Rock, Paper, Shotgun

You Can’t Parkour Here: Canabalt

By Kieron Gillen on September 1st, 2009 at 1:00 pm.

I was going to do a RUN, forrest, RUN gag, but I think we've already done that one.

Late last night, Comrade Ariana forwarded me the webgame joy of Canabalt at me. It’s a one-button velocity-based randomly-generating oddly-atmospheric parkour webgame and is – as another friend puts it – probably what Mirror’s Edge should have been like. I got 2900-odd last night, but my skills seems to have atrophied overnight. I also recommend turning down the sound to the bare minimum (“-” reduces it) and play it to the sound of Music Go Music’s Warm In the Shadows (Youtube link or Spotify one), as it’s leisurely propulsiveness – and sheer length – seemed to compliment the game elegantly. No, really.

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83 Comments »

  1. 01/09/2009 at 13:05 Ian says:

    1256 is my best so far. Good fun, that.

  2. 01/09/2009 at 13:09 678 says:

    Does it have an ending ?

  3. 01/09/2009 at 13:16 Mike says:

    Look, screw you guys and your Mirror’s Edge digs.

  4. 01/09/2009 at 13:19 k0ster says:

    2923 ^^
    awesome music ;]

  5. 01/09/2009 at 13:20 Mike says:

    Alright, so that’s quite good. I like the fact it’s randomised too.

  6. 01/09/2009 at 13:23 ChaosSmurf says:

    Got like 3k last night, will play again. Super awesome, personally I love the music.

  7. 01/09/2009 at 13:34 sset says:

    Nice game. I like that the guy is wearing a tuxedo for whatever reason.

  8. 01/09/2009 at 13:41 gulag says:

    Cheers KG! Stumbled over this yesterday, but couldn’t remember what it was called when I got home from work. Still trying to master the tricky roof-top to window jumps. 1947 so far.

  9. 01/09/2009 at 13:46 Toby says:

    Just got 4056, but got the feeling it was definitely an easier course than several previous ones… nature of the procedural generation eh.

    Its nice; I like the robot things (?) stomping around in the background.

  10. 01/09/2009 at 13:56 Dead Fish says:

    I like it. A lot of times my score depends on when the first window is going to appear, though, which happened shortly after 4100 last time.

  11. 01/09/2009 at 14:01 Hmm-Hmm. says:

    Cooool. 2725, so far. Must try again.

  12. 01/09/2009 at 14:05 JB says:

    Just did 3054 on my third run, I think my eyeballs might be bleeding now though. Good work Toby & Dead Fish, I tip my hat to you sirs.

  13. 01/09/2009 at 14:09 Sp4rkR4t says:

    That is freaking superb, 2604 is my best so far.

  14. 01/09/2009 at 14:26 Naurgul says:

    Great game. Good visuals, good music. Good gameplay too, really give a sense of speed. There are, however two problems with it: 1 – Sometimes the algorithm makes a jump impossibly hard and 2 – I totally suck at this game. >.>

  15. 01/09/2009 at 14:36 Hmm-Hmm. says:

    5000! Whoo.

  16. 01/09/2009 at 14:41 Schmung says:

    The screen shake is a bit much (on my terribad work monitor at any rate) but it’s jolly fun. 27ish is about my best. It’s the window jumps that tend to do me in – I always end up splatting into the wall just above them.

  17. 01/09/2009 at 14:43 El Stevo says:

    After a string of sub-1000 scores I managed to run 3565m.

  18. 01/09/2009 at 14:45 skizelo says:

    Problem with the procedural generation is that it occasionally throws impossible combos at you. And often those bleeding office windows. Things are friggin’ impossible. Good thing it’s so easy to restart.
    Just got to 4K, before falling to my first window.

  19. 01/09/2009 at 14:48 Tweedo says:

    i havent even tried the game yet but thats some spooky music, strangely moorish though.

  20. 01/09/2009 at 14:49 Helm says:

    Adam Atomic makes great small games like this, check out his other stuff too. I liked this one in particular too, very good visuals, music, and the gameplay although simple in concept takes some getting used to to get good. I did 3 kilometers or so.

  21. 01/09/2009 at 14:52 Persus-9 says:

    The ingame music is ok but I like Kieron’s alternative sound track better.

    3784 is my best so far. It seems rather odd that running smack into the side of the air conditioning units and office furnature rather than jumping over makes the game a lot easier. That’s one mechanic I won’t be trying out in real life.

  22. 01/09/2009 at 15:03 Orange Required says:

    Okay:

    1) Learning to control your speed through the crates and so on is invaluable. The jumps do mostly adjust to your speed off-screen but hitting two obstacles in quick succession will probably leave you jumping into a wall.

    2) I’ve not reached an end yet, but there is an ominous… new element in the background after you reach about 5000. I do wonder if there are some more interesting bits further on. I’ve only gotten to 7000 so far.

    3) Wowser is this game atmospheric. An indie 2d post-apocalyptic freerunning platformer? Delightful!

  23. 01/09/2009 at 15:04 Orange Required says:

    Oh, and:

    4) Don’t always jump into windows. There are some you can just run off the edge of a building and down into them. Jumping at these ones will kill you every time.

  24. 01/09/2009 at 15:17 army of none says:

    This game is actually really amazing for a single-button-jumper! The whole idea and atmosphere is superb! :D Quite a pleasant surprise!

  25. 01/09/2009 at 15:26 castle says:

    speaking of appropriate music, how bout the chromatics’ cover of “running up that hill”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUQaocQCMTs

  26. 01/09/2009 at 15:41 Tom says:

    He’s a fast runner though, doing 100 meters in about 5 seconds

  27. 01/09/2009 at 15:57 Orange Required says:

    Tom: Making a guy running a kilometre in about 30 seconds look even vaguely believable is probably this game’s biggest achievement.

  28. 01/09/2009 at 16:00 Buemba says:

    Wow, amazing little time waster. Would be cool to have a PSP or iPhone version to take with me.

  29. 01/09/2009 at 16:13 Xercies says:

    This kind of reminds me of The matrix really, but those damn windows are hard. Always get spllatered in the wall. And the precedral generation can either make it easy or bloody difficult.

    Good game though quite addicting.

  30. 01/09/2009 at 16:18 Zyrxil says:

    The problem with the game is that you -have- to run into boxes occasionally to slow yourself down or else it just becomes impossible. Having to “fail” to win is just bad design.

  31. 01/09/2009 at 16:20 FernandoDANTE says:

    I find it nauseating.

  32. 01/09/2009 at 16:30 Lucas says:

    Screen shaking is very abusive to players and is probably one of the most badly overused effects for this reason.

  33. 01/09/2009 at 16:41 Orange Required says:

    Zyrxil: Why is it a “fail”? It’s a way of controlling your speed that requires strategy, having to pick and choose when to avoid the obstacles and when to actively hunt for them. I’m pretty sure it was a deliberate design decision.

    I think you’re just conditioned by other games to think of the obstacles as a bad thing to be avoided.

  34. 01/09/2009 at 16:44 Orange Required says:

    Oh, and windows get easier with time. You learn when to leap and when to just do a tiny hop. And when to just run straight off the edge.

  35. 01/09/2009 at 16:47 Smee says:

    Obstacles that slam down without warning into your path while you’re moving at light speed are: cheap.

  36. 01/09/2009 at 16:50 PleasingFungus says:

    1851. Man, that’s brilliant. I can’t stop!

  37. 01/09/2009 at 16:51 Taillefer says:

    I got around 4500 to the sound of “Jumping Someone Else’s Train”, which made me think that jumping down onto a moving train which is travelling in the opposite direction to you would make a nice little sequence.

  38. 01/09/2009 at 16:54 Kitt Basch says:

    I managed 1200m before my brain started to force its way out of my skull through my eye balls.

  39. 01/09/2009 at 16:59 Mythar says:

    The Only problem I have with this game are the low hanging rooms. it is almost impossible to hit jump early enough to not hit the wall above it.

  40. 01/09/2009 at 16:59 Mythar says:

    The Only problem I have with this game are the low hanging rooms. it is almost impossible to hit jump early enough to not hit the wall above it.

    Also about 2.3k

  41. 01/09/2009 at 17:00 Orange Required says:

    Smee: Slow down! You move too fast.

    You’ve got to make the moment last.

  42. 01/09/2009 at 17:03 Adventurous Putty says:

    Mirror’s Edge was excellent and I hate you.

  43. 01/09/2009 at 17:05 Tyler says:

    For some reason I can only ever jump once in this game.

  44. 01/09/2009 at 17:15 Rakysh says:

    Love this. So many questions inherent. Where is he running to? Maybe the countryside, away from his boring job and the oppressive city? (I don’t know why, I just assume the building you start in is his office.) Just away from the giant robots which keep throwing bombs at him? Why is he wearing a tux?

  45. 01/09/2009 at 17:18 Pantsman says:

    Mirror’s Edge was almost exactly what it ought to have been.

    Also, this is splendid.

  46. 01/09/2009 at 17:20 Orange Required says:

    Okay, yeah, the UFO appears at about 3,200 meters, and I can get it about half-way across the background before I quite reliably fuck up.

    There better be something beyond that, by gum.

  47. 01/09/2009 at 17:21 Jon says:

    This is great. Can’t help but think that Mirror’s Edge would have struggled a little as a one-button minigame, though,

  48. 01/09/2009 at 17:33 Adam Atomic says:

    Obviously I’m a little biased toward Danny’s original track for the game, but Warm in the Shadows is a ridiculously good alternate track! Nice call Kieron :D

  49. 01/09/2009 at 17:55 Pags says:

    Like some mad, beautiful amalgamation of Spelunky and Hunted Forever. For whatever reason, I do better at it listening to forgotten ’90s emo gems Meadowlark than anything more ambient. Hm.

  50. 01/09/2009 at 18:27 Kieron Gillen says:

    Adam: Danny’s track is splendid. It was merely an odd moment of Midnight hour synchronicity I thought I’d mention. :)

    KG

  51. 01/09/2009 at 18:56 army of none says:

    I’ve found that Jem’s “24″ works quite well! Also, does anyone know what the console is for/does?

  52. 01/09/2009 at 19:49 Baris says:

    Damn, the amount of applause at the end of that song was ridiculous for how great it was, please tell me I missed something.

  53. 01/09/2009 at 20:27 fishyjoes says:

    Thanks for the music recommendation! Now you guys not only provide pc gaming greatness but music as well.

    Moar plz! :D

  54. 01/09/2009 at 21:23 Weylund says:

    2925. Good stuff.

  55. 01/09/2009 at 22:09 moyogo says:

    They’ve really achieved a lot with so little.

    Also – 3189 :)

  56. 01/09/2009 at 22:11 Andy says:

    That is way more entertaining than it has any right being. Just over 3.5k is my top.

  57. 01/09/2009 at 22:18 moyogo says:

    9058 – sorry won’t post again, kind of a zen moment though

  58. 01/09/2009 at 22:29 Adam Atomic says:

    BTW there is a MEGA build for those of you with HDTVs or bigass monitors: http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/mega/ Hopefully results in less squinting!

  59. 01/09/2009 at 22:57 Jeremy says:

    moyogo: aww, and here I was going to brag about getting 8300-something. Was the saucer still on screen for your score? It was still on the left side for mine. I kind of wonder what will happen after the 10 km. mark, but I don’t think that I’ll get that lucky.

  60. 01/09/2009 at 23:10 Thants says:

    Maybe it’s just me, but I find the camera position in this annoying. The runner feels like he’s squished up in the top-left of the frame. It makes me feel claustrophobic.

  61. 01/09/2009 at 23:15 Jeremy says:

    Pardon the (potential) double post, but if the developer is lurking about…

    Adam Atomic: Once, one of those detestable buildings that you have to run through spawned far too low to reach. I ran off the edge without jumping, and still hit the wall above the window. It may have been possible to reach it if I timed a jump to barely miss the edge of the first building, but I don’t know if the downwards acceleration would have been good enough. I think this occurred because I hit a crate shortly before the window-building appeared on-screen, and was already moving pretty slowly at the time. It only happened once from what I’ve seen, though.

  62. 01/09/2009 at 23:32 Jon says:

    Fantastically simple game, two problems, those bloody windows and the camera shake.

  63. 01/09/2009 at 23:35 Yougiedeggs says:

    The music you suggested got me my high score of 3649.

    Thank you RPS!

  64. 01/09/2009 at 23:44 Berzee says:

    Adam Atomic! That pixel-arty guy!

  65. 01/09/2009 at 23:45 Penguin says:

    10512 – I was so interested what will happen in the background that didn’t make it on one of the easiest gaps.

    Two conclusions:
    1) saucer disappears scrolling out of the screen, but I haven’t notice anything new (robots came back on the right)

    2) if you are not too fast, you seems to be not getting windows unless I was so lucky (didn’t get any, died on the normal gap, didn’t have enough speed).

    Anyways, brilliant game, now you know my nerd side :X

  66. 01/09/2009 at 23:59 IAT says:

    I got up to 8629, but only because no office buildings spawned.

    Except at the end, when I jumped into the wall trying to get inside.

  67. 02/09/2009 at 00:05 Krondonian says:

    8500 for me, but no spaceships.

    Excellent game.

  68. 02/09/2009 at 00:25 Railick says:

    This game is making me so angry I just punched a co-worker :P

  69. 02/09/2009 at 00:47 caesarbear says:

    I hate, hate jumping games. This one’s deserves props for being original, but it still sucks as a game, imo.

  70. 02/09/2009 at 02:48 Berzee says:

    I got 3350 after some time, and after discovering how much better it is to alternate X and C for jumps, when you need to be bouncy.

    My brother played for 2 minutes and broke 4500 by Hitting Every Single Obstacle Possible — which technique he now lauds.

  71. 02/09/2009 at 03:20 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:

    I went through running and when I got lucky on one run long enough to see the Spaceship (lasted a good 5000m thanks to an abundance of singular AC units spread out across every other building), I wondered if it was possible to actually beat the game. But no, judging from the comments it’s not.

    It probably would’ve been quite frustrating if Kieron didn’t link to that song. But he did, and that made playing hypnotic.

    Though I stopped and gave up for good when the video ended.

  72. 02/09/2009 at 08:14 Dave L. says:

    4282 while listening to the opener of Storm off Lift Yr Skinny Fists. Haven’t tried with Warm in the Shadows yet.

  73. 02/09/2009 at 10:18 Devenger says:

    12357m. Sadly too focused on maining a slow-medium speed with boxes to see much in the background, except the odd robot. The game is very good… the drama of running very, very quickly is great, but that isn’t actually the best way to play.

  74. 02/09/2009 at 10:42 Dood says:

    Yay, 12544m. But I was hoping to see something else after the saucer-thingie. But then one of those windows got me. Damn you windows!

  75. 02/09/2009 at 15:52 Supraliminal says:

    Fabulous gameplay and neat sorto’steampunk artstyle.

    Gaining speed and doing ninja like jumps is so addictive.

  76. 02/09/2009 at 19:53 Adam Atomic says:

    If any of you are interested, we added the option to donate as little as $1 from the Game Over screen (very fast, like two clicks and a paypal password):

    http://adamatomic.com/canabalt/SCIENCE.png

    Once you donate you can download a 5-minute version of the Canabalt theme as well as a couple of HD wallpapers.

    If you guys are into that stuff anyways…this is kind of an experiment, so any feedback (“F that I want my dollar back!!!1″) would be valuable, thanks!

  77. 03/09/2009 at 09:08 Max says:

    I just donated. The theme song is easily worth $1.

  78. 03/09/2009 at 15:11 Barts says:

    Crap, I might need to resurrect my PayPal account…

  79. 04/09/2009 at 03:50 drygear says:

    Good game. LOVE Warm in the Shadows. Thanks for the music recommendation.

  80. 05/09/2009 at 14:38 A-Scale says:

    YES!
    4949 gentlemen. I’ll take my award later.

    This game is pure genius.

  81. 05/09/2009 at 14:39 A-Scale says:

    PS: I also just donated. Don’t steal my credit card. And for the love of God make more games and get them noticed on RPS.

  82. 06/09/2009 at 00:41 Fede says:

    Agree with Max, did the same :)
    Really nice game, Adam, thanks a lot.

  83. 06/09/2009 at 00:56 Kua says:

    Bloomin marvellous.

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