Skytuft
Bounce up an endless tower of ledges through four painted worlds. Steer, and never drop out of view.
A vertical platform jumper with its own hero and its own world. Tuft, a round little mountain critter in a teal scarf, bounces on its own every time it lands on a ledge; you steer left and right. Walk off one side of the tower and you come back in on the other. Plain ledges hold, moving ones glide, crumbling ones take one bounce, springy ones throw you high, and clouds let you jump up through them. Solid ledges bump your head from below. Drifting pests knock you down unless you land on them from above, some gaps can only be crossed from a spring, and a twin maple seed, the whirligig, lifts you straight up for a moment. The tower thins out as you climb and the world changes every 1,000 m: Mossroot Hollow, the Amber Canopy, the Cloud Shoals and the Starcrown. The view only ever rises; drop out of the bottom and the climb is over. Score: your best height in meters, plus 5 for every golden acorn. Easy, Medium and Hard towers, plus a Daily tower that is the same for everyone.
- Category
- Arcade
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Touch · Mouse · Keyboard
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How to play
Tuft bounces by itself whenever it lands on a ledge from above. Hold the left or the right half of the screen to steer that way, or drag a finger and Tuft follows it. On a keyboard: the left and right arrows (or A and D); Space or Enter starts. Walk off one edge and you come in on the other. Solid ledges stop you if you hit them from below, so go round them; clouds let you jump up through them and hold you from above. A crumbling ledge breaks after one bounce, a moving ledge glides from side to side, a springy ledge throws you about three times as high: some gaps can only be crossed that way. A pest drifting across knocks you down and leaves you dazed for a moment, unless you land on it from above, which pops it and bounces you on. The whirligig carries you straight up for about a second and a half, through ledges and pests. The view only goes up: if you fall out of the bottom of the screen, the climb is over. Score: your best height in meters plus 5 for every golden acorn. Every bounce onto a higher ledge plays a higher note; bounce on the same ledge, bump your head or get knocked and the scale starts again.
What is Skytuft?
Skytuft is a vertical platform jumper made for a phone held upright. Your hero bounces on its own every time it lands on a ledge, and all you do is steer left and right. The tower never ends, the ledges thin out as you go, and the view only ever moves up: drop out of the bottom and the climb is over. The skill lies in reading the ledges above you a bounce ahead and landing where the next bounce can take you.
The hero and the world are our own. Tuft is a round little mountain critter with rust-orange fur and a teal scarf, climbing a giant tree into the sky. The world changes every 1,000 m: Mossroot Hollow at dawn, the Amber Canopy in the afternoon, the Cloud Shoals at dusk and the Starcrown at night. After the Starcrown the four worlds come round again.
How to play Skytuft
- Steer. Hold the left or the right half of the screen to move that way. Or drag a finger and Tuft follows it. On a keyboard, use the left and right arrows (or A and D).
- Wrap around. Walk off one side of the tower and you come back in on the other. It is often the short way to the next ledge.
- Solid ledges and clouds. Land on any ledge from above and Tuft bounces. Solid ledges stop you if you hit them from below, so go round their ends; clouds let you jump up through them.
- Moving and crumbling ledges. Moving ledges glide from side to side, so aim for where they will be. Crumbling ledges break after one bounce.
- Springs. A springy ledge throws you about three times as high as a normal bounce. Some gaps in the tower can only be crossed from a spring, and a trail of acorns shows the way up.
- Pests. Beetles, burrs, little storm clouds and comet urchins drift across the tower. Touch one from the side or from below and it knocks you down, dazed for a moment. Land on one from above and it pops and bounces you on.
The whirligig and scoring
- The whirligig: a twin maple seed you grab on a ledge. It carries Tuft straight up for about a second and a half, through ledges and pests.
- Height: every meter of your best height scores 1.
- Golden acorns: each one scores 5.
- The rising scale: every bounce onto a higher ledge plays a higher note. Bounce on the same ledge again, bump your head or get knocked down and the scale starts over.
Tips and strategy
- Look up, not at Tuft. Choose the next ledge while you are still rising, then steer for it.
- Let go to stop. Tuft drifts a little after you let go, so release a moment before you are over the ledge.
- Mind the ceilings. Before you steer under a solid ledge, check that you can get round it on the way up.
- Watch the pests drift. They move steadily across the tower. Wait a bounce on a lower ledge, or come down on top of them.
- Leave crumbling ledges for when you need them. They hold only once, and the tower always offers a steady way up beside them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Skytuft free?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.
What changes between Easy, Medium and Hard?
The easy tower has wider ledges, more springs and fewer pests, which only show up higher. The medium tower is the standard one. The hard tower has narrower ledges set farther apart, more moving and crumbling ones, pests early on, and a harder knock when one hits you.
What is the Daily tower?
Every day everyone climbs the same medium tower, ledge for ledge and acorn for acorn, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
Is the tower random?
It is built from a seed, a stretch at a time, so every climb is different. Every gap on the way up is within reach of a bounce, or of a spring right below it.
Can I play on a phone held sideways or on a computer?
Yes. Sideways, the tower takes the full height of the screen with the score beside it; on a computer, steer with the arrow keys. Upright is the roomiest way to see the ledges ahead.
