Hop Harbor

What is Hop Harbor?

Hop Harbor is an endless hopper. The world is a long strip of rows: sand, docks, boardwalks, crab paths and open water. You hop forward one row at a time, and your score is simply the furthest row you've reached. Behind you the tide is rising, and it gets faster the further you go.

Along the way you collect shells, and shells open Tide Chests that add new critters to your crew. It's free and plays in your browser on phone, tablet or computer with no download.

Controls on phone and computer

On a touch screen, tap to hop forward. Swipe left or right to sidestep, swipe up to hop forward, and swipe down to hop back a row. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys or W A S D. Space also hops forward.

If you press a direction while you're still in the air, the game remembers that one move and does it the moment you land. You can step back, but only up to seven rows behind your best.

The rows and what's on them

Riding on water

Logs, boats and turtles carry you sideways as they drift. If they carry you off the edge of the screen you're Swept away, so hop off before you get too close to the side. The screen edge glows red when you're in danger. Once you're past row 14, some turtles dive. A diving turtle sinks under you and you'll get a Splash unless you have a bubble.

Gulls

Gull rows start showing up after row 22. The gull squawks first, then about a second later it swoops straight along its row. If it catches you, that's a Gull grab.

The tide

The tide starts just behind you and creeps forward. Its speed goes up with your score until it maxes out a bit past row 140. It also never falls more than eight rows behind your best row, so you can't build a big lead and then rest. If the water reaches the row you're standing on, you're Washed up.

Shells, pearls and bubbles

• Shell: worth 1. You'll find them on land rows and sometimes riding on top of a log or boat.
• Pearl: worth 5 shells. These start appearing after row 12.
• Bubble: a shield that appears after row 15. It saves you from one hit, one Splash or one diving turtle, then pops. You get a short moment of safety right after it pops.

Modes

Play is the endless harbor, different every run, with your best posted to the leaderboard. Daily Tide is one course for everybody, built from the date and reset at midnight UTC. Play it on back to back days to build a streak.

Your crew

Shells you collect are saved. Every 30 shells opens a Tide Chest, which gives you a random new friend you don't have yet. Pick any critter you own from the Crew screen to play as them. They all play the same, so this is about style.

Tips for more rows

• Keep moving forward. The tide speeds up as your score climbs, but it can only catch you if you stall. A steady rhythm beats a perfect plan.
• Pause on safe rows, not in traffic. Sand and docks are where you stop and read the next few rows. Never wait on a crab path or a boardwalk.
• Use the input buffer. Because one move is remembered mid hop, you can tap twice quickly to clear a crab path and the boardwalk after it in one smooth motion.
• Ride upstream. On water, choose logs that carry you toward the middle of the screen. If a log is drifting you toward an edge, sidestep onto the next one or hop forward early.
• Boats are the safest ride. They're three squares long and never dive. Turtles past row 14 can sink under you, so don't stand on them longer than you need to.
• Listen for the gull. The squawk is your one second warning. If you hear it and you're on a gull row, hop forward or back right away.
• Grab a bubble when it's close. A bubble is a free mistake. It's worth a short detour, especially on long water stretches.
• Hunt pearls early. Pearls are worth five shells, so a couple of extra sidesteps for a pearl fills a Tide Chest much faster than plain shells.
• Step back when you need to. If a lane is jammed, hopping back a row is often safer than squeezing through. Just keep an eye on how close the tide is.

Questions