Crater Hopper
Play Crater Hopper free online. Fire the engine and tilt a small moon hopper down onto flat landing pads, landing gently and upright before the fuel runs out.
How to Play Crater Hopper
Your little hopper starts high above a cratered moon. Gravity pulls it down all the time. Fire the engine to slow your fall, and tilt the hopper to push it sideways, because the engine always pushes out of the bottom of the hopper, whichever way it is pointing.
Land on one of the flat pads. For a safe landing you need a slow fall, very little sideways drift and the hopper standing upright. Three meters at the top of the screen turn green when each of those is safe.
Each landing scores 100 points times the pad's number, plus up to 50 for a gentle touchdown. Small pads are worth three times as much as wide ones. A landing also tops your fuel back up a little and moves you on to the next crater, where the moon pulls a little harder.
Hit the ground too fast, tilted or off a pad and the hopper crashes. You have three hoppers. Running out of fuel means you can only fall, so plan your burns carefully.
Controls
Touch
- Use the on-screen buttons: the middle button fires the engine and the side buttons tilt.
Mouse
- Click and hold the on-screen buttons.
Keyboard
- Up, W or Space fires the engine. Left and Right, or A and D, tilt the hopper. P or Escape pauses, M mutes.
Tips and Tricks
- Short bursts of the engine save fuel. Holding it down all the way wastes most of your tank.
- Kill your sideways drift early, high above the pad, then straighten up for the final drop.
- Always level the hopper before touchdown. A slight tilt is fine, a big one is not.
- Wide pads are safer when fuel is low. Save the small, high-scoring pads for when the tank is full.
About the Game
Crater Hopper is a gentle physics game about thrust, tilt and patience. Every landing is a small puzzle: how to cancel your speed in both directions with as little fuel as possible.
It is drawn in glowing green lines on a black starry sky, like an old vector screen. Your best score is kept in this browser and can go on the Top 10 board.
Crater Hopper FAQ
What counts as a safe moon landing?
A slow fall, little sideways movement, the hopper close to upright, and both feet on a flat pad.
Why are some landing pads worth more?
Smaller pads are harder to hit, so they multiply the landing score by 2 or 3.
Do I get fuel back?
Yes. Every safe landing adds some fuel to the tank before the next crater.
How many hoppers do I get?
You start with three. A crash costs one, and the game ends when they are all gone.
