AMC is known for dramas like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, the latter of which showed the luxuries of flight in the late 1960s. Its video game arm, however, seems keen to show off the modern realities of commercial flight.
The first game from the TV network’s gaming division is a life simulator that probably won’t be a great distraction if you’re trapped on an airplane. Airplane Mode, developed by Hosni Auji, is a title that appears packed with all the boring and usually frustrating parts of today’s air travel. And while it’s initially unclear what the purpose of the game will be, its trailer certainly seems realistic.
The trailer is surreal to anyone who has tried to watch a classic movie like Citizen Kane during a long flight. The clip starts with footage of 1902 French film Le Voyage dans la Lune, or, A Trip To The Moon. As the silent film plays the camera pans out until you realize the movie is playing on a screen embedded in an airline seat, which pauses when the movie pauses and a captain’s voice addresses the cabin. As the teaser continues the character looks down from the movie at a puzzle as the captain addresses the plane over the PA, then looks to the left to see the rest of their row empty. A look to the right shows the plane in flight.
The game is described as a “meditation on life between destinations” and has been described as intentionally boring. But there’s certainly a market for these kinds of simulators, so there’s probably something that works here. At the very least, the game has free Wi-Fi! Though as Polygon notes, sometimes that WiFi will not work as advertised.
This doesn’t appear to be a straightforward, no-nonsense sim like Farming Simulator or Bus Simulator, though. Per Polygon, at least there will be an attempt at dry humor:
The news release announcing the, er, game said Airplane Mode would also have an in-flight safety video produced by IFC, the indie film network also owned by AMC. IFC is the home of Brockmire, and most of its original programming has been in the comedy or satire genre, so this should be rather witty.
Airplane Mode is available to Wishlist on Steam, and it’s expected to drop sometime in 2020.