Goose Migration

You start as one goose with a long way to go. Every other goose you pass is a straggler who will come along if you honk at them, and the bigger the skein behind you, the better this goes.

Formation does the work. Hold a tight V and stamina drains slowly, because that’s what the shape is for. Let it fall apart and you’re burning yourself out flying into your own dirty air. Wind gusts shove the flock off line, hawks scatter it outright, and putting it back together mid-leg costs more than keeping it. When you’re spent, land and rest. Water recharges fastest.

The five legs

• The Gathering — recruit your first flock and head south.
• Against the Wind — gusts push the flock around. Hold the shape.
• Hawk Territory — hawks patrol the route and will break you up.
• The Long Haul — a long leg where stamina is the real opponent.
• Journey’s End — the last one, with everything at once.

Controls

• W / S fly forward and back, A / D turn. Touch gets a joystick on the left.
• Space honks, which recruits any straggler close enough to hear it.
• R lands and takes off again. Resting recharges stamina.
• Arrow to the waypoint points where you are going next; the minimap shows the rest of the route.

Why it’s a speck

One bird, one verb, and a winter to fly to. It runs in the browser you already have open.

Take off