River Rush

Controls

Your boat runs at full throttle by itself. On a wide screen the river flows from left to right: hold the mouse button or a finger on the top half of the screen to steer up and on the bottom half to steer down, or hold both halves with two fingers to ease off. When the screen is taller than it is wide, the river runs up the screen and you use the left and right halves instead. On a keyboard, steer with the arrow keys or W, A, S and D, hold Space to ease off, and press P or Esc to pause.

How to play River Rush

You race a speedboat against three rivals, Marlin, Otter and Kraken, down a winding river. Your boat runs at full throttle on its own, so your job is to steer around trouble and ease off only when you need to. Finish in the top three to unlock the next course.

Rocks and floating logs damage your hull, and so does scraping the riverbank at speed. Whirlpools pull you in and spin you around. Hit a wave or go over a waterfall and your boat jumps. While it is in the air it flies over rocks, and a long jump gives you a speed boost when you land. Each course has four checkpoints that repair a little of your hull. If the hull runs out, your boat is wrecked.

Courses, prizes and upgrades

There are 8 courses: Jungle Run, Canyon Rapids, Frozen Fjord, Neon Canal, Bayou Mist, Lava Gorge, Glacier Falls and Sunset Delta. They get longer and more crowded as you go, and the last two have the most waterfalls. Narrow shortcut channels split off the main river. They cut a corner but are lined with rocks. On the two icy courses your boat slides more in the turns. You can replay any course you have unlocked.

First place pays the full prize, from $300 on Jungle Run to $1,800 on Sunset Delta. Second pays half, third pays 30 percent and fourth pays 15 percent, plus $5 for every coin you grab. The top three also earn a gold, silver or bronze medal. In the boathouse you spend cash on four upgrades with five levels each: Engine for top speed, Hull for more hit points and less damage per hit, Rudder for sharper steering and Turbo for bigger air boosts.

Tips and tricks

• Aim for the yellow arrow on each wave. Once you are airborne you sail right over the rocks.
• The longer you stay in the air, the longer your boost lasts after you land, so line up straight for waterfalls.
• Cross close behind a rival to bounce off its wake for a small hop.
• Keep away from the middle of a whirlpool. The center spins your boat, slows it down and dents the hull.
• If your boat is wrecked, you can watch a short ad once per race to continue from the last checkpoint with at least 60 percent of your hull, and the rivals go back to where they were at that checkpoint. After a race, a short ad doubles the prize you just won.
• If you skip one of these ads you get no reward, but the button stays so you can try again.