Every question people actually ask about Stickman Hook, answered in a paragraph each. It covers how to play, how many levels there are, when to let go of the rope, what the skins do, where it runs and what to do when it does not. Everything here is checked against the real Madbox build that runs on this site. Jump to a section:
The basics
What is Stickman Hook?
Stickman Hook is a one-button swinging game. Hold the button and your stickman fires a rope at the nearest hook and swings from it; let go and he flies with whatever speed and direction he had at that instant. Each short level is a chain of hooks, gaps and obstacles between the start and the finish flag, and the whole game is about choosing the moment to release. It is a physics game, not a reflex game, which is why it stays interesting past a hundred levels.
Who made Stickman Hook, and when did it come out?
Madbox, a French mobile studio that also made Stickman Dash and Rocket Sky. Stickman Hook launched on iOS and Android in 2018 and became one of the most-downloaded casual games of that year. The browser version was published later through Poki, and that HTML5 build is what runs on this site.
Is Stickman Hook free?
Yes. It costs nothing to play here, there is no account and nothing to download. The mobile app is also free, with optional ads for bonuses. Anything asking you to pay for "Stickman Hook" is not the game.
What is the difference between Stickman Hook and "Stickman Hook Original"?
Nothing in the gameplay. "Original" is a label sites use to mark the real Madbox build, as opposed to the many look-alike clones that copied the name. If the hooks glow, the ragdoll flops on landing and the skins include a banana and a robot, you are playing the real one.
Is Stickman Hook safe for kids?
Yes. There is no violence beyond a stick figure ragdolling into a wall, no chat, no purchases in the browser version and no account. It is one of the games teachers tend not to mind. The mobile app shows ads between levels; the version here does not interrupt play with them.
How to play
What are the controls in Stickman Hook?
One input. On desktop, hold the left mouse button to grab the nearest hook and release it to let go. On a touch screen, hold anywhere on the screen and lift your finger. There are no arrow keys, no jump button and no menu you need during a level. If clicking does nothing, click once inside the game frame first so it has focus.
How many levels does Stickman Hook have?
More than a hundred. The browser version keeps going past level 100, and players have counted around 140 in the mobile app, which has added levels in updates. They are short, most take well under a minute when they go right, and the difficulty comes from tighter hook spacing and longer gaps rather than from new mechanics. Our levels article goes into how the difficulty ramps.
When should I let go of the rope?
Just before the rope reaches horizontal on the far side of the swing. At the bottom of the arc you are fastest but pointed straight down; at the very top you are pointed forward but have lost most of your speed. The window between those two is where a release goes furthest, and most players release too late rather than too early. How the swing actually works explains the pendulum physics behind this.
Why do I keep falling short of the next hook?
Because you arrived at the previous swing too slowly, not because you released badly on this one. Speed is built at the bottom of the arc, so a hook you grab too early, before you have fallen, adds nothing. When a level keeps beating you, look one hook earlier than the one you keep missing; that is nearly always where the run actually went wrong.
How do I go faster in Stickman Hook?
Fewer, longer swings. Rapid grab-release-grab bleeds speed on every cycle because each new rope jerks you into a new arc instead of continuing the old one. Look at the hook after the one you are about to use, not at the stickman, and do not re-grab the hook you just left. On several levels a ragdoll that clips a wall at speed bounces forward faster than the clean line.
Can I skip a level in Stickman Hook?
Not in the browser version. Each level unlocks the next, there is no level select, and the only way past a hard one is to clear it. The good news is that every level is under a minute and the restart is instant, so twenty attempts cost less time than it sounds. Fix the swing before the one you fail on and most walls fall quickly.
Is Stickman Hook multiplayer?
No. It is a single-player game with no online mode, no leaderboard and no co-op. The competition is with your own last attempt. For a stick-figure game you can play against someone, the games page has fighting and war titles like Stick Fighter and Stickman Army: Team Battle.
Skins and progress
Do skins do anything in Stickman Hook?
No. Skins are cosmetic. The banana, the robot, the hot dog and the rest all have the same ragdoll weight, rope length and swing physics as the classic stickman. Pick whichever one you like looking at; it will not make a level easier or harder.
How do you unlock skins in Stickman Hook?
By playing. New characters unlock as you clear levels, and the game periodically offers one as a bonus; in the mobile app that bonus is behind a short video ad. There is no currency to grind and nothing to buy. The full set runs to more than twenty characters, from a unicorn and a corgi to a mummy and a cactus.
Does Stickman Hook save my progress?
Yes, in the browser you are using. The game stores your current level and unlocked skins locally, so you pick up where you left off as long as you come back in the same browser on the same device. Clearing site data, switching to a private window or using a school machine that wipes itself will reset it. There is no account to sync between devices.
Is there an ending to Stickman Hook?
There is a last level, but no story or credits. Once you have cleared everything, the point of the game becomes replaying levels cleanly and quickly. Most players who finish it come back for the few levels that took them the longest.
Where you can play it
Can I play Stickman Hook on a school Chromebook?
Yes. The build on this site is a plain HTML5 game served over HTTPS from our own domain, so there is nothing to install and no extension or permission to grant. It runs on a locked-down Chromebook the same way it runs on a laptop. Networks that block whole categories of gaming sites are a separate matter, and no game can promise to get through those.
What is "Stickman Hook unblocked"?
Just the same game hosted somewhere a school or office filter does not block. There is no special unblocked edition. If stickman.pro loads for you, you already have it; our older Stickman Hook unblocked post covers what to expect from other sites using that label.
Is there a Stickman Hook app?
Yes. Madbox publishes it on the App Store and Google Play under the same name. The app has the same levels and physics, adds ads between levels, and saves to your device. If you just want to play on a phone right now, the browser version here works on touch screens too.
Does Stickman Hook work on iPhone and iPad?
Yes, both the app and the browser version. In Safari, tap and hold anywhere on the game to grab. If the page scrolls instead of the stickman swinging, use the fullscreen button on the player so the game has the whole screen.
Do I need to download anything?
No. It plays inside the browser tab. There is no installer, no plugin and no Flash. Anything offering a "Stickman Hook.exe" or an APK from outside Google Play is not from Madbox and should be left alone.
When something goes wrong
Why is Stickman Hook lagging or stuttering?
Usually because the browser is doing something else. Close video tabs, play in fullscreen so the game is not sharing the screen with the rest of the page, and check that hardware acceleration is on in the browser settings. On a laptop, plug it in: on battery most machines quietly cap the graphics chip. The game itself is light and runs at full speed on decade-old hardware when the browser lets it.
Why does the game not respond when I click?
The game frame does not have focus. Click once inside it, or press the fullscreen button, then hold to swing. On a touch screen, make sure you are holding rather than tapping; a tap grabs and releases in the same instant, which looks like nothing happened.
Why does the stickman keep flying backwards over the hook?
You are holding through the top of the arc. Past horizontal, the rope converts your forward speed into height and then swings you back the way you came, so a late release throws you backwards over the hook you just left. Release earlier, while you are still pointed forward.
My progress reset. Can I get it back?
Not from us, unfortunately. Progress lives in your browser's local storage, and once that is cleared there is no copy anywhere else. The levels come back quickly on a replay, since you already know the swings. To avoid it happening again, play in the same browser and do not use private windows.
Want more than a paragraph?
Two guides go deeper: how the swing actually works, which explains the physics behind every release, and how many levels are in Stickman Hook. If your question is not answered above, leave a comment under the player on the home page and we will add it. And when you want another stick-figure game, Stickman Climb 2 and Stickman Go are the two most players move on to.