Climbing to the top in Girder Climb, Games by Zaweba

Your lunchbox is at the top of a building site in Girder Climb, and a grumpy goat is guarding it, kicking barrels down the sloping girders at you. Getting there means climbing ladders, jumping barrels and boulders, and working through six screens before the bonus runs out. It's an 8-bit game in the 64K home computer style, on the Retro arcade shelf of Games by Zaweba.

Walking, climbing and jumping

Left and Right walk, Up and Down climb ladders, and Space or X jumps. That's all, and it's enough, because the game is about timing more than anything else.

Barrels, boulders and the hammer

Barrels and boulders come down the girders towards you. Jumping over one earns 100 points. There's also a hammer to grab, and with it you can smash them for more. The catch is that while you hold the hammer you can't climb or jump. So a hammer is great on a long stretch of girder with plenty coming at you, and a problem if you need to get up a ladder quickly.

Think about where you are before you grab one. If the ladder you need is close, the hammer can wait. If you're about to face a run of barrels along a girder, it can turn a dangerous stretch into a scoring one.

Ladders and long falls

Not every ladder is a way up. Broken ladders don't reach the top, so before you commit to one, check that it actually leads to the girder above. A long fall is fatal, so stepping off the end of a girder high up costs you a life. A short drop is one thing; a big one is another.

Climbing takes time, and while you're on a ladder you aren't jumping anything, so pick a moment when no barrel is about to come your way. Watching where the barrels are heading for a second before you start up a ladder saves a lot of lives.

Six screens and a bonus

There are six screens to beat, and you need to beat them all before the bonus runs out. That bonus is the reason not to dawdle, but rushing into a barrel is worse than a short wait, so the rhythm of the game is careful bursts: wait for a gap, move, wait again.

Each screen is worth looking at for a moment before you set off. Find the ladders that reach, notice where the hammer is, and plan a route that doesn't leave you on a ladder at the wrong time.

Getting the lunchbox back

Jump barrels for steady points, and use the hammer when the layout lets you. Esc pauses when you need a breather, F11 makes the building site fill the screen, and the title card and F1 have the controls. Games by Zaweba keeps your best score and plays on your PC, and shows how each game compares with your best when it ends.

If you like this kind of climbing game, Hen House on the same shelf has a similar mix of platforms and ladders, with eggs to gather instead of a lunchbox to reach. Both run offline with no account and no adverts, so the goat is always there to have another go at.

Check every ladder before you climb it, mind the long drops, and save the hammer for the stretches where you won't need to climb.