Instructions
Matchstick Marathon
A matchstick athlete on an endless stadium track. Tap to hop, hold to fly, clear hurdles and pits on the beat.
- Year
- 1988
- Era
- Golden Arcade
- Genre
- Stick-figure / Runner-hurdler
Free, no sign-up. Keyboard, touch or gamepad.
How to play
- Space / Up / click: hop.
- Hold for a higher jump.
- P to pause.
On touch
- Tap anywhere to hop.
- Hold your finger down to fly higher.
Every run starts on the title screen. Pause any time with P or the pause button; calm mode removes flashes and screen shake.
Maker’s note
Hurdles and pits arrive in rhythm patterns that speed up as you run. Clear a hurdle tight for a PERFECT; each trip burns one of three matches. Score is distance plus clears plus perfects. The course comes from the run seed.
The Eracade workshop
Target scores
- 1100
- 2250
- 3450
- 4700
- 51,000
- 61,400
- 71,900
- 82,600
Each target is a step up. Beat them all and you have outplayed the workshop.
The Golden Arcade era, 1983–1989
Neon on black, chunky sprites and a pocket full of coins: short runs, high scores, one more go.
High scores
The top ten runs are saved in this browser with your three initials. Nothing is uploaded unless you submit a ranked run, so clearing site data clears the table.
