The Thursday Find - Jump or Stay

By , on December 15, 2016

Thursday, Thursday, gotta get down on Thursday. Everybody's looking forward to singing this song correctly on Friday. Anyway, it's time for another Thursday find, and I think we've got a pretty good one for you this week.

It's an auto-runner released on the same day as Super Mario Run. So either it's super smart or super not smart. Or maybe a mixture of the two, I don't really know it's hard to tell. All I know is that it's really quite good.

So strap yourself in, grab your favourite pair of mobile game playing glasses, and let's dive head first into another one of these.

Jump or Stay

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There's something about Jump or Stay that pushes you on to keep trying with it. It's a mixture of simplicity and challenge, a wonderful balance that makes every task it sets you feel like something you need to complete.

And I do mean need. The compulsion loop here is super tight, and since failure never feels unfair, the frustration you feel when you mess up is never directed at the game. Instead it's directed directly at your useless fingers.

You're a fish bowl wobbling along a series of platforms. There are pyramids in your way. These pyramids are one of two colours, as are the blocks that they're sitting on.

If a pyramid is on a block of the same colour then you need to jump over it. If it's on a block of a different colour then it's going to jump over you. And that's it.

Like I said, it's simple, but the brilliant design here makes the actual play anything but easy. You need to get your head into the right space and do your best to react in a super short space of time.

And that makes this a compelling and endearing little diversion. It's not the best looking game in the world, but when it plays this well it's sort of difficult to complain.