Rage Climbing Games

How it works

A rage climbing game is a long climb up one tall wall, with one control that takes real skill to master. You might swing, grab, hop or vault, but you are always going up, and there is nothing to stop gravity when you get it wrong. A miss is not a lost life. It is a fall, and you lose every metre between where you were and wherever you land.

That is where the name comes from. A good climb can be undone in two seconds, and the frustration is part of the fun. So is the payoff: a section that took twenty tries the first time takes two minutes once you know it, and getting past the spot that kept dropping you feels better than almost anything else in a game.

What makes a good one

• One control you learn in seconds and keep improving at for hours.
• Honest physics. The same move should always do the same thing, so every fall is yours to fix.
• A clear view of what is grippable and what is not, before you commit.
• Falls that cost something real, but a limit on how far, so one slip never wipes out an evening.
• New surfaces or hazards as you climb, so the wall keeps asking new questions.
• An instant restart, and a short mode for when you only have a few minutes.

Strategies that help

Climb slowly. Most falls come from rushing a shot you have made before. Take a breath before the hard move.

Learn the safe route first. The far hold that saves three moves is tempting, but a reliable route gets you higher on average.

Use the momentum. A swing or a bounce carries you further at the right moment. Let go at the top of an arc, not the bottom.

Treat checkpoints as goals. If the game has them, reach the next one, then think about the one after.

Our take

Our rage climbing game is Lickety Climb. You are Tad, a tree frog who climbs by shooting his sticky tongue: drag to aim, let go to shoot, swing and let go to fly. Moss, wet holds, glass and pegs each have their own rule, a Camp at the top of every Reach limits how far you can fall, and a three-minute Daily Climb is the same for everyone. For more games built on timing and quick retries, see our arcade games.