Free jumping games

What makes a good jumping game

In a jumping game the jump is the whole game. When you take off, how long you hold, where you land and what you do in the air decide everything. Some games give you one tap and an endless course; others let you charge a hop, aim it, boost in mid-air or throw a trick at the top. The fun is in learning how a jump feels until you can land exactly where you meant to.

The games on this page span platformers, arcade, casual, sports, physics and music games. A few are endless and built for quick rounds and a high score, the rest are hand-made levels with stars or collectables to find. One of them, Bunny Hop, belongs to the Easter category and appears only while it is in season.

Jumping games to start with

The simplest are one-touch. Ink Hop sends Blot, a drop of ink, bouncing up an endless sketchbook page, and you only steer left and right as it lands on pen strokes and springs. Road Hopper is one tap, one hop, as a chunky hen crosses roads, railways and rivers. Lava Leap has Marsh the marshmallow running over lava: tap to jump, tap again for a double jump and swipe down to stomp through crumbling bridges. Beat Bounce is a rhythm platformer where every landing plays the next note of the song, and in the Easter season Bunny Hop clears hedges and sleeping hedgehogs on a spring meadow.

For level-based platforming, Hop & Bop has eighteen stages across three worlds, with bounce combos off enemies, a tail spin and a ground pound. Frog Prince charges each hop along a dotted arc and swings from brass rings by its tongue. Jelly Jump squashes a jelly flat and lets it spring, cling to walls and squeeze through cracks in eighteen kitchen rooms. Moon Bounce slows everything down: in low gravity each jump is a long arc, and a small jet boost nudges you in the air.

Two are sports. Ski Jump is about the take-off: hold the tuck, release at the edge of the table and lean for distance and the judges' marks. Trampoline Trick has you push off at the bottom of each bounce, throw tucks, pikes and twists at the top and land upright.

Timing, holding and landing

Most of these games jump with Space, W or the up arrow, and steer with the arrow keys or A and D. Holding often matters: hold for a higher hop in Bunny Hop and Lava Leap, hold Space to charge in Frog Prince and to squash in Jelly Jump, and hold for the full arc in Moon Bounce. Hop & Bop spins with X, J or K and pounds with Down, and Trampoline Trick throws tricks with the keys 1 to 6. P pauses and M mutes throughout.

All eleven games work on phones and tablets. One-tap games such as Road Hopper, Beat Bounce and Lava Leap are played by tapping anywhere, while Hop & Bop, Moon Bounce and Frog Prince use on-screen buttons. If taps in Beat Bounce feel late, use the calibration on its title screen. In Trampoline Trick, watch the timing ring on the mat: a perfect push-off sends you higher than an early one.

Frequently asked questions