Steam News16 August 202510mo ago

Puffin Planes Dev Diary #2: CEO Rating Improvements & Regional Carriers

Ever since launching the game, I've been working on adding depth and immersion to all of the various game mechanics.

In this update7

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Full Puffin Planes update

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What changed

0 fixes9 additions1 change0 removals

Gameplay

addedEver since launching the game, I've been working on adding depth and immersion to all of the various game mechanics. Airplanes got seating classes, airports got improved buildings and concourses, and manufacturers got a massive ordering system overhaul. Well, I'm sure many of you will be happy to hear that CEO Rating is the next game mechanic to get this treatment.

addedGrowth MetricsIf you have a high growth rate, then your board of directors will be happy and your CEO rating will naturally tend towards some higher value (approx. 80-85% in the above picture). Many of you have rightly pointed out that it never really made sense that you could be the largest, most terrifying monopoly in the world and the board of directors could get angry at you and fire you for not building a Fuel Depot in Bozeman or establishing a new hub in western Australia.

addedImproved NavbarThe bird you're playing as now sits smack dab in the middle of your navbar so that you never forget 😎🐦. This became especially important recently now that I made random bird selection the default choice when creating a new game.

addedPlane AssignmentYou can now shift+click to assign multiple planes at once in the flight assignment GUI.

addedBuyout TweaksAnother small QoL feature that many of you have asked for: you can now selectively keep or liquidate different parts of any airline that you acquire.

addedRegional CarriersSorry for the really long image. These are smaller airlines that operate only out of a specific hub city (it's in their name). They're easier to buy out, and are mostly just meant to add some spice and decision-making to the early game.

Puffin Planes changes

addedIf you have a high growth rate, then your board of directors will be happy and your CEO rating will naturally tend towards some higher value (approx. 80-85% in the above picture). Many of you have rightly pointed out that it never really made sense that you could be the largest, most terrifying monopoly in the world and the board of directors could get angry at you and fire you for not building a Fuel Depot in Bozeman or establishing a new hub in western Australia.

addedThe bird you're playing as now sits smack dab in the middle of your navbar so that you never forget 😎🐦. This became especially important recently now that I made random bird selection the default choice when creating a new game.

addedYou can now shift+click to assign multiple planes at once in the flight assignment GUI.

addedAnother small QoL feature that many of you have asked for: you can now selectively keep or liquidate different parts of any airline that you acquire.

Ever since launching the game, I've been working on adding depth and immersion to all of the various game mechanics. Airplanes got seating classes, airports got improved buildings and concourses, and manufacturers got a massive ordering system overhaul. Well, I'm sure many of you will be happy to hear that CEO Rating is the next game mechanic to get this treatment.

Growth Metrics

Internally referred to as CQGR (Compound Quarterly Growth Rate), this is the rate at which your airline grows in three key metrics:

Passengers Delivered
Cities Served
Planes Owned

If you have a high growth rate, then your board of directors will be happy and your CEO rating will naturally tend towards some higher value (approx. 80-85% in the above picture). Many of you have rightly pointed out that it never really made sense that you could be the largest, most terrifying monopoly in the world and the board of directors could get angry at you and fire you for not building a Fuel Depot in Bozeman or establishing a new hub in western Australia.

CEO Rating now gets its own section on the navbar that shows you the rate of change as well as whether or not you are adequately meeting your KPIs.
The bird you're playing as now sits smack dab in the middle of your navbar so that you never forget 😎🐦. This became especially important recently now that I made random bird selection the default choice when creating a new game.

Plane Assignment

You can now shift+click to assign multiple planes at once in the flight assignment GUI.

Buyout Tweaks

Another small QoL feature that many of you have asked for: you can now selectively keep or liquidate different parts of any airline that you acquire.

Regional Carriers

Sorry for the really long image. These are smaller airlines that operate only out of a specific hub city (it's in their name). They're easier to buy out, and are mostly just meant to add some spice and decision-making to the early game.

Other Airline Tweaks

You can now have up to 16 major carriers per game, and up to 24 regional carriers.
New airlines can now spawn mid-game. This is configurable in the settings if you don't want this.
New permission setting: "Everyone can do this, but not to players". Meant to help those of you who don't mind AIs buying each other out but don't want to randomly get bought out yourself in the middle of a playthrough.

Bonus: Cut Content (Gameplay bloopers?)

I spent a week or two experimenting with advanced concourse gameplay. The idea was that you would play "cards" or "tiles" in airports that would give bonuses to throughput, rent, reputation, comfort, or any number of things really. I eventually cut this feature because it seemed very micro-managey, and I was trying to move the game away from micromanagement. But here are a few different prototypes in case you are curious what that might have looked like:

Source

Steam News / 16 August 2025

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