Free platformer games

What are platform games

In a platform game you run, jump and climb your way across a level built from ledges, gaps and moving parts. The fun is in the movement itself: judging a jump, catching a wall on the way down, landing on the one safe spot and feeling the controls do exactly what you meant. Each level is a route to learn, and the second try is always a little smoother than the first.

The platform games on Kiloo are hand-built rather than random, apart from the endless runs, and most of them are forgiving in the same small ways. Jumps are as tall as you hold them, a jump pressed a moment late off a ledge or a moment early before landing still counts, and many of them place checkpoint flags or lanterns along the way. On top of that each game has its own idea, from a sticky jelly to a room whose gravity you turn upside down, and its own things to collect, such as hidden gems, feathers or a jewel on every floor.

Platform games to start with

For a gentle start, Sky Islands lets Pip wander three large hand-painted islands with a glider cape, hunting for thirty feathers on each and lighting lanterns as checkpoints. Hop & Bop is a bright mascot platformer where Bop bounces off enemies for a rising combo, spins his tail to crack gem blocks and pounds the ground to smash crates. Frog Prince is a short swamp outing over twelve levels: charge a hop, then flick your tongue at brass rings and swing across the water.

If you want a different feel, Jelly Jump has a soft raspberry jelly that squashes, springs and clings to walls and ceilings across eighteen kitchen rooms. Moon Bounce gives you long, floaty low-gravity jumps and a small jet boost, with an oxygen bar to keep topped up from star crystals. Robo Rescue is the thinking one: twenty-four single-screen lab rooms where you flip gravity, push crates onto plates and wake the robot's friends from their glass pods.

For precision and speed, Pixel Knight is a 16-bit castle climb with wall-jumps, a three-hit sword combo and bosses across three zones. Ninja Rooftops is thirty short courses across a neon city, timed against a par with medals to win. Shadow Vault is a stealth platformer about a cat burglar who must stay out of the light, and Lava Leap is a one-tap runner where Marsh the marshmallow keeps going over the lava for as long as you can last.

Controls, devices and tips for platform games

On a keyboard, the arrow keys or WASD move in every platform game here, and Space jumps in almost all of them. The action key changes with the game: X, J or K slashes in Pixel Knight and spins in Hop & Bop, Shift dashes in Sky Islands and Ninja Rooftops, and F or Shift flips gravity in Robo Rescue. Frog Prince aims its tongue with the mouse. P pauses and M mutes, and in most of the games R restarts the stage or room straight away.

All ten games also work on phones and tablets with on-screen buttons. Most give you a pad to move and a button to jump, plus a third for the special move. Jelly Jump lets you hold and drag to aim, and Lava Leap needs only taps, with a swipe down to stomp through a crumbling bridge.

The main tip is to use the forgiving parts of the controls. Hold the jump for height and tap it for a short hop, and do not be afraid to restart a room, because they are short. In the timed games, Ninja Rooftops shows a ghost of your best run to race, and Pixel Knight keeps your best times on your device. If a room in Robo Rescue has you stuck, it offers a gentle hint.

Frequently asked questions