Free to playThe Howler Fly by humming, if you dare
Steer a hot air balloon with one button, gravity and a lot of wind, through a city drawn entirely by hand.
Is The Howler worth it?
The Howler is worth it if…
- you want something short to finish in an evening or two
- you like physics games where one input has to be enough
- you enjoy hand-drawn art and would hang some of these levels on a wall
- you want a casual game that still gets genuinely difficult
- you have a microphone and no shame about using it
Screenshots
One button, and the whole sky
You can only make the balloon rise. Everything else is out of your hands: gravity pulls it down, and the wind pushes it sideways, blowing in different directions at different heights. So flying becomes a matter of reading the air. Climb to catch a current heading right, sink to catch one heading left, and time it all so you drift past rooftops and spires instead of into them. Touch anything sharp and the balloon bursts. Some levels ask you to pick up cargo and drop it off on the way, others hand you bombs to release over a target. It sounds simple. The later levels will disagree.
A city drawn on paper
Every background and foreground object was drawn by hand, on paper, by classically-trained painters. Foreground pieces sit like paper cut-outs against the painted backdrops, and the whole thing has the feel of a pencil-sketch storybook. The city itself is Vilnius: the locations and architecture are real, and you can visit them in person if the game sells you on the trip. The setting is steampunk, the pace is unhurried, and the look carries the game even on levels that take a few tries.
Can you control the balloon with your voice?
Can you control the balloon with your voice?
Yes. With a microphone, sound replaces the mouse: hum, whistle or blow into the mic and the balloon rises, stop and it sinks. It is a novelty at first, then it turns funny, especially with people watching, when you find yourself making noises at a balloon to keep it airborne. Fair warning: the trickier levels demand fine control, and a microphone is a blunt instrument for that. The mouse is the steadier choice when a level gets serious.
How long does it take to finish?
It is a short game, and that is the point. There are 16 levels, most of them brief, and a full run usually takes an evening or two. A few levels are stubborn and will take several attempts, but retrying is quick and you can see yourself improving. Come for a compact, satisfying challenge rather than a long campaign.
Why is it called difficult if it only has one button?
Because the button is not the hard part. You only control rising, so every landing depends on reading the wind at different heights and planning several moves ahead. Drift off the top of the screen or brush a sharp edge and the level restarts. The difficulty comes from patience and timing, not from complicated controls, which is exactly what makes the late levels satisfying to crack.
What do you actually do in a level?
Each of the 16 levels gives you a goal on the way to a landing platform. Usually that means collecting packages and dropping them at the right spots, or carrying bombs and releasing them over a target, all while steering through wind and avoiding anything that could pop the balloon. Levels are timed, and each one introduces something new, so the routine never quite settles.
