Scroll Adventure is an original browser platformer. You run a hooded runner left to right through levels far longer than the screen, and the part you cannot see is where the difficulty lives. Hold one direction and the runner shifts into a running gear on his own; the jump's initial speed rises with whatever speed he already has, so how far you jump is decided by how long you ran, not by the jump key. Along the way there are gaps, three kinds of creature, and bricks you can knock open from underneath. A marked brick gives up a shard or a power core; a core makes the runner a tile taller, and the next hit takes that away instead of a life. Falling in a gap, or being hit while small, costs a life and sends you back to the last checkpoint you passed — not to the start of the level. Three levels cleared, or three lives spent, ends the run.

The screen keeps rolling right, there are square blocks under your feet, and the row of bricks overhead opens from below. This is the kind of game passed around a controller at a friend's house: no saves, no tutorial, just one life at a time and the memory of where the gap is and where something jumps out. The moment it clicks is not learning to jump — it is noticing that running first lands you somewhere you could not reach before.

Browse all 平台跳跃 games →

【机】 Living-room console · 1985–1997 →

1. 01

   Tap the play area to begin. On a phone hold the direction track along the bottom — right half to go forward, left half to back up, the middle to stand still. On a computer use the arrow keys or A and D.

2. 02

   Press the big key on the right to jump, and hold it longer to jump higher. On a computer, space, the up arrow and W all take the same path.

3. 03

   Hold one direction without letting go and the runner shifts into the running gear. The second cell in the top bar lights up when he does, and three after-images trail behind him; let go or switch direction and he drops back to a walk on the spot.

4. 04

   Back up before a wide gap and take a run at it. A gap you cannot clear from a walk you can clear at a run — this is the one thing in the game worth practising.

5. 05

   Knock the bricks overhead from below. A marked brick gives up a shard or a power core; a core makes you a tile taller, and being hit then costs you the extra height instead of a life.

6. 06

   Escape or P pauses at any time, and the pause panel carries three lines of instruction. The sound and reduce-flashing switches in the top bar are one press away in every state.

Run first, jump second: the jump's speed comes from the speed you already have, so the useful thing to do in front of a wide gap is to back up and build speed, not to stand on the lip trying again. A wall keeps your speed, letting go loses it: being blocked by a wall does not reset the gear timer, but releasing the direction — or switching it — drops you straight back to a walk and clears the timer, so never let go halfway through a run-up. Chain the stomps: stomps inside one jump double each time and reset on landing, so two creatures close together are worth taking in one go. Do not probe the spiker: it has no angle you can land on, any contact counts as a hit, and its saw-toothed outline tells you which one it is from across the screen. A core is a spare mistake: while tall, a hit only shrinks you, so a marked brick is worth a short detour. Checkpoints are visible: the progress rail in the top bar fills as you advance and lights up each checkpoint you pass, and a death costs you at most 48 tiles, so once you are past one you can afford to experiment. Catch the mast high: the higher you catch it the more it is worth, and the top band needs a running jump to reach.

How do you play a side-scrolling platform game on a phone and on a computer?

In Scroll Adventure you run right, jump the gaps, deal with whatever is in the way and catch the mast at the end of the level. On a phone the direction track along the bottom handles forward and back and the big key on the right jumps, held longer for more height. On a computer the arrow keys or A and D move, space, the up arrow or W jump, and Escape or P pauses. The track and the jump key can be held at once, so running and jumping together feels the same on touch as it does on a keyboard.

Why can't I clear the gap in this platform game?

Because you are walking. Scroll Adventure ties the jump's initial speed to your current speed: hold one direction and the runner shifts into a running gear, and a gap you cannot clear from a walk you can clear at a run. Standing on the lip and trying again will not work — back up and take a run at it. The gear cell in the top bar lights up once you are there.

Does dying send you back to the start of the level?

No. Scroll Adventure places checkpoints along each level, and losing a life returns you to the last one you passed rather than to the beginning — at most 48 tiles back. The progress rail in the top bar draws how far into the level you are and lights up each checkpoint as you pass it, so how far a mistake will cost you is readable before you make it. The shards you already picked up in that level come back too, so you can collect them again.

What do you do about an enemy you cannot jump on?

Scroll Adventure has three creatures. The first two can be stomped from above. The third has a spiked back, so landing on it hurts you exactly as walking into it would, and the answer is to go round or over. Its saw-toothed outline is different from the other two at a glance, so there is nothing to test — see the teeth, jump it.

How many levels does it have and how long is a run?

Three levels. Catching the mast on the third one clears the game; there is no fourth level and no endless mode. They run 160, 200 and 240 tiles long with target times of 60, 70 and 78 seconds — the levels get longer while the time per tile gets tighter, so a full time bonus is harder each level, and the three creatures arrive one per level. The target is only the bonus baseline: there is no countdown, being slow loses nothing, and a run is built to stay under four minutes.

How do you score well in a run-and-jump game like this?

Five sources, all countable. Each shard is 50. A stomp starts at 100 and doubles inside one jump to 200, 400 and 800, resetting to 100 when you land. The mast pays by height across five bands, 200 at the lowest and 1000 at the top. Every 1 second faster than the level's target adds 20, and clearing the last level adds 200 for each life still in hand. Being slow costs nothing, and a life is worth 200 at the summary — the same as 10 seconds of time — so dying less beats rushing.

What were those games called where the screen keeps scrolling right, and can I still play one?

The generic name is side-scrolling platform: the view follows the character to the right while you jump gaps, stomp creatures, knock bricks open and catch a mast to finish. Scroll Adventure is an original browser version of that loop. Progress stays in this browser, the whole run comes from one seed, and the copy button in the summary hands someone else the exact same run.

What comes out of the bricks in a platform game, and what does growing taller do?

Shards and power cores, and a core is the only way to grow. A tile taller, the next hit only shrinks you back instead of costing a life — one spare mistake. Scroll Adventure has two kinds of brick overhead: a plain one only shakes when you hit it from below, while a marked one gives up a shard or a core the first time and nothing on the second hit, so a marked brick is worth a short detour. Cores come from marked bricks only and never sit on the ground; if there is no headroom when one pops out you still take it, and the change waits for the first open stretch you walk into.