Platform Games

Platform games are about jumping, dodging and making your way through levels full of gaps, enemies and obstacles. There are more than 1,000 here, from Mario stages to games where the goal is to climb as high as you can, and all of them open in your browser with nothing to download.

How they work

The setup is almost always the same: get from point A to point B without falling or touching anything that hurts. What changes is what's in the way. In some games you can stomp on enemies, in others there are only traps, and in a few the floor disappears behind you so the only way is up. You move with the arrow keys or WASD and jump with another key. Each game shows its controls before you start.

What you'll find

• Mario in plenty of versions: Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario 63, Super Mario Crossover, Super Mario World 3D or Super Mario Stack Jump.
• Platformers with familiar characters, like Sponge Bob Patty Panic or Luigi Mansion.
• Endless climbing, like Icy Tower or Infinite Stairs Online, where the challenge is getting a little higher every run.
• Trap levels, like Level Devil, where the trick is to distrust everything that looks safe.
• Two-character games, like Fireboy and Watergirl, where each one has their own door and their own dangers.

Where to start

If you want something familiar, try Super Mario Bros 3 or Super Mario Crossover. For a slower game with no rush, Fireboy and Watergirl is a good pick, because it's about working out the route, not about quick reflexes. Level Devil is for people with patience: you'll die several times in the same spot before you learn where the trap is. And if you like chasing a high score, try Icy Tower.

Tips from a lot of jumping

Judge the distance before you jump. A jump that's a bit short or a bit long ends more runs than anything else. Before you take a risk, let the character slow down, or take a second to see what's on the other side. In two-character games, work out what each one needs before you move either. And if one section keeps beating you, don't repeat it in a hurry: there's almost always a rhythm of jumps that works, and you find it by watching, not by hammering the keys.