Spider Swing

Spider Swing is a one-touch physics game set in a cosy Halloween attic. Hold the button and your spider shoots a thread of silk at the nearest glowing anchor, swings down under it and up the other side; let go at the right moment and it sails through the air towards the next one. Time the release well and you fly further and faster, scooping up the wrapped sweets, candy corn and lollipops strung along the way. Touch the dusty floorboards and nothing worse happens than a bump: the spider climbs back up to the last web hammock and tries again.

There are forty levels, and they grow slowly from a few easy swings under the rafters into long runs past stacks of crates, suitcases strapped to the beams and paper lanterns swaying on their chains. Each one is a quick run of a minute or less that ends in a giant web beside a pumpkin pail full of candy, with up to three stars: one for reaching the web, one for collecting most of the candy and one for beating the par time. Friendly ghosts say boo and float away, bats flutter off the rafters and a little skeleton dances on the result card.

The endless attic keeps going for as long as your three spools of silk hold out, with a high score that counts the distance and the candy, and a new layout every day, seeded by the date. It is easy to pick up and relaxing to play, the difficulty rises gently and nothing is ever lost but a spool. Hold the mouse button, Space or a finger on the screen to swing; press P to pause and M to mute.