How to play
GRAPPLE GOBLIN is a one-button swinging game. A small green goblin swings through caves on a grappling hook, and all you decide is when to hold and when to let go. Hold the mouse button, Space, or a finger anywhere on the screen, and the hook fires at the best anchor ahead of you and above you. A dotted circle marks that anchor before you press. If nothing is in reach when you hold, the hook misses and then grabs the moment an anchor comes into range.
Once the hook catches, you swing on a real rope like a pendulum. Let go and the goblin flies off with all the speed the swing gave him. While you swing, a line of faint dots shows where a release right now would send you. Let go on the way up and you sail far; on the way down, you drop.
On the ground the goblin runs right by himself. He will not run off a ledge or into floor spikes on his own: he stops at the edge, wobbles and shouts HOLD! until you press. If you wait four seconds he walks on anyway.
Spikes, pits, lava and bats all knock you out. You pop back at the last checkpoint flag. Cracked anchors and mine carts reset, but any gold you already picked up stays yours. Each cave ends at a treasure chest.
Tips and strategy
- Aim for PERFECT. Let go while you are swinging upwards and the rope is leaning forward, about 35 to 70 degrees from straight down. The preview dots turn gold when a release would count. A PERFECT release flings you 10 per cent faster and pulls in nearby coins for a moment.
- Gold follows the good lines. Coins are laid out along the arcs of a clean swing and the peaks of a good fling. Missing coins usually means a release that was too early or too late.
- Cracked anchors give you one swing. They are orange with cracks in them and show a shrinking countdown ring while you hang on them. They hold for about one and a third seconds and break as soon as you let go, so commit to the release.
- Respect the gusts. In the Frozen Grotto, icy wind blows you backwards for a second and a quarter out of every three. A big GUST! arrow warns you a full second before. Fling in the calm.
- Bats patrol the gaps. They glow red and you can hear their wings. The first bat in each cave flies low, under the swing line, so a high fling clears it.
- Look for the twinkle. Every cave hides one big gem behind dark rocks in the foreground. Either it sits high near the ceiling, which needs a big upward fling, or low over the pit, which means diving down and hooking back out. A twinkle peeks out from the rocks every four seconds or so.
What's in it
Twenty hand-built caves in four places, five caves each: the Mossy Cave, the Crystal Cavern, the Lava Mine and the Frozen Grotto, ending at the Goblin King's Hoard. Each cave has three stars to win: reach the chest, collect 70 per cent of its gold, and find the hidden big gem. Your best time is kept for every cave, and finishing one unlocks the next.
Each place brings its own tricks. The Mossy Cave adds crumbling anchors, spikes, bats and bouncy mushrooms that hop you along. The Crystal Cavern has anchors that slide on rails, sideways or up and down, spikes hanging from the ceiling and updraft columns that lift you over long gaps. The Lava Mine has mine-cart tracks: land on one and a cart scoops you up, races to the bumper at the end and launches you into the air. The Frozen Grotto adds slippery ice and the gusts, then mixes in everything else.
Deep Dive is the endless mode. The cave is built as you go, gets harder as you go deeper and changes scenery every seven sections. You have one life, and your score is how many metres you made it. Your best depth is shown on the title screen.
Questions
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. It was made for one thumb. Hold anywhere on the screen to hook and lift your finger to fling. Held upright, a large HOLD pad sits at the bottom for your thumb, though the whole screen still works. It plays sideways too.
Which keys can I use?
Any of Space, Enter, the up arrow, W, Z, X or J works as the hold button, as does the mouse. R restarts the cave and Esc or P pauses. Switching tabs pauses it too.
How do I get the second star?
Pick up at least 70 per cent of the gold in the cave before you reach the chest. The results card shows how many you needed, and gold picked up before a fall still counts.
Can I go back for a star I missed?
Yes. Any cave you have opened can be replayed from the Caves screen, and stars you have already won are kept, so you can return just for the big gem.
Does it save?
Yes, in your own browser: your stars, best times, best gold, which caves are open, your deepest Deep Dive and whether music and sound are on. Clearing your browser's site data clears the save.