Listing Of The Essential Glider PRO Houses

So, you've beaten Slumberland and are wondering what next, eh? Well, here's a generic list of the best houses around...
The houses are not downloadable from here. Glide over to Alex Diener's archive to download these. You'll notice that there are hundreds of houses there; that's exactly why this page has been made, to sort out the better and worse houses. (There are a few exceptions though; these are the houses off the Glider PRO CD. They can be acquired from the same source as the game itself.)
Houses are graded by size, difficulty and aesthetity (the last one is composed of the house's artwork and design grades) from 0 to 4 stars. Other information includes the house name (duh), icon, author(s) and a few comments.

The first entry is Slumberland, in order to provide an example of the rating system; the rest are in alphabetic order.

A B C D E F H I J K L M O P R S T W More

Slumberland


Authors: john calhoun, Steve Sullivan, Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn and Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Well, what there is to say? Slumberland is the very classic house which we all love. You know what I'm talking about.

Absolute Glider


Author: Ryan Tooley
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Ryan Tooley's masterpiece Absolute Glider has no real theme, it's just plain fun. And lots of it... this is nearly 300 rooms big.

Advertisment House


Author: Ira Ham
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Ira Ham has made several sort of messy, quite easy, and darn fun houses. In this one, nearly all room titles are from various ads: "Buy Fruit Loops" etc. Also features good helium exploration possibilities.

AutoPilot


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty: [zero]
Aesthetity:
Comments: This house, like the name implies, plays itself. Watch the Glider do all sort of stunts, like navigating through hordes of darts or cabinet mazes! One of Ward Hartenstein's best houses.. well, all of his houses are good enough to be called best. :)

Beyond Belief


Author: Travis Scholtens
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Beyond Belief is... well, beyond belief. Travis Scoltens has thought up all kinds of zany things for this house, like inhouse roofs, the inside of a toaster, and much more... The gameplay is not exactly dazzling, but you'll surely still enjoy this.

Blip 26


Author: Josh Scholtens
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Josh Scholtens is the younger (I think) brother or Travis, and Blip 26 is at least equally imaginative as Beyond Belief, if not more. It is a series of houses with strange themes, eg. a house of suspension....

Brilliance 2nd


Author: Alex Diener
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: This is a showcase house, featuring all sorts of nifty glitches and tricks. It can be played through, but it won't be easy. There exists also a somewhat similar but lousier original Brilliance; hence the "2nd".

Castle o' the Air


Author: john calhoun
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: The Castle o' the Air was in the old days a fairly hard and artistic house, but it has been superceded in both aspects by now. Like in any good castle, there's a Dungeon and a Courtyard, all complete with custom backgrounds.

Channel Surfing


Author: Travis Scholtens
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: A short fun house, which you probably can beat on the first try. Has one of the best QuickTime TV movies around and some other animation effects, too.

Davis Station


Authors: Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn and john calhoun
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Davis Station is a very picturesque house, taking place near an imaginary station somewhere in Kansas. The custom graphics have been drawn excellently, and the gameplay is balanced perfectly, not too easy nor too hard, not too long nor too short.

DizzyHouse


Author: Jack Kelly
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Jack Kelly's final and greatest house is one of the best houses ever. Innovative graphics, adventure, action; this house has it all. Try it, you won't be disappointed!

Ensemble


Authors: Jacob Pierce, Jay Howell and Clark Kennedy
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: "This house was so good that it defines perfection!" -Devon LePage, betatester

Freeflight 2


Author: Alex Diener
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Alex Diener's Freeflight series has 3 houses, but I think #2 was the best. The first one was very simple and too small, while #3 was too hard and too big... Anyway, the main idea in the house is to survive without any vents, with just helium or occasionally batteries. Creative.

House at Macworld PRO


Authors: Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn, Ward Hartenstein, Terry Higgins, Shawn Brenneman and Steve Sullivan
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: This house was created at Macworld 1995 in Boston. Since so many people collaborated to the creation process, it has many different styled areas. As a special treat, there're some photos, too!

ImagineHouse PRO


Author: Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: One of the oldest good houses, ImagineHouse is a Grand Classic featuring among other things The Atrium, The Ductworks and the hidden Dark House Of Bonuses...
The Part II on the Glider PRO CD isn't in fact a sequel; it's just an upgraded version of the house, with graphics and some sections added or modified. Anyway, I like the original one better. Make sure to check out why everyone loves the houses of Paul Finn... his long-time Glider experience and talent do show.

Jindor


Author: Noah Beamer
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Jindor is a tough house, slightly messy too, but in an unique, wacky way. Lots of windows everywhere, and nowhere to hide from those enemies.. Can you beat it? (Don't ask what the name means, though.)

Kirby's Country


Author: Jacob Pierce
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Kirby's Country is a very big house, about the same size as Slumberland. There's plenty to be seen and found... The slightly monotonic usage of custom backgrounds annnoys me a bit, but hey, many houses have bigger flaws. Has several different colored sections; one of them plays through automatically, a lá AutoPilot. Cool.

Land of Illusion


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Actually, the illusions in Land of Illusion include vanishing objects and M.C. Escher-inspired backgrounds only. Besides that, the house is structured of four sub-scenarios, everyone featuring different graphics. There's a land of complete darkness, a land of not-so-complete darkness, a dollhouse and the Steam Baths. After all 4 areas are completed, you can access the Final Illusion... Ward Hartenstein strikes again!

Leviathan


Author: Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Like you might have already guessed, this house is gigantic. According to to the documentation, this is probably the earliest Glider PRO house - not by release date, but by creation date. This house is also referred to as an "older sibling" of ImagineHouse PRO, and the description is indeed very accurate.

Lizard Labyrinth


Author: "Sgwigly"
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Whomever this house is from, he sure knows how to do it well. This compact, imaginative house builds upon the theme of lizards. Different kinds of lizards do different things, but they usually are enemies. Plenty of action, which sadly gets cut short...

Madhouse II


Author: Nathan Aldermann
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Nathan Aldermann has actually published a Glider humour column, and that can easily be seen in his houses. Madhouse II is, to put it simply, mad. There are secrets everywhere... Very rewarding. See if you can find the Bleak House II!

Metropolis


Authors: Jonathan Chin alias Paul Finn and john calhoun
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: The Metropolis is yet another house by Paul Finn and john calhoun. This time it's a skyscraper full of challenge. You can visit lobbies, offices, an emergency stairway and an underground parking lot. A rather nice house in an urban mood.

MorningHouse


Author: Nathan Aldermann
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: MorningHouse is a very beautiful house, but essentially it still has the same unique sense of humour as in the Madhouse series; it indeed originally was a part of Madhouse PRO, a spiffed-up version of the first Madhouse with new sections. This time around, there're some further additions as well. And secrets are again everywhere...

On The Road


Author: Gary Zimmer alias GliderZero
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: On The Road is one of the most succesful complete remakes of Glider PRO. Here, you are driving along streets, dodging obstacles, using Helium to maneuver around. This task requires quicker reflexes than the normal Glider playing, but once you get a hold of the pace, you're seemingly never getting enough.

Paper Palace


Author: Gary Zimmer alias GliderZero
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Most of GliderZero's houses have had loads of nifty art, and this is no exception - except that this one is not an exotic faraway place, it's just a normal house instead. Endless switch detours are the bulk of the house, but the main highlight is the Glider PRO trivia section - with a difference...

Paul's Groovy House


Author: Paul McGrane
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Paul McGrane has only released one full-sized house, but it's a great one indeed. This house is apparently very groovy; lava lamps, underground bunkers and all other kinds of trippy stuff. This also is probably the biggest single-building house out there.

Rainbow's End


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Rainbow's End is a very romantic house, and a personal favourite of mine. Multiple pathways make this the ideal exploration house. Special areas are this time a towering jungle gym and a greenhouse; other artwork includes balconies, a new roof type, and rainbow coloured goodies...

Sahara Desert


Author: Gary Zimmer alias GliderZero
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Another completely abnormal house. Here, the theme is a desert (gee..) with several puzzling pyramids, oasises, palm trees & the like. Indoors, about everything is papyrus-coloured, including the Glider. Try this if you want something fresh, but not as radical as On The Road.

SeaCaves


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Actually, this is a whole new game, not just a Glider house. Ward Hartenstein's final masterpiece comes with a patch for Glider to change the music, the sounds, the look of the enemies, and about everything into underwater thingies. Prepare to save the Magic Starfish with your glider! Explore underwater caves full of eg. sea urchins and sharks, and have fun in the Dolphin Zone!

Sky Links


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: There are not many (if any?) people who haven't liked Sky Links. This time, you're heading to an aerial golf course... Besides the game, there's the Clubhouse where you can meet some interesting people. Extremely amusing!

SpacePods


Author: Ward Hartenstein
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: SpacePods is not a house, it's a space station structured of various sized pods connected with tubes. These form a large maze where you have to find the Control Rooms and find out the correct switches to get the star. Quirky alien objects are constructed out of the everyday Glider objects, which makes the house look somewhat surreal...

Spot's Palace


Author: Aaron Shakra
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: The first Spot's Palace still has some problems, background conflicts for example, but that doesn't reduce the gameplay value. One of the best combinations of exploration and straight action. The theme in the house is cats; pictures of cute or not-so-cute kitties are found in abundance.

Spot's Palace 2: The Final Venture


Author: Aaron Shakra
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: The Final Venture is quite similar to the 1st Spot's Palace in terms of structure, but this one is much better-looking... Several bonus areas have been tossed in, and both the rooms themselves and the overall structure have been constructed very skillfully. This house is a must!

The Asylum


Author: Steve Sullivan
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: If you enjoy mazes and solving mysteries, The Asylum is the house for you. You first have to locate one thing to get at another and keep going on similarily to get at the lone star. Movement is not restricted by much, so it's usually just a question of finding the place you're looking for. And, as the name says, this is yet another of these "crazy" houses - in fact, I think it's the very first one of them. The PROed version on the CD has some extra graphics, but they seem a little randomly placed. Also, the great loony intro sequence is missing! Like with ImagineHouse PRO, I enjoy the original one more.

The Color Purple


Author: Aaron Shakra
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Aaron Shakra has made a series of small houses, and this is the best of them. Being only 9 rooms small though, The Color Purple will leave you craving for more. However, it's not as quickie as you might think...

The Pyramid


Author: Matthew Hershberger alias Zuul
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Zuul specializes in making tough-as-nails houses that are crammed full of all sorts of imaginative artwork. This one is sort of an exception, as it gets only three stars on the difficulty scale. This pyramid was built nearly simultaneously with Sahara Desert, but different authors lead to different pyramids. Here, you simply plow on forwards, level by level, towards the very top. Lots of Egyptian graphics, like mummies, hieroglyphics, murals with those animal-headed gods...

The Skyscraper


Authors: Clark Kennedy and Orion Trist
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: There are many tower houses around, but unlike many, this is 3 rooms (not just 1) wide. You start unsurprizingly from the bottom, and are assigned to get at the top. Even though this is a rather tall tower, you'll want more afterwards...

Themulad


Author: Travis Scholtens
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Themulad (The Multifarious Adventure) is not among my personal favourites, but so many people like it that I list it here anyway. This house is very varying; the best excursion is when you get to fly in a real jet plane...

The Word Thing


Author: "Glider-X"
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Now, this is a strange concept: this house is shaped like the word GLIDER. You start from the G and are supposed to travel all the way to the lower-right of R. The passageways are filled with mainly shelves, and enemies are crowding in from every niche. Making it to the end of L is already a survival test. Try this, if you need a challenge.

Wolfe Tower II


Author: Matt Wolfe
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: The Wolfe Tower Series has 4 houses in total. #2 actually consticts of 3 towers, and all of them are different. You have to go up and down and up and down and... And while you're at it, you're sure to be kept amused - there's all sorts of entertainment, like jokes, funny sound effects, and of course stuff to do. Remember to be careful...

Wolfe Tower III


Author: Matt Wolfe
Size:      
Difficulty:
Aesthetity:
Comments: Wolfe Tower III is another of these helium-only houses. You have to be sparing, because you're going up all the time. Dodging enemies, going through detours and maneuvering around cabinets and shelves will surely keep you busy. Can you make it to the top?



Still didn't get enough?


There's a simple way to tell the good and the bad houses apart; just sort the house list by Author and check out any works of anyone who has made more than just 1 house. This works about 90% of the time...
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