World of Warplanes is a free-to-play multiplayer action game and has many similarities to World of Tanks by the same developer. The goal of each match (maximal 15 minutes) is to either wipe out all enemy players or gain air superiority by destroying ground targets. The game feature a number of aircraft from different nations which all handle differently and have their advantages; basically they can be divided into fast fighter aircraft with focus on dogfight capabilities, heavily armored ground attack aircraft and heavy fighters which are somewhere in between. The controls are action-based and have helps like a prompt which shows how to lead the target. When a certain component, e.g. motor or wings, is hit often enough it may fail even if the overall health points are in a uncritical state.
