It dives. Holding the control burns fuel and pushes you along your heading, but a quick tap drops the nose and trades height for speed. Use it to drop into a lane of balloons, to duck under a bird, or to cash in leftover altitude once the fuel is gone — but height never comes back, so diving early puts you in the ground.

Yes. Warm columns rise off the Cliffs and lift you if you thread them, a crosswind runs across the Highlands, the Cloud Sea hides what is ahead until you are close, and the air over the Aurora barely pulls you down. Three of the six upgrades also stay locked until you reach the zone that unlocks them.

Yes. Skyward is completely free in your browser on ArcadeWhale. There is no purchase and no sign-up — open the page and press Launch.

No. It runs directly in your web browser and works in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge on desktop, tablets and phones. Nothing to download and no plugin to install.

Two things. First, catch the power bar near the top of its swing — a marker shows where the strong zone is, and hitting it is worth far more than a lucky angle. Second, spend your coins: upgrades are permanent, so even a bad run leaves you better off than before it.

Somewhere near the middle of the sweep is the best all-round choice, because a flat launch runs out of air too early and a steep one trades distance for height. Once you have Spring Boots a flatter launch gets better, since you start skipping sooner and each hop carries you on.

Balloons shove you upward and refill a little fuel, so they are worth steering into. Birds cut roughly a quarter of your speed, which on a long flight is expensive. Both sit high in the air, which is why climbing is a gamble rather than a free win.

With Spring Boots your landing becomes a skip rather than a stop, exactly like a stone across water. Each hop keeps part of your speed, so a run that looks finished can still add hundreds of metres. It is the upgrade that changes how the whole game is played, not just how far it goes.

Five: Meadow, Cliffs, Highlands, Cloud Sea and Aurora. Each one has its own sky, ground and hills, and you reach them purely by flying further, so the scenery doubles as a progress bar. The furthest zone you have reached is shown on the title screen.

Yes. Coins, every upgrade level, your best flight and your furthest zone are stored on your device, so closing the tab does not reset you. Upgrades are permanent and never expire.