No. It's an original homage inspired by the 1981 climbing classic, with its own ape, hero and art — nothing copyrighted is copied.

Can I play it myself?

Right now it runs in self-playing attract mode, like an arcade demo screen. A keyboard-playable mode may be added later.

Does it need a connection?

No. It's computed entirely on your device, so it runs fully offline.

Why does the hero sometimes get hit?

The self-play hop timing isn't perfect — just like a real player, it occasionally mistimes a barrel and starts the climb again.

Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

What is a kill screen?

It is a point at which a programming error makes a game impossible to continue. In the original girder-climber it happens on the first stage of level 22, where an error kills the hero after a few seconds.

What were the four stages of the original?

Sloped girders with barrels, conveyor belts with cement pans, elevators with bouncing springs, and a rivet stage in which removing eight rivets topples the ape.

Who designed the original game?

Shigeru Miyamoto, at Nintendo, was its director, designer and artist. This homage uses original artwork and a different name.

Barrel Jump Screensaver

Barrel Jump is a self-playing arcade screensaver inspired by the 1981 girder-climbing classic. An ape hurls barrels down slanted girders while a hero climbs ladders and hops them. It's a free, original homage, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Barrel Jump screensaver works

Barrel Jump is an original tribute to the barrel-throwing climbing classic — the ape, the hero and the art are all original.

A big ape at the top hurls barrels that roll and zigzag down the slanted girders.

The hero plays itself, climbing the ladders and timing parabolic hops to clear the barrels.

Reach the top by the damsel and the level resets one floor higher, just like the original's kill screen-bound climb.

The 1981 girder-climber and its four stages

The arcade game that inspired this screensaver was made by Nintendo and released in 1981, first in Japan in July and in North America that October. Shigeru Miyamoto was its director, designer and artist, in what is described as his debut as lead game designer. It was built to make use of unsold Radar Scope cabinets after that game failed. Its hero was occasionally called Jumpman, a character later renamed Mario.

The original has four stages that repeat in a cycle: sloped girders with barrels, five levels of conveyor belts carrying cement pans, elevators with bouncing springs, and finally a structure where eight rivets are removed. Barrel Jump borrows only the first idea, the slanted platforms, the rolling hazards and the ladders, and stages it with original art. What makes the genre work is timing: barrels follow readable paths, so a player, or this self-playing hero, can judge when to jump.

The original is also known for its kill screen, where a programming error makes a late level impossible to finish. That limit is why high-score chasing in the original ends abruptly rather than continuing forever.

A worked example

Barrels tumble down the salmon girders past a flickering oil-drum flame; the green-overalled hero scampers to a ladder, hops a barrel mid-roll, climbs to the next floor, and works its way up toward the damsel and the blinking heart.

Settings & tips

It runs in attract mode — the hero climbs and hops on its own.
Watch the timing of each hop as a barrel rolls underneath.
Barrels zigzag, dropping to the next girder at each end.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Donkey Kong?: No. It's an original homage inspired by the 1981 climbing classic, with its own ape, hero and art — nothing copyrighted is copied.
Can I play it myself?: Right now it runs in self-playing attract mode, like an arcade demo screen. A keyboard-playable mode may be added later.
Does it need a connection?: No. It's computed entirely on your device, so it runs fully offline.
Why does the hero sometimes get hit?: The self-play hop timing isn't perfect — just like a real player, it occasionally mistimes a barrel and starts the climb again.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
What is a kill screen?: It is a point at which a programming error makes a game impossible to continue. In the original girder-climber it happens on the first stage of level 22, where an error kills the hero after a few seconds.
What were the four stages of the original?: Sloped girders with barrels, conveyor belts with cement pans, elevators with bouncing springs, and a rivet stage in which removing eight rivets topples the ape.
Who designed the original game?: Shigeru Miyamoto, at Nintendo, was its director, designer and artist. This homage uses original artwork and a different name.

← All Arcade screensavers