Field note

What altitude means: swing, explained

Why Updraft flies at 540 metres and Wind Drum at 140.

On the flight line, every kite flies at an altitude. Altitude is our word for swing: how far apart a kite's quiet rounds and its lively rounds tend to be. It is not about how much a kite gives back over many rounds. All six are built to give back a broadly similar share of what is staked over a long session; they differ in how that share arrives.

High flyers: long quiet stretches, rare big rounds

Updraft flies highest. Most spins return a little or nothing; now and then a cloud bank opens to a high kite across several lines, or three windsocks start the thermal spins, and a single round brings back many times the stake. With a high flyer your lift can drift down for a while before one round lifts it again, or before you reach the bottom and use Relaunch.

Low flyers: small, frequent rounds

Wind Drum on a Low or High call flies lowest: nearly half the throws double the stake and the rest lose it, so the balance moves up and down in small steps. Call a triple instead and the same drum becomes a high flyer, with one hit in 36 throws on average and 34 times the stake when it lands. That is why its meter reads "by call".

In between

Threadline and Tailhold sit in the middle. Threadline often hands the stake straight back on next-door ranks or a pair, which smooths the ride. Tailhold returns the stake on any pair of jacks or better and saves its big hands, like four of a kind, for rare deals. Jetstream depends on the tiles: small streams are common, and a stream that reaches most of the grid and breaks out to the east is rare.

Choosing a stake

A simple habit: on a high flyer, stake a smaller slice of your lift, because the quiet stretches can be long. On a low flyer you can see more clearly where your lift is going. Either way, lift has no cash value, and nothing here rewards holding a large balance; your rank in the flight log counts rounds played, not lift held.

Swing is also worth knowing about for how a session feels. Big rounds after long waits are the pattern that makes some games hard to put down. If you find yourself waiting for the big one, set a round cap at Safe Landing.

Arcadekite is for adults 18+ and for entertainment only. No real money play and no prizes of monetary value. Updated 15 November 2026.