Learn to Fly 3 Beginner Guide: The First Days, Launchers and Cash

Learn to Fly 3 does not tell you much. You get a hangar, ten dollars, an empty launcher slot and a READY! button. This guide covers the first few in-game days, what the numbers in the shop mean, and the small habits that get the penguin to space in fewer days.

Day 1 is supposed to fail

After New Game, Story and a save slot, the hangar shows Day 1, $10 and a Launcher slot that says EMPTY. If you press READY! straight away, the penguin stands on the snow and nothing happens. That is intended. The day still ends, the game pays you, and on day 2 you have $19. Now click the Launcher slot. The shop opens, sorted by price: Coil $10, Slingshot $40, Tilt Cannon $80, Grenade $280, Russian Roulette $350. Buy the Coil, press Back, then READY!. The spring throws the penguin into the air and you get your first medal, Flight Time, worth 10 Bonus Points.

Read the part card: Power and Max Lift

Clicking a bought part opens its card. The Coil's card says level 1, Power 170, Max Lift 10, with a row of plus and minus buttons for upgrades. Power is how hard the part pushes. Max Lift is how much weight it can carry before it starts losing efficiency, as the hangar hint says. The bottom of the hangar shows your total weight (3.0 with the bare penguin). The practical rule: when you add a heavy stage, check that the launcher can still lift the whole craft, or upgrade it first.

Buy small, fly often

Each flight is paid by how high, how far and how fast you went. The quickest way to get rich is to improve a little every day, not to save up for a week. Buy the cheapest thing that adds altitude, fly, and buy again. Later the game offers a perk that pays interest on money left over at the start of a day. Until you have it, cash sitting in the bank does nothing for you.

Respect the drag meter

In flight, the lower-right corner shows a speed dial and a red drag gauge, and a hint tells you to avoid going too far beyond max speed. Past that point the air pushes back harder than your engines. Firing every boost at the start is usually a waste. Fire them when the craft starts to slow down, and use the left and right arrow keys to keep the nose pointing up.

Shop shortcuts worth learning

• Shift + upgrade buys (or sells back) as many levels as you can afford in one click.
• Ctrl + click on an item sells it without opening its card.
• Shift + drag on a stage or boost copies it, if you have the cash.

Medals are free upgrades

Bonus Points come from medals and a daily bonus for each real-life day you come back. They are spent in the Bonus Shop on permanent perks, such as extra starting cash and more launcher power, stage fuel and boost fuel. Some medals are easy to earn on purpose: reach 10,000 feet with the default body, or with no launchers or boosts at all. Try one when a day would otherwise be wasted.

Ready? Play Learn to Fly 3, or read what the four modes and the medals ask of you.