What kind of game is Girder Climber?
It is a classic arcade platformer: climb the slanted red girders of a night construction site ladder by ladder, jump over the barrels rolling down from above, and grab the key hanging at the top to finish the stage. It plays like the old barrel throwing arcade classic, but every girder, barrel, worker and robot is drawn and voiced in code.
A broken crane robot stands at the top and keeps rolling barrels. Each barrel rolls toward the low end of its girder, drops to the floor below and sometimes takes a ladder down. The worker walks a little faster than a barrel and jumps a little higher than his own height, so the core skill is timing the jump as a barrel passes under your feet. Every barrel you clear is worth 100 points.
How do the stages change?
Four stages cycle in order: girders, conveyor, elevator and rivets. After all four, you return to the girders with barrels and fireballs 12% faster. Each stage has its own hazards and its own route.
| Stage | What comes at you | The route | How it ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Girders | Wooden barrels, every fourth one a blue steel barrel | Six slanted girders and ten ladders, five of them broken | Climb the top ladder and take the key |
| 2 Conveyor | Cement pans riding the belts, two fireballs from the oil drums | Three belt floors that reverse every few seconds | The center ladder leads to the key |
| 3 Elevator | Springs bouncing along the top and dropping on the right, two fireballs | One elevator going up, one going down | The long ladder on the far right reaches the key |
| 4 Rivets | Three fireballs | Four girders split in the middle | Step on all eight rivets and the top collapses |
A steel barrel that reaches the oil drum at the bottom turns into a fireball that climbs the ladders, so a blue barrel means the stage is about to get busier. Fireballs on the same floor as the worker tend to turn toward him.
How is the score counted?
You score for jumping, hammering, pulling rivets, and whatever is left on the bonus clock when you finish a stage is added straight to your score. The bonus starts at 5,000, drops by 100 every 2.2 seconds, and if it hits 0 you lose a life to the time limit.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Jump over a barrel, cement pan or fireball | 100 |
| Smash a wooden barrel, pan or spring with the hammer | 300 |
| Smash a steel barrel or fireball with the hammer | 500 |
| Step on a rivet | 100 |
| Pull all eight rivets and bring the top down | 1,000 plus the remaining bonus |
| Grab the key | The remaining bonus |
The starting bonus rises by 1,000 each loop up to 8,000. Climbing fast pays, but a safe barrel jump is 100 points, so clearing a few barrels calmly beats rushing and falling.
How does the hammer work?
A hammer floats above a girder. Jump into it from below and for 8 seconds the worker swings it, and any barrel, fireball, pan or spring that meets the hammer head is destroyed. While holding it you cannot jump or climb.
- It swings forward and overhead in turn. Rolling barrels get hit on the forward swing, barrels dropping from above on the overhead swing. Step back a pace or two to match the rhythm.
- The yellow bar at the top shows the time left. Be standing at a ladder when it runs out so you can keep climbing right away.
- Fireballs can only be removed with the hammer. At 500 points each, a hammer taken while a fireball shares your floor is the most valuable one.
What is different about broken ladders?
A broken ladder has no upper half, so you can only climb partway and never reach the floor above. It still works as a shelter: hang in the middle while a barrel rolls past.
Barrels take broken and whole ladders alike, and the lower you are under a ladder, the more likely a barrel is to come down it. Before climbing, check whether a barrel on the floor above is heading for the ladder top, and climb right after one passes. Whole ladders can be climbed down from the top; broken ones cannot.
When do I lose a life?
Touching a barrel, cement pan or spring, touching a fireball, falling more than a floor and a half, or letting the bonus clock reach 0 costs a life. You have three, and after losing one the same stage restarts with the hazards cleared.
- Dropping one floor is safe. One girder of height is fine, but jumping and falling two floors is a fatal fall.
- Watch the top of the up elevator. Its platforms vanish at the top, so step off onto a shelf before that.
- Barrels hit you on ladders too. If one is coming down your ladder, move aside or climb all the way down.
Tips for a high score
- Wait until the barrel is close, then jump. Jump when it is about one body length away and it passes under you for 100 points. Jump too early and it arrives where you land.
- Do not stand under a ladder. Whether a barrel takes a ladder depends on whether you are below it.
- Read the belt direction on the conveyor. Walking with the belt is twice as fast, walking against it gets you nowhere. The small arrow under each belt shows its current direction.
- On the elevator, take one step when a platform is at foot level. Stand at the edge of the platform early and walk off the moment your floor arrives.
- On the rivet stage, clear the left side going up, jump the center gap, then come down the right side. The gap in the middle can be cleared with a running jump.
- When the bonus drops below 1,000 the box flashes red. Forget the points and head straight for the key.
Controls
- Keyboard: arrows or WASD to walk, up or down at a ladder to climb. Space, Enter or X to jump. You cannot change direction mid jump.
- Phone and tablet: push the round joystick at the bottom left to walk, push up or down to use ladders, and tap the yellow button at the bottom right to jump.
- Mouse: hold the button down and the worker walks toward the pointer; hold above or below him to climb. A short click is a jump.
Your best score and sound setting stay in this browser and are never sent to a server. The demo running behind the title screen does not count toward your score.