TABZOOKAThe best jetpack games to play online
The most popular jetpack game online is Jetpack Joyride, Halfbrick’s 2011 endless runner, which Poki and CrazyGames run free in the browser. For a retro platformer, Adept Software’s 1993 Jetpack plays in a browser emulator. Tabzooka is a Chrome extension that lets you jetpack across the real website you have open.
Jetpack Joyride
Halfbrick Studios released Jetpack Joyride on 1 September 2011, and it’s still the game most people mean when they search for a jetpack game. You play Barry Steakfries, who steals an experimental jetpack and flies down an endless lab corridor. One button does everything: hold it to rise, let go to fall. You dodge zappers, missiles and lasers and collect coins, and one hit ends the run.
Poki and CrazyGames both host it, so it runs in a tab with nothing to install. It’s the best pick for two-minute sessions and for playing with one hand.
Jetpack (1993)
Adept Software’s Jetpack came out for DOS in 1993, published by Software Creations. It’s a single-screen platformer with 100 levels, and its built-in level editor was so popular that fans made more than 1,000 levels of their own. Adept has since released it as freeware.
You can play it in the browser on PlayDOSGames, which runs the original through an emulator. Adept also made a sequel, Jetpack 2, but its online version needs Flash, which modern browsers no longer run.
Tabzooka
Tabzooka is our game, and the jetpack is the first thing you learn in it. It’s a Chrome extension that turns the website you have open into the level, so the page’s headlines, images and sidebars are what you fly between, land on and blow up. All 13 heroes have a jetpack, and each one handles differently.
A few rules make it more than a hover button. You hold W or Space in the air to fly, and the tank only refills when you’re back on the ground, so an empty tank means you fall. Long falls hurt, but braking with the jetpack before you land counts as catching yourself.
Jetpack time for every hero
These are the game’s own numbers, the same ones shown on the hero select screen: how many seconds of flight one full tank gives you.
| Hero | Jetpack per tank | How you get them |
|---|---|---|
| Barnstorm | 4.5 s | Earned: finish runs on 3 arenas |
| Merlo | 3.6 s | Pro |
| MECH-9 | 3.1 s | Legend, $3 |
| Nova | 2.9 s | Pro, plus a double jump that uses no fuel |
| Weft | 2.9 s | Legend, $4 |
| Rex | 2.6 s | Pro, with no fall damage |
| Croon | 2.6 s | Legend, $2 |
| Brisket, Sixgun | 2.5 s | Pro |
| Captain Kaboom | 2.5 s | Legend, $1 |
| Fathom | 2.1 s | Free |
| Brick | 1.9 s | Free |
| Granite | 1.5 s | Legend, $2 |
Barnstorm, the gyrocopter ace, flies three times as long as Granite, the rock golem, who barely leaves the ground and doesn’t need to. The two free heroes sit near the bottom, which makes the first few climbs a real test.
Where the jetpack matters most
Floor Is Lava leans on it hardest. Lava climbs the page and you have to keep going up, building boxes with B when the ledges run out. Our Floor Is Lava guide covers the tricks. Multiplayer is the other place: up to 6 players can share one page, and a 1v1 between two good fliers mostly happens in mid-air.
Which jetpack game to pick
| Game | Where it runs | Style | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetpack Joyride | Poki, CrazyGames | Endless runner, one button | Free |
| Jetpack (1993) | Browser DOS emulator | Retro single-screen platformer | Freeware |
| Tabzooka | Chrome extension, on any website | Jetpack platformer and shooter | Free with 2 heroes; Pro adds more |
Pick Jetpack Joyride for a quick run on any device, Jetpack for nostalgia, and Tabzooka if you’d like the page you’re reading to be the level. To try it, add Tabzooka to Chrome and press Alt+Shift+Z on any site.
Questions people ask
What is the most popular jetpack game?
Jetpack Joyride, released by Halfbrick Studios on 1 September 2011. You fly Barry Steakfries down an endless lab with a one-button jetpack, dodging zappers, missiles and lasers while you collect coins.
Can you play Jetpack Joyride in a browser?
Yes. Poki and CrazyGames both host Jetpack Joyride free in the browser, with nothing to download. It plays with a single button or a tap.
Is the 1993 game Jetpack free?
Yes. Adept Software released Jetpack as freeware. The DOS original runs in the browser on PlayDOSGames through an emulator, with all 100 levels.
Can you still play Jetpack 2?
Not easily. JetpackHQ’s online version of Jetpack 2 needs Flash, and current browsers no longer support Flash, so it won’t start in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
Which Tabzooka hero has the longest jetpack?
Barnstorm, with 4.5 seconds of flight per tank. He’s earned by finishing runs on 3 different arenas. Merlo has 3.6 seconds, and the free heroes Fathom and Brick have 2.1 and 1.9.
Does the jetpack refill in mid-air in Tabzooka?
No. Tabzooka’s jetpack only refills when your hero is standing on something. Once the tank is empty you fall, so save some fuel to brake before landing.
