How to Play Stick Hook
Stick Hook is a physics swinging game. Your stickman grapples onto hooks suspended above an endless course, swings on the rope like a pendulum, and launches off when you let go. Below is a floor of spikes. Land on it and the run ends immediately.
There is one input and two decisions: when to grab, and when to release. Everything about how far you travel comes out of those two moments.
Controls
Hold to attach to the nearest hook. Release to let go and fly. On desktop, hold the mouse button or the space bar; on mobile, press and hold the screen.
The physics you are actually playing
Once you attach, you are a pendulum. Your speed is lowest at the top of the arc and highest at the bottom, because that is where all your height has converted into motion. Your release point determines which direction that speed points.
- Release at the bottom of the swing and your momentum is almost entirely horizontal — maximum distance, minimum height.
- Release past the bottom, on the way up, and you trade distance for height. Useful when the next hook is above you.
- Release before the bottom and you throw yourself downward, which is almost always a mistake.
Nearly every "I don't know why that went badly" moment in this game is an early release.
Build the swing before you leave
New players grab a hook and let go almost immediately, which produces a weak, short hop. The pendulum needs time to work: if you attach while moving slowly or at an awkward angle, hold on through a full swing so gravity can build your speed, then release at the bottom of the arc with real momentum behind you.
Patience costs a second and roughly doubles your range.
Grab late, not early
The mirror image of releasing too early is grabbing too early. The moment you attach, the rope constrains your motion — any speed that was not pointing along the swing arc is lost. If you grab a hook the instant it comes into range, while you are still travelling upward past it, you throw away most of your momentum and immediately drop.
Wait until you are level with or slightly past the hook, so the attachment converts your existing motion into swing rather than cancelling it.
Plan two hooks ahead
Because release angle determines whether you get distance or height, you need to know what you are aiming for before you swing. Look ahead while you are still on the rope. If the next hook is low and far, you want a flat release at the bottom of the arc. If it is high and close, you want to hold slightly longer and go up.
Players who only look at the hook they are currently on end up correctly executing swings towards the wrong target.
When things go wrong
If you have released badly and you are dropping towards the spikes, grab anything you can reach, even at a terrible angle. A clumsy low swing that saves you is infinitely better than a clean arc into the floor. Recovery swings look ugly and keep runs alive.
Why swing games feel good
Grappling mechanics have a particular satisfaction because they reward smoothness rather than speed. A great run in Stick Hook looks effortless and continuous — each release flowing into the next grab with no wasted motion. That flow is the actual skill, and it is why a good run feels less like reacting and more like riding something.
Plays on any device
Stick Hook runs in your browser with HTML5 on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. Nothing to install, no account, and your furthest run is stored locally.
