Blockbuster 767

Somebody built a whole city out of wooden blocks at the far end of the playroom table. You are the toy airliner. You get three winds of the key.

Every point in this game is physics. Nothing is scripted: blocks shoved off their homes, stacks giving way at the joint, pieces tumbling over the table edge onto the rug far below, one tower knocking down the next while the chain multiplier climbs. The 767 is a toy, so it comes apart — wings snap, engines pop off — and when the airframe and the city have both stopped moving, that plane's round is over. Three planes, one running score, and a star rating at the end. The Kid whose toys these are watches the whole thing and has opinions.

How to play

Wind the key. Hold Launch and the key on the toy's back turns. One wind is a lob; three is a hard throw, and each wind also buys you a second of boost. Hold past the third and you are in the red — let go there and the spring throws harder than it should, on an airframe that will take twice the damage. Hold past that and it slips, and you get a dud.

Call your shot. Three structures are named and flagged: THE TOWER, THE SPAN and THE TANK — and the tank bursts when it goes. Step through them from the launcher with Boost and Dive before you throw. Bring the one you called down and it pays double. Miss it and it costs you nothing.

Aim it. The launcher draws an elevation ladder, your wind charge, and a side-on arc of the throw against the city's own height, cut off where it will first hit something. In the air you get speed, boost fuel left, an altitude tape banded against how tall the city still is, and which landmarks are still standing.

Action	Keyboard / mouse	Controller	Touch
Steer / trim	WASD or arrows	left stick	on-screen stick, left side
Wind the key	hold Enter	hold A / Cross	hold Launch
Launch	let go	let go	let go
Call a landmark	Shift / Space	RT / LT	Boost / Dive
Boost	Shift	right trigger	Boost
Dive	Space	left trigger	Dive
Pause	Escape	Start	menu button
Menus	arrows + Enter	d-pad + A / B	tap a row

Every menu can be driven by any of the three, with a visible focus row for a controller.

Scoring

• Shoved — a block pushed off where it stood, worth more the heavier it is.
• Off the table — a block that goes over the edge.
• Toppled — a whole structure that loses enough of itself to count as down.
• Called — the landmark you named from the launcher pays double on top.
• Chain — keep scoring inside three seconds and the multiplier climbs. Long runs through the middle of the city are where the big numbers are.

20,000 gets you one star. 55,000 gets two. 100,000 flattens the place.

Worth looking at

The playroom is lit by one late-afternoon window, and the whole diorama is painted wood and moulded plastic — the toy has a wind-up key that turns, printed cabin windows, a clearcoat that catches the low sun, and enough edge wear to look played with. Every hit throws splinters and a puff of dust. Fly low down one of the avenues and watch the shadows run along the block faces. Get a good chain going and the Kid will tell you about it.