and it fits in a coffee break.

Tips

• Let the title animation finish, the Start Flying button appears after the crow flies in
• Hold the space bar rather than tapping it, the footer says hold
• Watch the diamond shadow on the floor to judge your height
• The SOUND checkbox top right turns the effects off

FAQ