How to play Thermal Paragliding
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Thermal Paragliding is a quiet cross-country flight. You launch only 520 m above the valley with no engine, so staying up depends on finding rising air, circling in it, and using the height to reach the next climb. The goal is distance: the big number under the top panel counts kilometres flown.
The view is from behind your wing, looking out over photo backdrops of six sites: Dolomiti, Ölüdeniz, Interlaken, Annecy, Santorini and Chamonix. Each has its own cloud base, from 1500 m at Santorini to 3800 m at Chamonix, and its own thermal strength. Five other pilots fly the same sky and you are ranked against them when you land.
How to play
- Choose a site and one of seven gliders, then press Launch. On a phone, press Gyro first if you want to steer your weight by tilting.
- Check the round Thermal radar at the top. Green dots are thermals within 900 m, bigger and brighter for stronger lift, and the figure below it is the distance to the nearest one. Cumulus clouds in the scene sit above the thermal columns.
- Fly into the core. A THERMAL alert appears and the vario turns green. Keep a steady turn to stay inside while you climb.
- Climbing stops about 40 m below cloud base. Leave the thermal and glide toward the next one before the air around you drains your height.
- The flight ends when you touch the ground. Then you see distance, max altitude, best climb, thermals used, airtime and rank.
Controls
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Turn | Touch: fingers on both halves, the lower hand turns you that way. Keys: Left / Right arrows |
| Speed | Both hands down, or the Down arrow, slows you. Up arrow releases the brakes |
| Weight shift (turn radius) | Tilt the phone after pressing Gyro, or A / D |
| Launch | Launch button, or Enter |
| Chat and menu | Chat bubble button (long press for quick phrases), + button for reactions, AI, invite and live |
Rules
- Lift is strongest in the middle of each thermal and fades toward its edge. Thermals have a radius of about 90 to 190 m.
- A light wind of roughly 12 to 17 km/h drifts both you and the thermals. A small arrow and km/h readout show its direction and speed.
- Thermals do not last forever. Old ones fade and new ones form further ahead, so there are always 16 around you.
- Holding both brakes above 90% for more than a second stalls the wing and you drop fast.
- Banking harder and braking more both raise your sink rate. The HUD shows ground speed (GS) and glide ratio (L/D) live.
- Rank counts every rival or live friend who has flown further than you.
Tips
- Chamonix has the strongest thermals (x1.25) and the highest base; Santorini is the weakest (x0.85) with a 1500 m ceiling.
- Do not chase a thermal that is far upwind. The wind pushes everything, so aim a little upwind of the green dot.
- When the vario shows red SINK for a long time, speed up on the glide instead of turning.
- A Getting low warning shows under 120 m above ground. Use the last metres to reach any dot on the radar.
- The target button opens 42 lessons over 6 levels, such as Reach 800 m, Ride 4 thermals or Fly 3 km. The current task is shown on screen.
FAQ
Is there a score?
The main result is distance in kilometres. Rank compares that distance with the other pilots.
Who are the other pilots?
Offline, five computer pilots fly between thermals. When you start a live room they are removed and real friends take their place.
How do I invite a friend?
Open the + menu and tap invite. It shows a 4-character code and a link with ?room=CODE. Friends who open the link fly in the same sky, with chat bubbles over their gliders.
Do lesson results save?
Lesson progress is kept for the current session only.
Does it run on desktop?
Yes. Arrow keys, A and D, and Enter cover everything, and the start screen lists the keyboard controls.
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