Skateboarding Game Tricks: Kickflips, Grinds, Grabs and Combos

How kickflips, grinds and combos work in skate games, and the full list of TinySkate tricks with keyboard and touch controls.

How tricks work in skateboarding games

Every skateboarding game has to answer the same question: how do you squeeze a kickflip into a button press? There are three big families, and knowing which one a game belongs to makes it much easier to learn.

Arcade: a button plus a direction

The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games made this style famous. One button jumps, one does flip tricks, one does grabs and one grinds, and the direction you hold picks the trick. Manuals (balancing on two wheels) link one trick to the next, so a whole line becomes one combo. It is fast, readable and all about chaining.

Simulation: the sticks are your feet

EA's skate. series uses "Flick-It": you pull the right stick back to load the tail and flick it forward to pop, and flicking at an angle turns the ollie into a kickflip or heelflip. Session: Skate Sim and Skater XL go further and give each stick one foot. These games feel like real skateboarding and take real practice.

2D: timing is everything

Side-scrolling skate games like OlliOlli World and TinySkate show the whole line from the side, so the challenge moves from steering to timing: when to pop, when to flick, and landing before the board stops spinning. TinySkate adds one more thing: you earn your speed by pumping on the beat.

TinySkate controls

TinySkate is built for two thumbs. The left thumb is your body (pump, push, balance, grabs) and the right thumb is your board (tuck, ollie, flips). On a computer the same split is on the keyboard.

You can play it right now on this site: the browser version is free and has no ads.

Pumping and speed

Nobody pushes you in TinySkate. Speed is something you earn, and it is the resource every trick spends. Hills give you speed on the way down and take it on the way up. To keep going, you pump: tap on the beat. A ring shows the beat; tap in the green for a PERFECT pump and keep hitting it to chain PERFECT x2, x3, x4. Tap too early and you get TOO EARLY and the chain resets. On flat ground the same tap is a push with your foot. Downhill, hold the ollie button to tuck: less drag, more speed. And every clean landing gives you a speed boost, Tony Hawk style.

The ollie and the Perfect Pop

Hold the right side of the screen (or Space) to crouch and charge, then let go to pop. The longer you charge, the higher you go; a full charge is a MAX POP, the highest ollie there is. Popping right at the lip of a kicker counts too: the game says "POP ON GREEN AT THE LIP" for a reason. Some goals ask for Perfect Pops, so practise letting go at full charge.

Flip tricks

Flip tricks only happen in the air: ollie first, then flick. That is where the timing comes in. Flick too late and the board is still spinning when you land, and you bail. Flick the same direction again quickly for the double version.

Grabs

Grabs are on the left thumb (or WASD). Hold a grab for points: the longer you hold, the more it scores. But let go before you land. Still holding a grab when the wheels touch the ground is a bail. Do a flip and a grab in the same air and they are named together, like KICKFLIP INDY, and score half again as much.

Grinds

Land on a rail, a ledge, a bench, a pool's coping or the roof of a police car and you grind. Every grind starts as a 50-50. While you are falling onto a rail, a flick picks the grind you land in, and on the rail you can flick to switch: each switch adds to your combo multiplier. A balance needle over your head shows which way you are leaning. Tap and hold the pump button to correct it. Each grind balances differently, and the harder ones score more.

Manuals and combos

A combo is every trick you do without landing back on flat ground and stopping: flips, grabs, grinds and manuals, one after the other. The points add up and the multiplier grows with every trick; land cleanly and the combo is banked. Bail and it is gone. The trick that holds a combo together is the manual: press up on the ground (swipe up on a phone) to balance on the back wheels and roll to the next obstacle without ending the combo. Big combos fill the SPECIAL meter. When it is full you go into overdrive for ten seconds: more speed and double points.

An example line in the Schoolyard: kickflip down the stairs onto the handrail, land in a 50-50, flick to a boardslide, ollie off into a manual, pop onto the cop car, 5-0 the roof, and land a 360 flip off the hood.

FAQ

How do you kickflip in a skateboarding game?

It depends on the game. In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater you jump and press the flip button with a direction. In skate. you flick the right stick at an angle as you pop. In TinySkate you ollie first, then press up (or swipe up on the right side of the screen) while you are in the air.

What is the difference between a kickflip and a heelflip?

Both spin the board a full turn along its long axis. A kickflip is flicked off the toe edge, so the board spins away from you; a heelflip is flicked off the heel and spins the other way. In TinySkate, up is a kickflip and down is a heelflip.

How do I do a double kickflip in TinySkate?

Ollie, then flick up twice quickly. The second flick turns the kickflip into a double kickflip. The same works for a double heelflip (down, down) and a 360 shove-it (right, right).

Why do I bail when I land?

Two common reasons: a flip trick that is still spinning when you touch down, or a grab you are still holding. Flick earlier in the air, and let go of grabs before you land.

How do you keep a combo going?

Link tricks without stopping: land in a grind or a manual instead of on flat ground. In TinySkate, press up on the ground for a manual and balance with the pump button to roll to the next rail or kicker.

Can I play TinySkate with a keyboard?

Yes. In the browser, Shift or Z pumps and balances, Space charges and pops the ollie, the arrow keys do flips and manuals, and W, A, S and D are grabs. P pauses.