Swoop-to-Nuts

January 3, 2006

Tags: action arcade flash free fusionarymedia game kidsafe macwinlinux sidescroller

By Jay | add to favorites | add to your website | add this!

Time to kick-off the new year with a new game, and I really think you're going to love this next one.

Swoop-to-Nuts is a side-scrolling action game in which you control a flying squirrel gathering nuts for the long cold winter.

Use the mouse for control: move the mouse to the right of the squirrel to dive and gain speed; move the mouse to the left of the squirrel to lift up in the air, though you will lose speed. And never touch the ground.

Gathering nuts earns both points and energy, and increases the combo multiplier. Miss but one nut in sequence, and the combo multiplier gets reset. You will need to maintain both enough energy and speed to keep flying. Stars can sometimes be caught up high in the sky for beau coup points, but pursuing them is risky and they provide no energy at all.

The seasons will change as you go, and with them so will the quantity of nuts available. Maintaining a large combo during the long winter months is necessary to make it through since nuts are few and far between.

Analysis: I enjoyed playing this game very much and couldn't put it down, quite frankly. I kept telling myself "Just one more time...", over and over again. I liked the simple controls and how easy it was to keep the squirrel flying via rhythmic cycles of lift and dive. The folks at Fusionary Media did a very good job with balancing the physics of this core gameplay mechanic enough to make the game a lot of fun to play. And while the result isn't quite the level of immersion I was hoping for, it does work quite well for the game they have created.

The graphics are simple and yet nicely detailed by the subtle changes they go through as the seasons change; the soundtrack is cheerful, without being annoyingly so, and fits the character of the game perfectly. The inclusion of stars for mega-points adds a bit of depth to the game play, a tempting carrot for those looking to climb the ladder of the high score list. Overall, a charming and delightful game. Click.

Thanks both to Tonypa and to Jay of Fusionary Media for the link. =)

Currently 5/5
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Rating: 5/5 (2 votes cast)

Comments (may contain spoilers)

Love the new layout :)

Posted by: dave | January 3, 2006 8:21 AM

I love these 'don't touch the ground' games; they're so addictive (especially Nanaca Crash. I spent weeks on that game!). x_X

The cut-out style of graphics are really nice looking. I have a feeling I'm going to be playing this game for a while...

Thanks Jay!

My score: 8070

Posted by: zetasextantis | January 3, 2006 8:28 AM

great addictive game, but only after I found it :) the links in the description go to some sort of imagehost. I think you should replace swoop-to-nuts with swooptonuts ;)

I hope you'll keep finding great games for us in the new year!

Posted by: Jaap | January 3, 2006 8:32 AM

Hmm, thanks Jaap. I've changed the links to what you suggested, I guess my browser was hiding the problem as the links were working just fine for me. Cheers!

Zeta - I managed to get on the high score list with just over 21,000, so you've got a ways to go to catch me. =)

Posted by: jay | January 3, 2006 8:42 AM

Great find! and I love the new layout.

Posted by: dannthemann | January 3, 2006 9:49 AM

Hi, all. Thanks for the nice write-up, Jay. I just want to say for the gamers out there - that this game has been pretty heavily tested and played, and it is very possible to get a 6-digit score. In fact we here in the office have our own high-scores board because we didn't want to scare any new players away with those intimidating scores. Have fun!

Posted by: ryan | January 3, 2006 10:23 AM

"reach for the stars"

Posted by: dannthemann | January 3, 2006 11:37 AM

Hey, Jay, I got 35 000! BTW I like the new style
I found that it helps to collect the stars in the beginning when there are a lot of nuts, and then just stick to nuts later.

Posted by: momentum | January 3, 2006 12:15 PM

Oh my gosh, I got into the top ten!

Allie: 60,470

I love how the squirrel looks like if it doesn't get the acorns it might just rip someones head off... oh the lovability of a squirrel.

Posted by: Allie | January 3, 2006 3:59 PM

Woot, #20 55,260 i got a combo of around 80 and lost it... which resulted in me running out of energy at the end. those acorns get so far apart at the end it's trouble.

I'm curious to know if anyone has had any luck with the stars? It seems like its not worth missing an acorn for one of em.

Posted by: Joe | January 3, 2006 7:02 PM

Very Cute simple game. I couldn't stop playing myself.

Posted by: Jim | January 3, 2006 7:04 PM

Jay, Nice Layout and good game...1 thing though...the background is so black and plain.The top is amazing but the background further down could use a little colour..but overall very nice...happy new year

Posted by: Bryan | January 3, 2006 8:44 PM

Cute game! I like the new skin for your site, too, especially the little guy doing the jig!

Posted by: Popsman | January 3, 2006 9:11 PM

My best score so far is 31,510. But what I want to know is...if one survives long enough, does winter turn back into spring?

Posted by: Francis | January 3, 2006 11:47 PM

Having just gotten the high score (under my alias of Lunch Boy) of 231,250 -- w00t! -- I feel I can safely say that, no, it never becomes spring again. Might make it interesting if it did, though. Like, maybe if more acorns started appearing after the sparsest stretch of winter, but further apart vertically, so that it was harder to grab them all without breaking the multiplier chain?

Posted by: Francis | January 4, 2006 12:57 AM

Francis, out of curiosity, on your run did you grab any stars or was it all acorns?

Posted by: Joe | January 4, 2006 12:29 PM

I just got the second highest score with 129000, with a combo of 140. its a fun game :D

I wonder though lunchboy how did you get above 200000? did you grab a lot of stars or just acorns?

Posted by: Thazi | January 4, 2006 2:10 PM

Late in the game, when the acorns become very sparse, I used the time in between acorns to fly up and grab stars, making sure to come down in time to grab the next acorn to keep the string going. I was up to about 120 acorns in a row by the time I miscalculated on a low swoop and hit the ground.

Posted by: Francis | January 4, 2006 2:51 PM

Cute and addictive! I love all these cute little animal games! (I think my fav is the squirrel game by Ferry Halim...)
My only complaint is that I sometimes go upward, like if I go up high to try and get a star, I float back to the ground with no way to go back up, which causes me to die...Probably has something to do with the fact that I never really understood physics. ;)
But I'm gonna go keep trying!

Posted by: Carolyn | January 5, 2006 8:33 AM

Argh! I was doing really well, I hadn't missed an acorn yet, I was up to a chain of 60 and a score of 31770...aaand? The phone rang! And there's no pause button!

Posted by: Carolyn | January 5, 2006 9:03 AM

What an incredibly addictive game! This was a great way to start the new year, and a good diversion for me during the long winter. (read: it's keeping me from studying for my finals...)
I suppose that payed off by me finally getting #10 (Using Fracis's technique, good tip).

Posted by: Julie | January 8, 2006 11:04 PM

I love this game...
its great..
up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down... up... down...

oh... i think im addicted...
*sigh

Posted by: giftedweasel | February 7, 2006 2:30 PM

SO CUTE!! I just wanna pet the itsy wittle squirly!! Its so fun too!! Man, Jay, YOU ROCK! ^^

Posted by: Annie | March 19, 2006 12:51 PM

when i right click something comes up so i never really get anywhere

Posted by: June | July 11, 2006 3:59 PM

you will really enjoy this game! It's so cute!

Posted by: Melissa | January 4, 2007 11:18 AM

I am addicted! O_O

Posted by: Evan | April 23, 2007 8:34 PM

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