Swing Monkey: a game that is entirely about when you let go
Swing Monkey gives you exactly one thing to decide: how long to hold. Hold the button and the monkey throws a rope at the nearest hanger and starts to swing; release and he lets go with whatever speed and direction the swing had at that instant. Everything else, the arc, the momentum and the landing, is physics. The course scrolls sideways through a flat-shaded jungle with a level bar at the top of the screen, grey hangers hanging in the air, orange platforms to land on and a finish line at the end. Fall off the bottom and the level restarts from the beginning.
The build on swingmonkey.org is the 2021 HTML5 version by MarketJS, served from this domain so it loads with the page. It is a portrait game made for a phone held upright, which is why the play area here is tall rather than wide; on a desktop it plays fine with the mouse (the keyboard is not used). Levels are numbered and keep going: the first two are short, then every few levels the course gets longer, so a level 20 run is three times the length of a level 1 run and asks for a clean chain of a dozen swings in a row.
Controls & mechanics
| Action | Control | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Hook and swing | Hold left mouse button or touch | Ropes the nearest hanger (green ring) and keeps swinging while held |
| Let go | Release | Flies with the swing's speed and direction at the moment of release |
| Pause and settings | Pause button (top right) | Music and sound sliders, restart the level, back to the menu |
Getting further in Swing Monkey
- Release on the way up, not at the bottom: The bottom of the swing is the fastest point but it throws the monkey straight ahead and down. Let go a little after the bottom, while he is rising, and the arc carries him up to the next hanger instead of under it.
- Hook early on a long drop: Once the monkey is falling, a hanger high above him gives a long rope and a slow swing. Hold as soon as the green ring appears rather than waiting for a closer hanger that may never come.
- Use the trampolines to reset a bad flight: The orange jump platforms bounce him back up with useful height. If a release goes wrong and a trampoline is below, let him fall on to it instead of grabbing at a hanger behind you.
Key features
- One button, real physics: Hold to hook, release to fly. The rope length, swing speed and release angle are all in your hands, and nothing else is.
- Courses that keep growing: Levels 1 and 2 are a few swings long; by level 20 the map is three times longer, and it keeps stepping up every few levels after that.
- Loads with the page: A 4 MB HTML5 build served from this domain, no plugin, no account, and it runs on a phone as well as a laptop.
Game info
- Title: Swing Monkey
- Developer: MarketJS
- Category: Swing and Rope Games
- Platform: Web browser (HTML5)
- Levels: Numbered and ongoing; each course longer than the last
Pro tip: The nearest hanger is chosen for you, and it is measured from where the monkey is right now, not where he is going. If you want the hanger further ahead, wait a fraction of a second after the green ring appears on the wrong one; as he flies forward the ring jumps to the next hanger and you can hold on to that instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is Swing Monkey?
A one-button rope-swinging game by MarketJS. Hold to hook the nearest hanger, swing, and release to fly through jungle courses that end at a finish line. Levels are numbered and the courses get longer as you go.
What are the controls?
One input: hold the left mouse button or a finger on the screen to swing, release to let go; the keyboard does nothing. The pause button in the corner opens the settings with music and sound sliders.
Is it free and does it need a download?
Yes and no. Swing Monkey is served from swingmonkey.org as an HTML5 game, so it loads in the page with no download, no account and no plugin.
Why is the game tall and narrow?
It was made as a portrait mobile game, so the play area is taller than it is wide. On a phone hold the device upright; on a desktop the frame simply shows the same tall course with room on either side.
Does my progress save?
The level counter is stored in your browser, so coming back on the same device picks up where you left off. Clearing site data resets it to level 1.
