Stolen Sword

Play:

Full screen Touch: press and drag away from where you want to go, then release — the character launches sword-first in the opposite direction, like a slingshot · Keyboard: none; use a mouse to click, drag and release with the same slingshot motion as touch

About:

Ian Chiao built Stolen Sword for js13k 2020, the competition that caps entries at 13 kilobytes zipped, and packed a full one-finger combat system into that budget: a single press-drag-release gesture aims, jumps and slashes at once, and the source code binds mouse and touch events to the literal same handler functions, so this was built touch-first rather than adapted for it afterward.

The gesture is a slingshot, not a flick — drag away from where you want to go and release, the same way you'd draw a bow. Four short stages spend their tiny file-size budget on real variety rather than one repeated loop: a wave-based combat gauntlet, a pure vertical climb, a lower-gravity underwater section with shielded enemies, and a large closing gauntlet with a chained enemy to thread. It's over in ten to fifteen minutes and ends on an unresolved cliffhanger — the concept was later carried into a separate paid mobile game — but the control scheme alone is worth the visit.

Credits:

Made by Ian Chiao, 2020. Published here under the MIT licence. Source code.

Phone check: loaded and played at 390x844 in Chromium on 7 Sep 2026; a correctly-aimed drag cleared the first wave and advanced into the second with zero console or page errors

Play next:

Glitch Buster Jump on bugs and throw breakpoints to fix a crashing codebase before the clock runs out — a js13k 2016 runner-up with real, working touch controls.

Euphrosine Wants Ten Dots A short ladybug platformer with a genuine multi-touch control scheme — drag to run, drag up to climb, and tap a second finger while holding to jump.

Hare to the Moon A little hare bounces up a sky of floating stepping stones toward the moon. Steer with one thumb, dodge the moths and the hollows, and beat your best height.

Ninja vs EVILCORP js13k 2020's Overall AND Mobile category winner — a stealth platformer with real touch controls.

Tags:

action · platformer · touch controls · js13k · one more go