Ricochet

Goal of the game

Throw stones across the water and make them skip as long as possible. Every skip that passes near a floating lantern lights it. Depending on the challenge, you must light every lantern, reach a number of skips, reach an island, go under a bridge or avoid ducks and boats.

Throwing

• Drag down from anywhere on the water, like a slingshot: the longer the swipe, the stronger the throw. Pull to the left to aim right, and vice versa. Let go to throw.
• Tilt: the small dial at the bottom left shows the stone’s angle of attack. Adjust it with its − and + buttons (or W and S). Around 20 degrees, the stone skips best; too steep and it sinks on the first contact. Your hand shakes a little: the needle wobbles more or less depending on the level.
• Spin: curve your swipe as you drag (an arc rather than a straight line). The stone spins and its path bends toward the side of the curve.
• Every skip costs speed, all the more when the impact angle is steep and the tilt is poor. When it no longer has enough momentum, the stone sinks.
• Keyboard: left and right arrows to aim, up and down for power, W and S for tilt, Q and E for spin, Space or Enter to throw, H for a hint, L for the lake map.

The five bodies of water

• Evening Lake: calm water to learn on.
• Willow River: the current pushes the stone on every skip; bridges to clear under their arches.
• Lily Pad Marsh: a stone that touches a lily pad stops there; frogs and ducks never stop moving.
• Windy Fjord: visible gusts cross the water; streaks announce them a little before they arrive.
• Frozen Lake: on ice, the stone slides instead of skipping, but it shatters if it comes in too steep.

Modes

• Campaign: forty challenges, eight per body of water, one to three stars each. Clearing a challenge unlocks the next one. Stars unlock new stones: slate, rose quartz and moonstone.
• Free throw: five stones on random water. Each throw earns 10 per skip, 25 per lantern, 1 per metre, with bonuses for the island and the bridge. Records for skips, distance and total.
• Daily challenge: the same water for everyone, changing every day.
• Against the AI and Two players: take turns on the same water, one stone per round; the higher total takes the round, and whoever takes the most rounds wins the duel.
• Online: up to four players throw five stones on the same water; the highest total wins.

Levels

In free throw, the daily challenge and duels, the level sets how tricky the water is (current, obstacles, wind) and how much your hand shakes. Against the AI, it also picks the opponent, from Lilou (beginner) to Ondine (nearly unbeatable).

About the physics and the AI

The path is computed step by step (120 steps per second): gravity, air drag, lift from spin, wind. On each contact, the speed lost depends on the impact angle, the stone’s tilt and its speed; the calculation is identical on every device. The AI simulates hundreds of throws, keeps the best one, then executes it with an imprecision that decreases with its level.