Dagger Climb

Dagger Climb is a free one-tap climbing game you can play in your browser with no download. A tall tree trunk turns against a bright sky, a striped ball bounces at its foot and a dagger waits at the side of the screen. Tap anywhere, click or press Space and the dagger flies into the bark right under the ball. The ball lands on the handle and bounces up again, and the next dagger you throw becomes the next step. Climb to the top of the trunk to clear the level.

Timing is the whole game. Tap when the ball is at the very top of its bounce and the dagger lands as high as it can, which gives you the biggest step. Tap a little later and the step is smaller. Tap too early, while the ball is still rising, and the turning trunk carries the dagger away before the ball comes down, so the ball misses it and drops. Old daggers turn away in the same way, so every bounce needs a fresh one. The dagger in your hand glows red when it would not stick right now. When a throw misses you get another dagger while the ball is falling and can still catch it lower down, but if the ball drops about three steps below your last dagger the try is over.

Checkpoints at 25, 50 and 75 percent are marked on the climb bar at the top of the screen. Fall and you try again from the last checkpoint you passed. Your first three minutes are practice: a long fall is caught by a safety dagger and thorns only graze the ball, so you can learn the rhythm in peace.

The trunk changes as you climb, always with the same single tap. Gold rings come first: stick daggers inside the rings without missing one and your combo grows, and at four in a row the ball catches fire and burns through the next thorns. Iron plates cover part of the bark and daggers bounce off them, so you wait until bare wood faces you. Then the trunk speeds up and starts turning back the other way. Purple thorns grow out of the bark and pop the ball if it touches them, so you stay low with late taps while they pass and climb once they have turned away. Mushroom caps let you skip a tap: drop the ball on one and it flies up much higher. In the storm the trunk stops and lurches, and dew drops give you a shield that saves you from one thorn or one long fall. The crown, level 60, mixes everything on the tallest trunk, and after it the climb goes on with endless trunks.

Each trunk is built from short set pieces: a ladder of rings, a plate with a ring waiting just above it, a ring tucked under a thorn that tempts you to climb too soon. Every fifth level from level 10 is a hard trunk, marked HARD at the top of the screen, with tougher pieces, more thorns and bonus coins, and the level after it is a calmer breather.

Each level gives up to three stars: one for reaching the top, one for sticking daggers in most of the gold rings and one for a clean climb with no rescues. Every level pays coins, more for stars and points, and a failed try pays a few. Spend them in the Armory on eight daggers, from Steel and Kunai to Cleaver and Royal, and eight balls such as Beach, Melon and Galaxy. Up to level 28, a new dagger also unlocks for free every four levels. After a cleared level you can watch a short ad to double the coins, and after a fall you can watch one to carry on from your last dagger instead of the checkpoint. A daily reward adds coins when you come back, your cleared levels count on the weekly board, and all your progress is saved in your browser.