Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet was one of last spring's best anime. Now, just over a year later, it finally has its own (free-to-play) game—a game that is basically a visual novel mixed with a bare-bones version of Pilotwings.
Gargantia: Sky Courier takes place between episodes five and six of the anime, where Ledo—the pilot of a hyper-advance mecha trapped on a Waterworld-style post-apocalyptic earth—can't find a job to fill his time on the floating city of Gargantia. Luckily, his friend Amy, native to the floating city, has an idea: he can become a sky courier just like her. Thus, he begins to train on his very own propeller-powered hang glider/surfboard hybrid.
The actual gameplay of Gargantia: Sky Courier comes in the form of Ledo learning to control his tiny craft by flying through hoops in the skies above Gargantia. It's very simple: press up, down, left, right, or accelerate to leisurely float through the simple course. You can play using a controller, keyboard, or touchscreen.
Currently, that's all the game is: two visual novel sections voiced by the anime's cast where Ledo, Amy, and Chamber (Ledo's mech) discuss his problem, and one short flying section.
There is also a free flying mode where you can explore Gargantia's airspace at your leisure. However, even in this mode you aren't able to fly any lower than the top of the tallest building, so put aside any dream of flying through the streets of the city.
At the moment, only the first chapter—which takes about fifteen minutes to complete—has been released (and can be viewed in full in the video at the top of this page). Three more chapters of the game are scheduled for release in the near future.
Also coming soon is a new two-part Gargantia OVA that takes place six months after the end of the series. The first OVA will air in Japanese theaters on September 27, 2014, with the second coming the following April. The Blu-rays, which will include English subtitles, will be released in Japan on November 21, 2014 and May 27, 2015, respectively.
Gargantia: Sky Courier can be played for free with English subtitles on its official website.
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