How to play Paperwhales

Paper Whales is in early development — some features are not fully working yet, and things may change or break.

You are a whale swimming through a city made of letters. Every tower is a song or a piece of writing, and its walls are the words. Double tap a building to open its page. The city is in early development, so some features are not fully working yet.

double tap a building (desktop: double-click a building) — open its inspiration page.

left pad (desktop: W A S D) — swim.

? button (desktop: ? button) — open this help again any time.

Swimming uses the pads on the edges of the screen. Steering stays the same in every view.

left pad, slide up or down (desktop: W / S · shift to go faster) — set your swimming speed.

tap high or low on the left pad (desktop: click high or low on the left pad) — jump straight to that speed.

A button (desktop: A button) — speed hold — keep your speed when you let go, even when you change view.

UP/DN pill (desktop: space up · C down) — climb and dive; small moves for fine steering, big moves for fast turns.

drag on the city (desktop: move the mouse) — look around.

tap the pad centre (desktop: G) — turn toward the city.

double tap the pad centre (desktop: shift + G) — swim to the city centre, above its tallest tower.

triple tap the pad centre (desktop: alt + G) — go home — back to the start, upright.

Change how you see the city. The orbit buttons only appear in view 1.

camera button (desktop: V) — cycle the six views; view 6 shows the whole city as text on black.

pinch (desktop: two-finger scroll) — zoom the camera in and out.

O button (view 1) (desktop: O button (view 1)) — lap the avenue with the skyline behind your whale; the camera keeps facing the same way.

drag up / down while lapping (desktop: click-drag up / down while lapping) — move the lap path closer to or further from the buildings.

drag sideways while lapping (desktop: click-drag sideways while lapping) — slide along the lap line.

O2 button (view 1) (desktop: O2 button (view 1)) — circle a single house instead of the whole avenue.

The radio is shared: everyone in the city hears the same station.

tap a building (desktop: click a building) — show its name; tap again while the name is up to open its page.

double tap a building (desktop: double-click a building) — open its inspiration page.

tap a beam of light (desktop: click a beam of light) — line up its songs next on the radio.

double tap a beam of light (desktop: double-click a beam of light) — open its building's inspiration page.

Make your own song. Finished songs rise as towers in the sky city.

create button (desktop: create button) — open the Muse and get ready to build.

long-press create (desktop: long-press create) — close the Muse and stop building.

type one line, press create (desktop: type one line, press create) — your idea joins the song queue.

queue pill (desktop: queue pill) — see where your song is, its errors and retries.

sign in when asked (desktop: sign in when asked) — guests keep everything they typed and land back where they were.

Record and share what you see.

record button (desktop: record button) — record a clip of your flight.

clip library (desktop: clip library) — watch, keep or post your clips.

post queue (desktop: post queue) — follow your posts; owners and admins can press Post now.

share button (desktop: share button) — send a link to a tower or song.

Make the city yours.

player settings → gestures (desktop: player settings → gestures) — tune tap and hold timings if taps feel off.

world controls (desktop: world controls) — sky, flowers, buildings and dancers in one menu.

feedback (in this help) (desktop: feedback (in this help)) — tell us what's wrong or what you'd love.