Hold to rise, release to fall
| Hold | Rise while the button is held. |
| Release | Fall as soon as you let go. |
| Tap or click | Works the same by mouse, key or touch. |
Helicopter is the one-button game that defined a certain era of the web. Hold to climb, release to drop, and thread your craft through a cave that scrolls endlessly toward you. There is no landing and no winning, only how far you get before the wall claims you. Its simplicity is exactly why it spread everywhere.
The single control hides a surprisingly fine skill. Because holding makes you rise and releasing makes you fall, steady flight is not a state but a constant correction, a rapid flutter of taps that keeps you level. The moment you overcorrect, gravity or the ceiling finishes the job. It is a game about the lightest possible touch.
Fly with short taps, not long holds. Steady flight comes from a quick flutter of brief presses that keeps you hovering, rather than big climbs and plunges. The pilots who last longest barely seem to move vertically at all.
Aim for the middle of the gap and stay there. Hugging either the floor or the ceiling leaves no room to recover from a mistake. Keeping to the centre of the passage gives you slack in both directions when the cave suddenly narrows.
Look ahead at the incoming terrain, not at your craft. The cave tells you what is coming a moment before it arrives, and reacting to the edge of the screen rather than your current position buys you the time to adjust smoothly.
Ease off before a downward gap, not after. Since releasing makes you fall, anticipate a dip by letting go slightly early and gliding down into it, rather than plunging late and overshooting into the floor. Gentle, early corrections beat sharp, late ones every time.
No. It is an endless survival game. You are playing to beat your own best distance.
One button. Holding makes you rise, releasing makes you fall. That is the entire game.
Usually from holding too long. Short taps keep you level; long holds send you straight up into the roof.
Your best run is stored in your browser on the same device.
Nothing at all. The whole of Helicopter is built into the page itself, which is why there is no loading bar and no waiting before you can play.