This afternoon I only planned to play for a few minutes to shake off the tiredness. I ended up sitting there until it got dark. The reason is simple: Stunt Rider 3D is the kind of game where the moment you crash, you want to go again. It runs right in your browser. Open the page and play, with nothing to download or install.
I only used the keyboard, and the on-screen buttons can also be clicked with the mouse.
I pressed R the most. When I only messed up the last stretch, the C key saved me from restarting from the beginning.
I raced up a wooden ramp, hit jump a little too early, and the bike flipped over right before the rope bridge. But a level only lasts about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, so I never felt discouraged. Press R and you are off again. After a few tries I started to remember the rhythm of each section: where to ease off the throttle, where to flip.
Each level has up to 3 stars, based on your finish time. The 3-star target ranges from 25 to 100 seconds depending on the level. Front flips, back flips, wheelies and stoppies all give experience, and chaining several tricks in a row raises your multiplier. Each star gives 250 experience.
I found it best not to flip on long, straight stretches, because losing time means losing stars. Save your flips for gaps with enough room to land.
What I like most is that the game never repeats its scenery. There are golden autumn woods with pumpkins and wooden cabins, a desert in bloom, cherry-blossom streets, snowy mountains, a limestone-island bay, a river delta and a lantern-lit old town. In total there are 308 levels (233 main and 75 bonus). Main levels are open from the start, so when I hit a hard one, I skip it, play elsewhere and come back later. A chapter’s bonus levels unlock once you earn 80% of that chapter’s stars.
Each level also hides 2 to 3 secret wooden crates. Collect enough of them and you unlock more gear for your rider.
The game has no real-money purchases. Everything unlocks with gems earned by playing, and each level rewards 1 to 12 gems. I started with the free Motocross bike, then moved up over time. There are 13 bikes in total, priced from 10 to 500 gems, and each can upgrade 4 stats: SPEED, POWER, ROTATION and BRAKES. A pricier bike is not necessarily better, so I suggest trying one first with the free test ride.
There are more than 60 gear items. I tried the Duckie duck helmet, then switched to the Night Bat bat-ear helmet, and I kept laughing at a super cool stunt run with a duck on the rider’s head. Every day the game also gives you one free item, enough to slowly build 4 matching outfit sets.
No. You play directly in your desktop browser.
No. Bikes, gear and upgrades all unlock with gems earned while playing.
Finish faster than the level’s time target, and only flip where it is truly safe.
Press R to retry, or C to go back to the last checkpoint.
If you like fast, easy-to-start games where a crash just means trying again, open Stunt Rider 3D and play one level. I bet you will say “just one more try” like I did.
