Image: Jelle Booij

The very first thing Aviassembly asks you to do is build a plane. No tutorial, no guidance. It'll tell you if anything's terribly wrong, but it trusts you to put together something that looks vaguely plane-like. And then it asks you to fly it. Much like the excellent Kerbal Space Program, Aviassembly might be a game about physics and the mechanics of flight, but it's first and foremost a game about building stuff and having fun with it, with no serious science knowledge needed. After a hugely successful 18 months of early access, the full version is out today and (shockingly) at its lowest price yet.

The meat and potatoes of Aviassembly is running a delivery business, although more job types unlock over time. No sooner have you taken off and (safely, ideally) landed at another airfield, you'll find yourself bombarded with small job offers. Some birds got hurt flying into things at the wind farm, so you need to grab some medicine from the hospital. An earthquake knocked over some radio towers, so they'll need repair parts. And with the rewards you get from each odd job, you receive resources to spend on unlocking new plane parts and expanding your vehicle, which can get very wacky, as you can see above.

Everything's a juggling act. Do you want speed, fuel efficiency, cargo capacity, or just ease of flight? Pick two - maybe three if you're smart and understand drag and ideal centers of mass. Increase your travel range, find new job opportunities, and expand your map. This isn't a complex or detailed world (there are no other vehicles, and towns are borderline abstract), but that's fine. This is a game about building planes, doing jobs with them, and slowly broadening your horizons, and it is very good at what it does while being simple enough for anyone to pick it up and play.

While the game's main campaign was largely complete a while back (with an Endless Mode now to generate random missions after the credits roll), the launch version adds a few fun new bits to the game. There are now Firefighting missions that require a water tank. Fill it up in the ocean (seaplanes–another launch addition–are probably best for this), fly it over something that's burning and dump the contents.

Those wanting to get fancy with their plane designs can create hollow fuselages capable of holding additional components, and those who think the game's casual flight mechanics are a little too forgiving now have a Hard mode, which makes planes a bit more breakable and limits resources/research materials. Nothing too dramatic, but a nice cherry on the cake for launch. And honestly, probably a good mode to start on if you've flight sim experience.

Aviassembly is out now for £8.50/$10, with a generous 30% launch discount running until November 19th. This is the cheapest it has been to date, and given the game's massive success and being a largely one-person endeavor, I'd be surprised if updates and expansions stopped here. The game also has Steam Workshop support, letting you share your favorite designs with the world.