YoHoHo.io — Play Free Online

YoHoHo.io is a pirate-flavoured io game in the action and shooting category. You drop into a shared arena as a small character, run around looking for better gear, and fight the other players who are doing the same thing. The whole idea is quick: no account, no menu maze, just press Play and you are in a match within seconds.

It sits a long way from the vertical hopping Doodle Jump is known for, but it fills a different slot on the same site. Where a jumper is a calm, one-thumb session about timing, this is a busy top-down scramble where you are always watching where the nearest threat is. It suits a few minutes of chaos between longer runs.

Like most games in the io style, a round has no story to follow. You start weak, you try to get stronger than the people around you, and when you lose you restart immediately and try again.

How to play

On a keyboard, move with the arrow keys or WASD and use the mouse to aim and to pick options on screen. On a phone or tablet, tap and swipe instead. The game loads in the frame on this page and runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install.

A typical round goes like this: move around the arena, pick up what you find to improve your character, avoid fights you cannot win while you are still weak, and take on opponents once you feel stronger. Aiming with the mouse matters as much as movement, because you can walk in one direction while facing another.

Tips

• Keep moving. A character standing still in a crowded arena is the easiest target.
• Avoid the middle of a crowd early on; fights near other players tend to pull in a third person who finishes off the winner.
• Use the mouse to face your target while moving sideways, rather than running straight at or away from someone.
• If you are on a phone, use a larger screen or landscape orientation so the controls are easier to reach.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

If you want something with the same action pace but a very different shape, Bloons Tower Defense 2 is a strategy game where you place defences instead of fighting directly. Fireboy and Watergirl is a puzzle-platformer built around cooperation, and Ovo 2 is a precision platformer where one mistake sends you back to the checkpoint. The headline game, Doodle Jump, is the slower, simpler end of the catalogue.

It works well for short sessions on desktop, and the touch controls make it playable on a phone when you do not have a keyboard to hand.