Night
Skate

Night Skate (2022) is a one-button skating and jumping game where you play a skateboarder endlessly trundling and tricking their way through the world at night. You use a single button to jump, float and land. In this way you can build up combos and tricks to score points and unlock new visuals, music and levels.

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It's simple to control but complex to master. You press and hold a button to jump, release it to land or tap it for a quick jump. However, there's more nuance here than first appears. While a tap offers a floaty jump that takes a while to land, holding and then releasing brings you down to the ground quicker. This, combined with the complex and changing elements you can use for tricks makes it an evolving challenge.

There's a real sense of joy when you sting together a series of tricks. But equally, a bit of pain if you hit something wrong and lose points from your total. As you play you get visual feedback on what has worked and what hasn't which lets you learn as you go. Until you fall down a hole and have to start again.

The result is a retro Game-Boy-looking game with simple controls and moreish gameplay. It's a beautifully balanced skateboarding endless runner where you build combos, grind logs, and hang out with seagulls and unlock a mixtape full of chill music.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Night Skate 2 years ago.