About Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is the 1981 Nintendo arcade game that introduced two things the industry kept: a game built around jumping over obstacles rather than shooting them, and a carpenter named Jumpman who was renamed Mario a year later. Shigeru Miyamoto designed it after an attempt to license Popeye fell through.
The premise is on screen from the first frame. Donkey Kong has taken Pauline to the top of a construction site and is throwing barrels down at you. You climb.
How to play
- Climb from the bottom of the girders to Pauline at the top while avoiding everything Donkey Kong throws.
- Jump over barrels, or jump onto a hammer to smash them for points — but you cannot climb while carrying a hammer.
- Four stage types rotate: the barrel stage, the pie factory with moving conveyors, the elevator stage, and the rivet stage where you remove eight rivets to bring the whole structure down.
- The bonus timer counts down from the moment a stage starts. Whatever is left is added to your score.
Controls
- Arrow keys
- Run left and right; up and down to climb ladders.
- Space bar / Z
- Jump.
- Touch
- On-screen pad to move, tap the button to jump.
Tips
- Jump barrels late, not early. A barrel that is about to roll down a ladder changes path, and jumping early puts you where it lands.
- The hammer is a commitment. It clears everything in front of you for a few seconds but locks you out of ladders, so only take it when the path ahead is flat.
- On the rivet stage, work one side at a time. Running back and forth across the structure is what runs the bonus timer out.
- Broken ladders are shortcuts you cannot use. Learn where they are so you stop climbing into dead ends.
- Points are in the bonus timer, not the barrels. A fast clean climb beats a slow one that smashed everything.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mario in Donkey Kong?
Yes — the player character was called Jumpman in 1981 and renamed Mario for Donkey Kong Junior the following year. It is the same character.
How many levels does Donkey Kong have?
Four stage types that repeat with rising difficulty. The arcade version has a well-known kill screen at level 22, where a timer bug kills the player a few seconds in.
Who is the woman at the top?
Pauline. She predates Princess Peach by four years and has since returned in the Mario series.
Do I need an emulator?
No. This version runs in the browser above.