Vex 1

Vex 1 is where the stickman platformer series started, and the design that made it work is already fully formed here. It runs in the browser — no download, no account, no install.

The controls are the arrow keys and nothing else. Running, jumping, sliding and swimming all come out of four directions, which means the game never has to teach you a move — it only has to teach you where the traps are. Levels are ten short rooms, each one a compact arrangement of spike pits, swinging blades, crumbling platforms and water, and each one killing you at least once before you understand it.

What keeps that from being frustrating is how cheap failure is. Checkpoints are frequent, respawns are instant, and a level takes under a minute when you know it, so the ratio of learning to dying is good. Ten levels is a short campaign by any measure, and it plays more like a set of puzzles you solve with your hands than a game you grind through.

It is a keyboard game by design, and the touch controls are a fair substitute on a phone.

On cool games spot this page is the index entry: cover, description, and search terms. The game itself is loaded from AntGames' web build in an iframe on Play, so nothing is bundled into the site. It is filed under action and tagged stickman, so it appears alongside the rest of the stickman games in the catalog.

Press Play and find out.