A free platformer game online
Toybox Jump is a platformer game you can play online for free, right in your browser. You are not a hero with a cape but a little stack of yellow toy bricks with a big smile, and your job is to get from the start of each level to the glowing door. Every level fits on one screen, so you can see the whole puzzle before you move. Fall into the spikes and you are back at the start in half a second, ready for the next try.
What makes it different from other jumping games is that your body is your toolbox. Each brick in your stack can be put down as a block: a step to climb, a second jump in mid-air or a lid over a row of spikes. You can also tip the whole stack over to lie flat and slide through a low gap. Use a brick and you get shorter; touch a loose brick and you grow again. So every level is a little puzzle about where to spend your bricks, as well as a test of your jumps.
What is a platformer game?
A platformer, or platform game, is a game where you move a character across ledges, gaps and obstacles mainly by running and jumping. The genre began with the arcade and home console games of the early 1980s and grew into side-scrolling adventures, and later into short "jump and run" challenge games where every room is a little test. Toybox Jump belongs to that last kind, with a building twist: small rooms, no lives to lose, a quick restart, and bricks you place yourself.
How to play
- Run: left and right. You speed up quickly and stop quickly, so small steps are easy.
- Jump: every jump is a full jump of about three blocks high and five across, however briefly you press the button.
- Put a brick down: your bottom brick becomes a solid block under you. On the ground it is a step. In the air you jump off it again at once, so a spare brick is a second jump. Just above spikes it covers them.
- Tip over: fall flat the way you are facing to fit under low walls or reach across a small hole. Tip again to stand up. You can only tip with your feet on the ground.
- Grow: touch a loose, glowing brick to add it to your stack (up to four bricks).
- Reach the door: touch the glowing door to finish the level and unlock the next one. Each level also hides one optional star.
- Try again: if you touch spikes, a spinning top or fall off the screen, the level restarts at once. Press R any time to restart yourself.
Controls
- Keyboard: your left hand runs and your right hand acts. A and D to run; J to jump, K to put a brick down, L to tip over. With the arrow keys, use Z, X and C instead. Space also jumps. R restarts the level, P or Esc pauses, Enter goes to the next level.
- Phone and tablet: the pad at the bottom left runs; on the right, the big ▲ button jumps, the ▣ button puts a brick down and the ⟲ button tips you over. Turn your phone sideways to see the whole level at once.
- Gamepad: the left stick or d-pad runs, A or B jumps, X or d-pad down puts a brick down, Y or a shoulder button tips over, Start pauses.
Three worlds
World 1: Playroom (levels 1 to 10)
Toy bricks on a sunny bedroom floor. One idea per level: jumping off a brick in mid-air, building a stairway out of your own stack, covering spikes, picking up loose bricks, tipping over to fit through a low gap and lying flat as a bridge, then moving platforms and springs.
World 2: Toy Castle (levels 11 to 20)
Stone-grey building blocks and paper clouds. Cross cookie blocks that crumble a moment after you land, jump up through thin ledges, fetch a golden key to open the lock blocks in front of the door, hop over spinning tops, slide under the castle gate, ride the drawbridge and bounce up a spring tower.
World 3: Night Shelf (levels 21 to 30)
A moonlit toy shelf. Red and blue blocks swap places every time you jump, including when you jump off a brick, so you count your jumps before you take them. Lifts rise and sink, spinning tops circle in the dark, and shaking blocks fall from the shelf when you pass underneath, then stay where they land as steps you can climb.
Like the toy world? The same toy blocks star in Toybox Bomber, a maze game where you blast your way to a hidden door, and in Toybox Bomber Battle, where you take on the computer or a friend.
Tips for the harder levels
- Look first. Every level is one screen: count how many bricks you have (shown at the top) and where the loose ones are before you start.
- Jump first, then put the brick down near the top of the jump. Early or late both work, but at the top you get the most height.
- Keep a brick for later. The star often costs a brick, so check that you can still reach the door without it, or that a loose brick waits on the way.
- Wait on safe ground. Moving platforms and spinning tops come back round; a gap that is closed now will be open in a moment.
- On the red and blue levels, the colour you land on is the opposite of the one you jump from.
- Crumbling blocks give you less than half a second. Land, then go.
Frequently asked questions
Is this platformer game free?
Yes. Toybox Jump is free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no account.
What is a platformer game?
A platformer, or platform game, is a game where you move a character across ledges, gaps and obstacles mainly by running and jumping. The challenge is timing and control: judging how far and how high you can jump, and when to do it.
How do the bricks work?
You are a stack of up to four toy bricks. Press K (or X) to put your bottom brick down as a solid block. On the ground it becomes a step; in the air you jump off it straight away, so every spare brick is one more jump; just above spikes it covers them so you can walk across. Touch a loose brick to add it back to your stack.
What does tipping over do?
Press L (or C) on the ground and your stack falls flat the way you are facing. Lying down you are low enough to squeeze through gaps under walls and long enough to bridge small holes in the floor. Press it again to stand back up.
Can I play it on my phone?
Yes. On a touch screen, buttons appear at the bottom: the pad on the left runs left and right, and on the right the big button jumps, the square puts a brick down and the round arrow tips you over. Turning the phone sideways shows the whole level at once.
Is it hard?
It starts gently. Every jump is a full jump however briefly you press the button, the first levels teach one idea at a time, and a mistake only sends you back to the start of a one-screen level. Every level is checked by a computer solver, including with a weaker, slower hero, so no jump needs pixel-perfect timing.
What are the stars for?
Every level hides one star. You do not need it to finish, but reaching it often costs a brick you would rather keep. Your stars are shown on the level map, so you can come back for the ones you missed.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes. Unlocked levels, stars, best times and deaths are saved in this browser. Press Play to carry on from the first level you have not cleared, or pick any unlocked level from the level map.
Can I speedrun it?
Yes. The clock shows the time of your current try, your best time for every level is saved, and the level map adds them up into a total. A restart with R is instant, so you can retry a level as often as you like.