Glider for Windows is an excellent PC port of a hit Machintosh title of the same name that started life as a small black & white shareware game in the late 1980s and went through several updates.The game's premise is simple, but makes for a very unique and interesting blend of action and puzzle elements: you control a paper airplane, and your job is to find an open window and exit the house. As with a real-life paper airplane, your control of the plane is basic: you can move it up and down, and that's about it. Therefore, you must "ride" currents of hot air, fans, etc., while avoiding danger in the form of balloons, furniture, paper shredders, and other sharp objects. Along the way, you can collect a series of power ups such as speed boosts, rubber bands (to shoot enemies with), and more lives. Higher 'levels' place you in the house with more obstacles to negotiate.

Glider is fun because it requires a number of skills to succeed. You need good reflexes, good timing, and even good strategy to beat most levels. If you are looking for a fun, unassuming, and unique action/puzzle blend, check out this excellent port of a Macintosh classic that few PC gamers know about. Best of all, the game's author John Calhoun has decided to release the game as freeware after the copyrights reverted to him after the publisher, Casady & Greene, closed their doors in June, 2003. Two thumbs up, way up!

Note: It is too bad that the final incarnation of the game, Glider Pro, which lets you design your own houses/scenarios, was never ported to Windows. But since Glider Pro is now freeware along with the rest of the series, you can download the game from the author's website (linked below) for use with Basilisk II, our recommended Mac emulator for PC.