About Salmon Leap

Salmon Leap is a side-view arcade game about the hardest swim in nature. A salmon heads upriver through five stretches of water, with four waterfalls and one hungry bear between it and the spawning ground. A whole run takes about ninety seconds.

There is a single control. The salmon swims forward on its own; you decide how deep it goes. Depth is the charge for the leap: the deeper the dive, the faster the rise and the higher the salmon flies.

How to play

Hold Space, an arrow key, the mouse button or a finger on the screen to dive. Let go to rise and leap.
Swim through rings for points and a little extra time. Every third ring or clean trick raises the multiplier, up to five times.
In the air, hold to flip and let go before you land. Entering the water nose first scores the trick and gives a burst of speed; a belly flop resets the multiplier.
Each waterfall has a deep pool before it. Dive to the bottom, watch the dotted arc and let go when it clears the lip. A short leap costs three seconds.
Every run earns eggs for rings, clean flips, waterfalls and distance. Spend them between runs on Time (a longer clock), Rescue (cheaper short leaps), Flip (flips score more) and Reach (wider rings).

Tips

Leap over floating logs for points, and keep clear of the boulders on the river bed.
The bear swipes low and in rhythm. A leap from the very bottom of its pool passes over the paw whatever it is doing.
Time left at the spawning ground becomes points, so a fast clean run beats a careful one.
Finish the river once to open Rapids: no dotted arc, a tighter clock, double points.