How to Play Fly Greatcircle
Grow an airline from one plane into a global network. Here's how.
What the game is
A free multiplayer airline management game, played in the browser. You start in 1920 with a field, a little money and a two-seat plane with room for a little luggage. A century later you can be flying widebodies across the Pacific.
A great circle is the shortest path between two points on a globe. Long-haul flights follow it.
Passenger cards
Everything in the game moves these.- Every passenger is a cardA card shows a name, where they're waiting, where they're going and the fare they pay on arrival. Get them there.
- Cities make new cardsNew passenger cards appear around the world, more in bigger cities. Airports no airline serves stay quieter until someone flies there. Passengers leave if nobody picks them up. Crowded airports drop the oldest cards first.
- A few cards are specialWildcards accept any airport in their target region. Prestige travelers only board scheduled routes and prefer better cabins. Charter passengers fly from executive airports. Contract cards belong to the airline that signed the contract.
- No direct flight? Use a connectionDrop passengers at an airport where you have a gate and they can wait for a connecting flight. You can finish the trip, or another airline can carry them the rest of the way. You earn a share of the fare for the distance you flew.
Get flying
Your first fares, step by step.
- Buy a few close airportsStart small. Buy two or three nearby airports your starter plane can reach.
- Load your passengersPeople gather at your airports looking for a flight. Put the ones heading your way onto a plane.
- Deliver themFly them to their destination. While you plan the flight, the map circles where they are going. You get paid when they arrive.
- Collect & bank the faresKeep enough cash for new aircraft, airports and running costs.
Grow your network
Turn a plane into an airline.
- Buy planes & new airportsMore planes carry more people. More airports give you more passengers to carry.
- Add hangar bays for a bigger fleetYour first five fleet slots are free. Each extra active plane needs a hangar bay. Each bay costs more than the last, and empty bays still pay upkeep.
- Set up your first routeChain airports into a loop and a plane flies it by itself, earning money while you're logged off.
- Buy more routes & expandRoute licenses let you run more scheduled routes. They do not increase fleet capacity.
Master the skies
Outfly everyone else.
- Team up & codesharePartner with other airlines to hand off passengers and serve cities you can't reach alone.
- Climb the leaderboardTune your fleet, routes and upgrades to earn more than your rivals.
Keep your planes full, watch your costs, and grow your airline.
How the world works
- One world, everyone in itEvery airline plays the same map at the same time. A passenger you pick up is one nobody else can carry. A route you drop leaves its passengers to your rivals.
- Money and reputationThe most profitable flight and the best name are rarely the same. Both are on the leaderboard. Chase either.
- A hundred years of aircraftBiplanes through turboprops to jets, each arriving around its real-world date. Each type is good at some jobs and bad at others. Paint them in your own colours.
- A changing worldAirports open and grow, fuel prices swing, governments pay subsidies and weather closes runways. The news reports on it. From the 1960s, seaplane harbours close for good unless someone keeps flying boats there.
- Play casually or in depthYou learn most of the game by trying things. Play casually and you'll do fine, or tune every route. Race the players on the leaderboard, or sign codeshare agreements with them and split the traffic.
- Build the airline you wantSeveral strategies make money. Trying them all at once does not.
Airlines you can build
- The legacy carrier
- Everything routed through one big hub. Feeders in, flagships out.
- The island hopper
- Short water crossings between holiday coasts, busy in both directions.
- The long-haul boutique
- A few ocean crossings, and the few aircraft that can fly them.
- The regional feeder
- Dense short routes nobody else wants. You earn a share of every connection you hand on.
- The charter operator
- Business jets out of the small executive fields near the big hubs.
Free to play
It's free. There's no premium currency and no timers to pay to skip.
Fly Greatcircle is in active development. New features, aircraft and regions keep arriving. Expect changes and the odd bug.
Contact
Bug reports, ideas, complaints about the fuel price: [email protected]