Air Traffic Control Game Review

Air Traffic Control Game Background

This is a time management airport traffic control simulation game where players try to operate various airports and keep aircraft passengers safe while landing as many aircraft as possible.

This game was published by MarketJS. The game is somewhat similar to Flight Sim and Airport Rush.

How to Play Air Traffic Control

Press the red button near the bottom of the welcome screen to start the game. On your first play through you will play a quick tutorial.

Players next go to the zone select screen where they can choose to play Hawaii, Las Vegas, Denver, New Orleans, Sahara, Puerto Rico, Mojave, Rockey Mountain, Alcatraz, Phoenix, or US Virgin Islands. The earliest airports are the easiest, and as you select airports further into the list they grow more challenging.

A yellow warning near the edge of the screen shows where additional aircraft will enter the scene.

Left click on a plane and draw a path for it to land on a corresponding runway. Repeat the process for as long as you can while avoiding crashes.

Each safe landing is worth a point.

Basic Gameplay Advice

It is best to start the game on the easier stages before moving onto harder levels, as the final few stages are quite challenging.

As you progress through the game different types of planes are added to the mix with each requiring their own runways, and various types of helicopters are added into the game as well.

Planes must land on the correct runways, approaching from the direction of the arrows on the runway. Helicopters can approach landing pads from any direction. Most planes and helicopters are color coded, and they will only let you land on valid landing spots.

Some of the later airports also have planes which take off periodically. The takeoff runway has a circle graph on it that fills just before the airplane takes off. The airplanes which take off must be flown to the edge of the screen into a colored indicator to exit the scene.

Advanced Playing Tips & Strategy

It is usually best to try to land fast-moving aircrafts first and deal with slower moving aircraft after clearing out the fast ones.

Try not to move too much near the edges of the screen when you do not need to, as new aircraft can appear at any time.

Reusing your prior flightpath lines is a good way to ensure similar craft do not crash into each other while reusing the same landing locations.

You not only must keep the craft from hitting each other, but also must avoid some of the mountains or rocks on some of the stages.

Educational Aspects

This game helps players improve their ability to focus by requiring them to strategize and solve many concurrent problems.

Player Age Recommendations

This game is fun for all ages. The early levels are rather simple. The later airports are quite hard between takeoffs and landings across many different aircraft types and runways. Plus players can press a 2X button in the lower left corner to increase the speed and difficulty of the game.