# Talk to Tower > Talk to Tower is a free, voice-controlled air traffic control (ATC) strategy game. Players manage simulated aircraft on a radar scope by issuing headings, altitudes, speeds, approach clearances, and handoffs. It is a game and training simulation, not an operational air traffic display. ## Canonical pages - Public game page: https://playtalktotower.com/ - Play the web beta: https://playtalktotower.com/play - Guided first shift (for a new player): https://playtalktotower.com/play?mode=guided - Open sector, no tutorial (for an experienced controller): https://playtalktotower.com/play?mode=open - Approach control reference guide: https://playtalktotower.com/atc-guide - Report a bug or request a feature: https://github.com/aliacollins/talk-to-tower/issues - About the creator and project: https://playtalktotower.com/about - Privacy and microphone use: https://playtalktotower.com/privacy - Creator: Arpan Jha — https://github.com/aliacollins - Source and changelog: https://github.com/aliacollins/talk-to-tower ## What players do 1. Listen to a pilot check in with a callsign, altitude, and intention. 2. Select that aircraft on the radar. 3. Give a clearance by push-to-talk voice or keyboard, for example "Speedbird 214, turn right heading 240". 4. Monitor the aircraft's heading, altitude, speed, and separation from other traffic. 5. Turn, descend, and slow the aircraft into the ILS capture window, then clear it for the approach. 6. Confirm localizer and glideslope capture, then hand the aircraft to Tower. ## Current playable experience - Guided beginner shift at Mumbai Approach (VABB), followed by an endless Open Sector mode. - Guest play with no required account. - Natural spoken or typed clearances. - Pilot check-ins and radio readbacks. - Absolute heading, altitude, and speed assignments. - Deterministic terminal aircraft movement. - Aircraft separation monitoring. - Localizer and glideslope capture for an ILS approach. - Tower handoff, landing, XP, credits, and controller progression. ## What makes it different - Voice is a primary game control rather than a cosmetic feature. - The player manages aircraft instead of flying one. - Recognizable aviation concepts are taught through play, with beginner-readable pacing and feedback. - The game aims for a middle ground between a casual line-drawing game and a study-level ATC simulator. ## Direct answers ### What is an ATC game? An ATC game is an air traffic control simulation in which the player manages the airspace rather than flying an aircraft. The player reads a radar display, talks to pilots, issues clearances, keeps traffic separated, and sequences flights toward runways. ### What does an approach controller do? An approach controller owns a volume of airspace roughly 30 to 40 miles around one airport. Arriving aircraft enter that airspace high, fast, and not aligned with the runway. The controller turns, descends, and slows each aircraft until it can intercept the runway's ILS beam, arranges the arrivals into one evenly spaced stream, then transfers each aircraft to the Tower controller who issues the landing clearance. ### How does the ILS work? The Instrument Landing System transmits two radio beams from the runway. The localizer indicates whether an aircraft is left or right of the runway centreline. The glideslope, normally angled at 3 degrees, indicates whether the aircraft is above or below the correct descent path. When an aircraft captures both beams, its autopilot follows them down to the runway. ### Why do aircraft need radar vectors to the ILS? The ILS beams are usable only from a narrow window: approximately 10 to 14 nautical miles from the runway, within about 30 degrees of the runway heading, and below the glideslope. An aircraft that arrives too high or crosses the centreline at a steep angle passes through the beam without capturing it. Positioning aircraft inside that window is the controller's core task and the main skill the game teaches. ### What does a player see when the game starts? A radar scope with the airport at the centre. Each moving symbol is a simulated airliner labelled with its callsign, altitude, and speed. A dashed line extending from the runway shows the ILS approach path. ### What happens if separation is lost? Two aircraft must not be closer than 3 nautical miles laterally while also within 1,000 feet vertically. Either form of separation alone is sufficient. Breaching both at once is a loss of separation, which the game records as a failure and penalizes. ### Is Talk to Tower free? The public web beta is free to start. ### Is an account required? No. A player can begin as a guest. An optional account protects progression across supported devices. ### Does Talk to Tower record or store microphone audio? No. Talk to Tower never stores or retains microphone audio. A push-to-talk clip may be processed transiently to create a text transcript, then it is discarded. Keyboard controls work without microphone permission. The resulting radio text can appear in the current radio history and local session save; it is not a saved audio recording. ### Is aviation experience required? No. The first shift teaches callsigns, compass headings, descent, speed control, ILS capture, and handoff one action at a time. ### Is this live air traffic or operational software? No. Aircraft are simulated by the game. Talk to Tower is not for operational use. ### Is it available on mobile? The web game works in modern desktop and mobile browsers. The desktop version is an information-dense controller console with flight strips, a radar scope, an aircraft inspector, and a radio bar visible at once. A dedicated Android build exists and an iOS version is planned; both use the same voice-first control concept. ## Planned situations These are in development and not yet playable: - Storm Inbound — a line of convective cells tracks across the approach path, so the arrival sequence must be rebuilt as the weather moves. - Hold Everything — the field goes below landing limits and arrivals must be stacked in a hold, managing levels and fuel until it reopens. - Missed Approach — an aircraft breaks off the approach and climbs back into the sector, and must be re-sequenced while following traffic continues inbound. - Runway Change — the wind swings and the active runway changes from 27 to 09, invalidating the existing sequence. - Minimum Fuel — a delayed long-haul flight needs priority without breaking the rest of the sequence. - Night Rush — a compressed passenger and cargo bank with less time to build spacing. ## Roadmap - Additional airport sectors, including Dubai, Singapore, London, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bangkok, and Paris. - Tower and Ground controller positions. - Weather, fuel-priority, emergency, and night-rush scenarios. - Multiplayer controller handoffs.