The hangar

All six kites

Six original games, each built here and each played for lift, a play unit with no cash value. They are listed from the highest flyer to the lowest: the higher a kite flies, the wider its swing between quiet rounds and lively ones.

Kite A · 540 m

Updraft

Reels, 20 lines
Wild
None

Five reels, four rows and twenty lines. Cloud banks drift over the reels and open to one picture, and three windsocks start the thermal spins.

Fly Updraft

Kite B · 450 m

Vortex

Ring reels, 12 spokes
Lively
None

Three rings of twelve sectors spin around the eye. Twelve spokes read inner, middle and outer; the eye multiplies by up to three.

Fly Vortex

Kite C · 380 m

Jetstream

Duct tiles, 5 × 5
Steady to lively
One turn

Twenty-five duct tiles and one turn of one tile. Air runs in from the west; the more tiles it reaches, the more comes back.

Fly Jetstream

Kite D · 310 m

Tailhold

Cards, five-card draw
Steady, rare peaks
Hold and draw

Five cards, hold any, draw once. Jacks or better opens the table and a royal flush tops it.

Fly Tailhold

Kite E · 230 m

Threadline

Cards, the gap
Steady
Raise or stand

Two cards set the gap; the third must thread it. Raise once on a wide gap, or stand.

Fly Threadline

Kite F · 140 m

Wind Drum

Dice, seven calls
By call
Your call

Make one call, then three dice tumble in the drum: low, high, a pair, a triple, a run or an exact total.

Fly Wind Drum

Side by side

How long a round lasts, how far the results swing and what you get to decide. None of the kites has a timer, a daily drop or anything to buy.

The six kites compared
Kite	Kind	Swing	One round	You decide
Updraft	Reels	swing 5 of 5Wild	4 s, longer in thermals	Spin and watch
Vortex	Ring reels	swing 4 of 5Lively	3 s a spin	Spin and watch
Jetstream	Duct tiles	swing 3 of 5Steady to lively	10 to 20 s	One turn of one tile
Tailhold	Cards: draw	swing 3 of 5Steady, rare peaks	About 15 s	Hold and draw
Threadline	Cards: the gap	swing 2 of 5Steady	About 6 s	Raise or stand
Wind Drum	Dice	swing 2 of 5Calm to wild, by call	About 2 s	Your call

One rule for all six

Every kite starts from the same lift balance of 2,500 and takes stakes of 10, 25, 50, 100 or 250. Lift cannot be bought and cannot be turned into money, goods or anything else. When it runs below 100, Relaunch tops it up to 2,500 at once. Adults 18 and over only, for entertainment only. No real money play and no prizes of monetary value.