(Don't let go of your phone)
October 3, 2016 2:39 PM   Subscribe

paperplanes.world, (best on mobile)

Video preview for those who don't have access to a mobile device.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (26 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
First thought was oh this is pretty cool, but it really made my day when I opened up a paper plane and it was covered in stamps from Thailand, to NYC, to South America. A nice, odd moment of connection with others.
posted by Carillon at 2:44 PM on October 3, 2016 [6 favorites]


How do you catch planes?
posted by Keith Talent at 2:47 PM on October 3, 2016


Neaaaat
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:55 PM on October 3, 2016


Make a catching motion with your phone when you see the basket
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:55 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


A few days ago I noticed a significant uptick in the number of stamps from Thailand. It was such sudden change from not having seen any Thai stamps, it made me wonder if bots were "playing" too. Which would be disappointing. Other than that, really cool game!
posted by mantecol at 2:56 PM on October 3, 2016


Fun, but I would love to be able to add small messages. (Maybe from a pre approved list, like: "The weather is great" or something). Also a timestamp on the plane would be great - how long has it been out flying?
posted by Rabarberofficer at 3:03 PM on October 3, 2016


Rabarberofficer, every stamp on each plane has a date stamp!

This is very cool and very addictive, since each step is so easy and gratifying and there's no particular stopping point. I fear I will develop a case of Virtual Paper Plane Thrower's Elbow.
posted by ejs at 3:15 PM on October 3, 2016


I found two different stamps from a place called Ufa, which I just learned is delightfully spelled ӨФӨ in the local language
posted by theodolite at 3:16 PM on October 3, 2016 [8 favorites]


This is delightful!

The fact that I shuddered immediately after thinking "wouldn't it be fun if we could add little notes?" is a view on the sad state of anonymous internet communication, I think.

I believe I will cure this sad that I have given myself by sending more planes!
posted by sparklemotion at 3:36 PM on October 3, 2016


Planes are on their way from Warsaw, Portugal
posted by zokni at 4:01 PM on October 3, 2016


Oooh so fun. Except it thinks I'm in Decatur!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:38 PM on October 3, 2016


PS on my third try I let go of my phone, which my children found HILARIOUS
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:58 PM on October 3, 2016 [5 favorites]


So it keeps thinking I'm in San Francisco which is very annoying because I'm not in San Francisco
posted by clorox at 5:56 PM on October 3, 2016


I wish I could get a list of not just the planes I made, but also all those I've caught and rereleased. I'd like to know where they go too!
posted by nat at 5:58 PM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


I wish I could fold the planes my way.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:55 PM on October 3, 2016


for some reason it's glitching on my android phone- flashing in a way that would not be good for someone with epilepsy.
posted by freethefeet at 7:57 PM on October 3, 2016


I now demand
that you explain
this other way
you fold your plane
posted by phooky at 8:22 PM on October 3, 2016


I only catch planes from Mountainview and it keeps reporting I made 0 planes (while I have launched a dozen already). But I like the feeling, I'll keep trying.

Gent, Belgium in case anyone's wondering. And the weather's only so-so.

Update: Google is omniscient. I now caught a plane covered in stamps from all over the world.
posted by Captain Fetid at 2:58 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


Um, am I missing something here? On an android phone it's just a blank purple screen, and trying on a desk top I get a rather snarky redirect telling me to install chrome. :/
posted by AFII at 4:13 AM on October 4, 2016


[x] WebGL in Chrome on desktop wouldn't run, had to disable second monitor on intelHD/integrated VGA for it to work, thanks reddit
[x] I'm left handed, so I ended up throwing the plane backwards!
[o] Hello Mountain View, CA USA folder :)
[x] a few other plane models woudn't kill 'em either, as per grumpybear69.

(I have not made many posts, apologies if any protocols have been overlooked)

PS. getting webgl to work took me here: other interesting WebGL experiments.
posted by alex4pt at 5:18 AM on October 4, 2016


Man, there's a lot of Mountainside CA...
posted by Karmakaze at 6:40 AM on October 4, 2016


same here, all mountain view, zero planes tracked despite making 2. maybe the server is simply overloaded from all the publicity.
posted by joeblough at 10:22 AM on October 4, 2016


Found this via Twitter this a.m. and I'm weirdly hooked. I've also been having problems with it registering the number of planes I created, but it seems to be catching up slowly. I've seen *so many* with only Mountain View CA stamps from May that I've wondered if they're seeds from the game dev, but I've caught a few that have 4+ stamps and multiple international ones. I wish the game clocked how far a plane has "traveled" since release (if only to save me going full nerd and making a Google map to pin the places I've seen stamps from).
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:22 AM on October 4, 2016


The reason you see so many from Mountain View is because the app launched at Google IO, a huge product developer's conference that Google puts on.
posted by mark242 at 11:58 AM on October 4, 2016


phooky, I don't know about grumpybear69, but this is the paper plane I fold the most often when folding them IRL.
posted by hanov3r at 5:11 PM on October 4, 2016


ejs,

On a iPhone that datestamp was so small I could not see it. I thought it was part of the stamp decor. It need a zoom feature.

Still really fun and useless.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 12:59 PM on October 5, 2016


« Older Putting a record on the needles   |   I received this post at a discount in return for... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments