Launch & Upgrade Flash Games

The "just one more run" box

Launch and upgrade games were made for short breaks that turned into long afternoons. The loop is simple: launch something, see how far it goes, spend the money on a better ramp, glider or engine, and launch again. Every run is a little better than the last, which is exactly why they are so hard to stop.

Learn to Fly, Burrito Bison and friends

• Learn to Fly is the classic: a penguin determined to prove penguins can fly, a ramp, and day after day of upgrades – sleds, gliders, rockets – until the impossible distance is in reach.
• Burrito Bison launches a luchador out of the wrestling ring and across a land of gummy bears, with Burrito Bison Revenge adding even more to smash.
• Earn to Die 2: Exodus swaps the ramp for a car and a zombie-filled road to the evacuation point.
• Yeti Sports: Pingu Throw is the original penguin-launching game: one swing, one penguin, one distance.

Skill games that feel like launch games

Some games here have no upgrades at all, just the same short attempt again and again. QWOP by Bennett Foddy turned a 100-metre race into a coordination nightmare. Robot Unicorn Attack is an endless runner set to a power ballad, and Tower Bloxx asks you to drop swinging building blocks into a straight tower.

Tips

In upgrade games, spend early money on whatever adds distance most cheaply – usually the launch itself – before buying flashy extras. In skill games like QWOP, slow down: small, rhythmic key presses beat frantic mashing.