How to play Tidehook

A visual guide · Make your first clean release

Your goal

Swing up. Stay above the tide.

Climb an endless sea chimney by hooking anchors and letting go to fly. The tide rises in real time once you start. Keep moving upward, one swing at a time.

Simplified teaching diagrams, showing the rope, climber with a lantern, and water below.

01Hold to start and swing

Hold Space, or press and hold the game area with your mouse or finger. Your first hold starts the run on the opening ring. Keep holding to build your swing automatically.

Enter, ↑ and W also work. Release every held key and finger to let go. There is no aiming or dragging.

02Release, then catch the next anchor

1. Let go on the upswing

Release while moving upward and sideways with speed. Letting go too early loses height; waiting too long can carry you into a wall.

2. Hold again while flying

A dotted line marks the automatic target. Holding catches it when it is in reach. If none is ready, keep holding and the game will try again as you move.

A clean release needs enough speed as well as direction. Early in the climb, aim for a flight direction roughly 20 to 65 degrees from straight up. This is your movement direction, not the rope angle. The window narrows higher up.

Holding early usually gives a longer, gentler rope. Catching later gives a shorter, faster swing.
Missed a ring? Hold as you fall below an available anchor to catch it again. A ring you just released has a brief catch cooldown.

03Know what you are hooking

Four shapes, four behaviours

These simplified symbols follow the game’s anchor silhouettes. Snags split when spent; a kelp loop’s countdown arc shrinks before it tears. Lamp chains move, so watch the hook before catching.

A dotted target line marks a possible catch. A crossed coral line means a rock shelf blocks the rope.
Kelp regrows after tearing, but each new hang starts its timer again.
Drifting mist shows the draught. It bends your swing as you climb.

04Read your height, score and chain

Height · m

Your best height this run, in metres.

Score

New height plus clean release, skip and skim points.

Chain · ×2

Two clean releases in a row. The next clean release grows the chain.

New best height adds 10 points per metre. Climbing back over height already reached does not score it again.
A clean release earns 25 × your chain: the first gives 25, the second 50. The chain tops out at ×12, worth 300 per clean release.
A nonclean release or snapped rope resets the chain. Points already earned stay yours.
Skipping an anchor earns 75 points per anchor passed between the one you left and the one you catch. A grab with the tide less than 6 metres below your centre earns a 100 point skim.

05Recover and keep climbing

Walls and shelves slow you down, but do not end the run. Catch another anchor and rebuild your swing.
A rope crossing a rock shelf snaps. Look for an open route before swinging past an edge.
The tide follows your best height and keeps rising. Hanging still cannot keep you safe forever.
The climb continues without a final level, adding fragile anchors, moving hooks, shelves and stronger draughts.
The run ends when the tide reaches you. To stop earlier, tap End Run twice within two seconds. Escape also arms and confirms it during play. Either ending keeps the score you earned.

Opening this Visual Guide freezes the climb and tide. Close it to continue, then hold again to catch or keep swinging.

Play Tidehook