Wall Jump

A wall jump lets the character jump off a wall in the air. Kick it up and away from the wall, and fix its sideways speed for a short lock time so that holding toward the wall cannot cancel the kick. Let a press just after leaving the wall still count.

Also called: Wall kick, Wall bounce, Kick-off jump.

A fox-eared acrobat kicks off one cliff wall and arcs across a gorge toward the opposite wall, ink splashing where its foot pushed. — Inkbramble, an invented ink-wash climbing game. Invented game, image generated with AI.

Paste this to your AI

Copy it into Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT. It already has good values and the usual mistakes in it.

Add "Wall Jump" to my game.

What it should do: A jump off a wall lets the player climb between walls, rescue a fall and reach places no ground jump reaches, with the wall as the one thing to push against.

Build it exactly as this state machine. First check that it fits my game, then build it like this:

```mermaid
stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> ground
  ground: On the ground
  air: In the air
  wall: At a wall
  kicked: Kicked off
  ground --> air: jumps or steps off
  air --> ground: lands
  air --> wall: touches a wall
  air --> kicked: late press near a wall
  wall --> air: leaves the wall
  wall --> ground: lands
  wall --> kicked: presses jump
  kicked --> air: lock time ends
  kicked --> wall: lock ends at a wall
  kicked --> ground: lands
```

Use these starting values:
- jumpSpeed: 12 units/s
- kickSpeed: 8 units/s
- lockTime: 0.18 s
- graceTime: 0.1 s
- runSpeed: 7 units/s
- gravity: 32 units/s²
- maxFallSpeed: 20 units/s

Watch out for these common mistakes:
- Holding toward the wall: Tell your AI: fix the sideways speed for a short lock time after the kick and ignore the steering until it is over.
- A press a little too late: Tell your AI: remember the last wall and its side for a short grace time and kick off it when a press comes in time.
- The kick adds to the speed: Tell your AI: set the speeds of the kick, never add to the old ones.
- Pressing fast on one wall: Tell your AI: allow no new kick until the lock time is over, and use up the grace time with each kick.
- A wall next to the ground: Tell your AI: a press on the ground is always the ordinary jump. A wall only counts in the air.

Do not change anything else in the game. Do not claim anything without proof: model what it takes, and show me what your solution rests on and how I can see that it works. If you cannot show something, say you do not know. When you are done, tell me in plain words how to try it.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP

What it does

A jump off a wall lets the player climb between walls, rescue a fall and reach places no ground jump reaches, with the wall as the one thing to push against.

How it runs, as a diagram

Everything it can be in, and what moves it on. Your AI builds from exactly this.

How it runs, as a diagram

On the ground → In the air: jumps or steps off
In the air → On the ground: lands
In the air → At a wall: touches a wall
In the air → Kicked off: late press near a wall
At a wall → In the air: leaves the wall
At a wall → On the ground: lands
At a wall → Kicked off: presses jump
Kicked off → In the air: lock time ends
Kicked off → At a wall: lock ends at a wall
Kicked off → On the ground: lands

Good starting values

Value	Start with	What it changes
jumpSpeed	12 units/s	How hard the character pushes up, from the ground and off a wall. The same as the ground jump on the other movement pages, so a wall jump is neither weaker nor stronger than a normal jump.
kickSpeed	8 units/s	How fast the character is pushed away from the wall. A little above the running speed, so the kick clearly leaves the wall. Too low and the character drifts back into it.
lockTime	0.18 s	How long the push away cannot be steered. At the starting values the character gets about one and a half units away from the wall, then the player is in control again. Zero turns the lock off.
graceTime	0.1 s	How long after leaving a wall a press still counts as a wall jump. A tenth of a second forgives a press that comes a little late. Zero asks for a press while touching.
runSpeed	7 units/s	The sideways speed when the player steers. Below the kick speed, so the kick is the faster move.
gravity	32 units/s²	How fast a rise slows down and a fall speeds up.
maxFallSpeed	20 units/s	The fastest the character can fall.

What usually goes wrong

Holding toward the wall

A player who holds toward the wall while pressing jump cancels the kick on the next tick, and the character hops straight up the wall instead of away from it.

Fix: Tell your AI: fix the sideways speed for a short lock time after the kick and ignore the steering until it is over.

A press a little too late

Players press jump a few ticks after the wall is gone and think they did it right. Without a grace time the press does nothing and the game feels broken.

Fix: Tell your AI: remember the last wall and its side for a short grace time and kick off it when a press comes in time.

The kick adds to the speed

A kick that adds to the speed is weak after a fast fall and huge on the way up, and fast presses shoot the character up the wall.

Fix: Tell your AI: set the speeds of the kick, never add to the old ones.

Pressing fast on one wall

If every press on a wall kicks, a player who mashes the button climbs one wall for as long as they like, because the character is still touching it after the kick.

Fix: Tell your AI: allow no new kick until the lock time is over, and use up the grace time with each kick.

A wall next to the ground

A press on the ground next to a wall is read as a wall jump, so the ordinary jump suddenly flies sideways away from the wall.

Fix: Tell your AI: a press on the ground is always the ordinary jump. A wall only counts in the air.

How to check it works

Your character falls next to a wall on its right. Press jump: The character rises at the jump speed and is pushed to the left at the kick speed.
Your character falls next to a wall, once on the left and once on the right. Press jump: Both times the kick goes away from the wall.
Your character is next to a wall. Press jump once while falling fast and once while still rising: Both times the upward speed is the same.
Your character has just been kicked off a wall. The player holds toward the wall during the lock time: The character keeps moving away at the kick speed.
Your character has been kicked off a wall. The lock time is over and the player holds a direction: The character moves at the running speed in that direction.
Your character left a wall a few ticks ago, less than the grace time. Press jump: The character kicks away from the wall it left.
Your character left a wall longer ago than the grace time. Press jump: Nothing happens and the character keeps falling.
Your character falls in open air. Press jump: Nothing happens.
Your character stands on the ground next to a wall. Press jump while holding toward the wall: The character makes an ordinary jump and is not pushed away.
Your character has just been kicked off a wall that still touches it. Press jump again: Nothing new happens, the first kick goes on.
Your character is kicked off a wall with a long lock time, and the ground comes up to meet it before the lock is over. It reaches the ground: The lock ends and the player steers freely.

Works well with

Wall Slide: The slide keeps the character next to the wall long enough to jump. A jump that starts from a slide should still set the speed, so it does not inherit the slow slide. Check for the wall jump before the slide on every tick.
Coyote Time: One is for the ground edge and one for the wall, and a press near both should prefer the wall that is actually still touching. Both use a short grace time. Keep them as two separate timers.
Jump Buffering: A remembered press then kicks on the first tick the wall touches, which makes tight climbs between two walls much easier. Remember a press that comes just before the wall is touched.

Clashes with Double Jump: A press in the air next to a wall can mean a kick off the wall or an air jump. Kick first when a wall is there and keep the air jump for the open air.

Common questions

what do i tell my ai to add a wall jump

Paste this: Add a wall jump: a press in the air next to a wall, or a few ticks after leaving it, sets the speed up and away from the wall. Fix the sideways speed for a short lock time so holding toward the wall cannot cancel it, and allow no second kick until the lock is over.

why does my wall jump go straight up the wall

The player is holding toward the wall and the steering overrides the kick on the next tick. Fix the sideways speed for a short moment after the kick and ignore the steering until it ends.

should a wall jump be as strong as a normal jump

A good start is the same upward speed, with a sideways push a little above running speed. Weaker makes walls a trap, and much stronger makes the ground jump pointless next to a wall.

can the player climb one wall by jumping off it again and again

Only if you allow it. Here a new kick waits for the lock time to end, and each kick uses up the grace time, so one touch gives one kick. Climbing needs a second wall, or you can lengthen the lock.

Where it comes from

We could not find a reliable origin for this one yet.

Where this mechanic comes from has not been researched yet.

Games are named only as references. Names and marks belong to their owners, and nothing here is endorsed by them.

What was checked

19 tests pass on the reference code.
The state diagram was checked against the code, at the default values and at every listed low and high value.

This is what separates the blueprint from a catalogue entry: the values on this page come from code that runs.

Your AI gets the code

Tested example code comes through the Spielerando connection, so your AI can use it right away. How to connect it