How to play
Your battleship sits in the lower third of the screen and the river comes at you. Hold your thumb anywhere on the water and slide left or right to steer between the mines and the embankments. Slide your thumb up for full throttle and down to ease back to cruising speed. Tap the water (a quick press with no slide) and the ship fires a shell straight upriver from the bow: hit a mine and it's gone, and it counts as one you passed. You carry one shell at a time. It reloads only once the last one has left the screen: flown off the top, blown a mine, or buried itself in a bank, in which case it rides that bank all the way off the bottom of the screen before you can fire again. So a wasted shot into land costs you the gun for a few seconds; pick your moment. The HUD shows SHELL READY, SHELL AWAY or SHELL STUCK under the throttle. Every ten obstacles a gold line appears across the water: cross it and you're up a level. The river gets faster with every level. Level 1 is a warm-up with no mines or land: pixel hints float down the water showing the gestures (slide to steer, slide up for more speed, slide down for less, tap to fire) — the hazards start at level 2.
The game is designed for one thumb in portrait. Nothing happens on the ad banner or the progress bar at the top, so you can hold the phone however you like.
Play with a friend
Up to four phones, one river. On the home screen tap PLAY WITH (the pill next to it says A FRIEND; tap the pill to switch to ANYONE, see below). One of you hosts: pick Co-op (see how far the crew gets together) or Head-to-head (last ship afloat wins), choose how many ships the river has room for (2, 3 or 4), tap HOST A RIVER and share the four-letter code however you like. The others open the same screen, type the code and tap JOIN; each takes the next free seat. The host can start as soon as one shipmate is aboard (START WITH 2) or wait until every seat is taken, and all the phones count down together.
Everyone sails exactly the same river at exactly the same moment, side by side. Your own ship is always the one with the red bands; each seat has its own colour on every screen — the host gold, then green, orange and pink — on the bands and on a small pennant flying off the bow (no names over the ships, so the water stays clear), and the crew's handles and scores sit under yours in the corner in the same colours. Steering and the cannon work as normal; a mine anyone blows up is gone for all of you. The throttle is off in a linked run, so nobody can boost away from the others, and there are no ad breaks and no revives: at each new stage every phone pauses and the host starts the shared countdown, and if you sink you stay on the river and watch whoever is still afloat until the last ship goes down (or tap RESULTS to skip ahead). The end screen lists every run — in head-to-head ranked 1st to 4th by who lasted longest, with score breaking a near-tie; in co-op "together you made level …" for the furthest any of you got — with a REMATCH button that starts another round on a fresh river once the crew are ready. Each of you still posts your own score to the leaderboard as a normal run. A code works for three hours; if a shipmate loses signal you'll see them marked LEFT and the rest of you carry on, and the host can put someone off the river from the ··· button next to their name. Everyone needs the same version of Sea Sprint — if a code is refused with "needs updating", update the app on both phones.
Play with anyone. Tap the A FRIEND pill and choose ANYONE: the home screen then shows how many players have the app open right now and how many are looking for a game. FIND A GAME drops you into the oldest open river; if nobody's waiting, it opens one for you and the next person who looks gets pulled in. HOST FOR ANYONE opens a river straight away and waits. Whoever ends up hosting sets the mode (co-op or head-to-head); matches with strangers are always two ships. When two of you are matched, both phones show "MATCHED WITH …" and the river starts on its own a few seconds later. Both phones need the app open on that screen to match; you see each other's leaderboard handles and nothing else, and there is no chat. STOP LOOKING takes you out of the queue.
Handles, reporting and hiding players
Your handle is the only thing you ever type in Sea Sprint, and every player can see it, so the game holds it to the fair-play rules: nothing offensive, hateful or sexual, and no pretending to be someone else. Handles are checked against a filter as you type (NOT ALLOWED · PICK ANOTHER) and again on our server; one that slips through is removed as soon as it's reported and can't be claimed again (REMOVED BY MODERATION). The first time you set sail the game shows these rules and asks you to agree.
Tap ··· next to any other player's handle (leaderboard rows, the crew list before a linked run, the results screen) to REPORT HANDLE or HIDE THIS PLAYER. A report goes straight to us and is reviewed within 24 hours; reporting hides the player as well. Hidden players vanish from your leaderboard and can't be matched with you, host you or join your river; MENU (top right of the home screen) shows how many you've hidden with a SHOW AGAIN link to undo it. Anything else: support@seasprint.app, also in the menu.
Stages and scenery
Every 20 levels is a stage. When you complete one the game pauses, confetti fires, and you tap to start a 3-2-1 countdown into the next stage (in the free version a short full-screen ad plays first). The leaderboard shows every player ten to a page (swipe sideways or use the ‹ › buttons to turn pages), with the stage and level of each best run, and once you've played it shows exactly where you sit against everyone else, for example #34 of 1,075, with your own row highlighted in gold. On the crash screen a run that didn't beat your best still appears as a dashed "THIS RUN" row where that score would sit, so you can see how close you came. The speed resets to the starting pace plus 5% per stage, so stage 2 begins 5% faster than stage 1 did, stage 3 10% faster, and so on. The bar under the ad banner shows how far through the current stage you are.
| Stage | Levels | Waters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 – 19 | River |
| 2 | 20 – 39 | Arctic |
| 3 | 40 – 59 | Jungle |
| 4 | 60 – 79 | Lava Delta |
| 5 | 80 – 99 | Night Harbour |
| 6 | 100 – 119 | Desert |
| 7 | 120 – 139 | Deep Space |
| 8 | 140 – 159 | Negative (every colour inverted) |
| 9+ | 160 onwards | The eight waters come round again, faster each time |
About turn
Reach level 111 and the river turns. From there you sail it the other way: your ship sits near the top of the screen pointing down, and the mines and banks rise from the bottom to meet you. Nothing about the controls changes; hold and slide to steer, slide up for full ahead and down to ease off, exactly as before. It's the same game with your reflexes turned upside down. After 100 levels (at 211) the river turns back to the heading you learned on, then turns again at 311, and so on every 100 levels. The game pauses at each turn with a COME ABOUT button and a 3-2-1 countdown, so it never catches you mid-manoeuvre, and the current drops back to level-one pace at the turn, climbing a level at a time, so you have time to adjust to the new direction. The river thins out to match: mines, banks and the spacing between them restart from level-one density and build back up level by level alongside the speed, until both have caught up with the stage's own pace. Share cards made after the turn show the river the way you sailed it.
Ranks
You're promoted once for every stage you complete. Your rank is decided by the highest level you have reached in a single run, not by how many levels you've played in total: finish stage 1 (reach level 20) in one run and you're an Ordinary Seaman, finish stage 2 (level 40) and you're an Able Seaman, and so on up to Captain for completing stage 11 (level 220). It is shown under your handle on the home screen and next to your name on the leaderboard, and the home screen tells you which level earns your next promotion.
| Rank | Stage completed | Highest level in one run |
|---|---|---|
| Recruit | — | 1 |
| Ordinary Seaman | stage 1 | 20 |
| Able Seaman | stage 2 | 40 |
| Leading Hand | stage 3 | 60 |
| Petty Officer | stage 4 | 80 |
| Chief Petty Officer | stage 5 | 100 |
| Midshipman | stage 6 | 120 |
| Sub-Lieutenant | stage 7 | 140 |
| Lieutenant | stage 8 | 160 |
| Lieutenant Commander | stage 9 | 180 |
| Commander | stage 10 | 200 |
| Captain | stage 11 | 220 |
Frequently asked
Why can't I tap SET SAIL?
You need a handle first: 2 to 12 letters or numbers, typed into the box above the button. It's what appears on the leaderboard, so pick something you're happy for other players to see and don't use your real name.
Can I change my handle?
Yes. Type a new one into the box on the home screen at any time. Your best score, highest level and rank move across to the new handle, and your old handle is released for someone else to use.
It says my handle is TAKEN
Every handle on the board belongs to one player. As you type, the box tells you whether a handle is AVAILABLE, already yours (THIS IS YOU) or TAKEN by someone else. If it's taken, pick another: adding a number or a word usually does it. A handle nobody has played under for six months becomes available again. If a handle you used before shows as taken (this happens if you deleted and reinstalled the game, which gives it a fresh identity), email us with the handle and we'll release it back to you.
It says NOT ALLOWED or REMOVED BY MODERATION
NOT ALLOWED means the handle failed the profanity filter, including look-alike spellings like SH1T. REMOVED BY MODERATION means that handle was reported and taken down. Pick another; if you think the filter has got an ordinary word wrong, tell us at support@seasprint.app and we'll add it to the allow list.
I reported a handle — what happens now?
We get an e-mail the moment you tap REPORT HANDLE and look at it within 24 hours. If it breaks the rules the entry is deleted and the handle banned, and that player has to choose another. You won't hear back unless you e-mail us yourself, and the other player is never told who reported them. The player is hidden from your leaderboard straight away either way.
I want my leaderboard entry removed
Email us with the handle and we'll delete the entry. Your scores stay on your own device.
The leaderboard says THIS DEVICE or COULDN'T REACH THE BOARD
The game couldn't reach the shared leaderboard, usually because the phone was offline or on a very slow connection (some mobile networks and VPNs are slow to let it through). Your runs are still saved on the device. COULDN'T REACH THE BOARD means the app is online but the read failed: tap the message to try again. THIS DEVICE means it never connected when the game started: once you're back online, close Sea Sprint fully and open it again; it will show ALL PLAYERS and your best run is sent up at the end of your next game.
How do I go ad-free?
Two options, both one-off purchases and neither a subscription: AD-FREE FOR LIFE (listed as Remove Ads in the App Store and Google Play) and a 24-HOUR AD-FREE PASS. Tap GO AD-FREE beside SET SAIL on the home screen, the GO AD-FREE offer under START STAGE after you clear a stage, or MENU → Store, pick one and confirm with Apple or Google; the crash screen offers both as well once you're out of ad revives for the day. If the buttons are greyed out with "connecting to the store", the phone hasn't reached the App Store or Google Play yet: check your signal and tap the line to try again. Either way the banner disappears immediately and the strip it sat in is handed back to the river, so you see a little further ahead; the full-screen ad between stages goes away; and every run gets a free revive with no video and no daily limit (still one revive per run). For life means for good on that store; the pass does the same for 24 hours.
What is the 24-Hour Ad-Free Pass?
Everything ad-free gives you, for a day: no banner, no ad breaks between stages, and a free revive every run with no video to watch, for 24 hours from the moment you buy it. The GO AD-FREE button on the home screen shows how long is left. It expires on its own; it isn't a subscription and nothing renews. Buy another whenever you like — buying one while a pass is running adds 24 hours to it. The pass is kept on the phone you bought it on, and if you later go ad-free for life you simply won't need it any more.
I went ad-free but I'm still seeing ads
Make sure you're signed in with the same account you bought it with (your Apple ID on iPhone, your Google account on Android), then tap MENU on the home screen and RESTORE PURCHASES (the GO AD-FREE sheet has the same button). This also works on a new phone or after reinstalling. If it still doesn't apply, email us with your purchase receipt (iPhone: Settings → your name → Media & Purchases → Purchase History; Android: the Google Play order email) and we'll sort it. The purchase is per store: buying on Android doesn't unlock the iPhone version, or the other way round. A 24-hour pass can't be restored once it has run out, and banked revives from a streak or an invite code never switch ads off — only the two purchases do.
The game asked me to rate it
After your third, tenth and thirtieth stage-1 completion the app may show Apple's or Google's standard rating prompt. It never interrupts a run, you can dismiss it, and there's no reward for rating either way — the stores don't allow one. MENU → RATE SEA SPRINT opens the store page whenever you like, and once you've used it we stop asking.
How do I share my score?
Tap SHARE on the crash screen. The game makes a picture of your run with your score, level and rank and a dare to beat it, and opens your phone's normal share sheet so you can send it to WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Messages or anywhere else, with a link to the App Store or Google Play. Instagram and TikTok take the picture only; the link travels with the picture in apps that accept text.
What is the daily streak?
Complete stage 1 (levels 1–19) on seven days in a row and five free revives go into your bank. The panel on the home screen shows how many days you've done; a day only counts once you've finished stage 1 that day — you'll see it confirmed on the stage-complete screen — and if you miss a day the streak and the bar start again from zero. The day after the fifth revive lands the bar starts a fresh seven, with your banked total shown beside it. Banked revives don't need a video: on the crash screen the button says REVIVE · BANKED and they're used before the day's ad revives. They roll over day to day until they're spent, and every further seven-day streak adds another five on top of whatever is left. They don't affect ads — the banner and the ad breaks stay unless you go ad-free. The streak is kept on your phone, so it doesn't follow you to a new device.
How do invite codes work?
Your handle is your code. Share it (or the link from any share card, which carries it), and when a friend installs Sea Sprint and enters it under MENU → GOT A CODE?, three free revives go straight into their bank and three into yours. A code can be redeemed once per installation, you can't use your own, and the free revives don't remove ads. If a friend's code is rejected, check the spelling against the leaderboard — it has to be a handle that's actually claimed.
What happens when I top the leaderboard?
If a run makes you the new #1 of the whole leaderboard — every player, both platforms — the crash screen fires fireworks and a NEW LEADER banner with a SHARE THE NEWS button, which makes a "#1 in the world" share card with your best score and level and the store link. While you hold the top spot the banner comes back as STILL #1 on every crash screen, including after a revive, and your own first-place row on the leaderboard has a SHARE button, so the card is always a tap away. The player you knocked off the top gets a notification (see below).
What does the revive do?
After you sink you can carry on from where you went down with your score, level and speed intact, after a 3-2-1 countdown. You can revive once per run. Each day you get three ad revives (watch a short video for each, so three different runs a day can be saved), plus any revives you've banked from a daily streak or an invite code, which go first and need no video. The button tells you which kind you're using and how many are left; the home screen shows today's count. When today's are spent, the next crash offers the 24-Hour Ad-Free Pass or Ad-Free for Life instead. If no video can be loaded (for example when you're offline) the button says NO AD AVAILABLE and you can try again or sail again from the start. Ad-free and pass players get a free revive every run, with no daily limit.
Can I get rid of an island?
Yes, with a precise shot. Every island has a thin green verge along its water edge. A shell that lands on that strip — and only that strip — blows the island up: +3 points, the land is gone and you sail straight through where it was. The level signboard stays on its post in the water so you still know where you are. A shell anywhere else in the land buries itself as before and you lose the cannon until that island has drifted past. The strip is three pixels wide, so line up carefully before you tap. Level 1 shows you this, and the green mine, in your first three runs.
What is the green mine?
Once per stage, somewhere in the middle levels, a mine flashes green and white. Sail into it on purpose: you are invincible for the rest of that level and the next two whole levels. Mines and islands can't sink you — you sail straight through or over them — and you still score for everything you pass or blow up. Your ship flashes green and the corner reads INVINCIBLE · THROUGH LVL 15 (or whichever level is your last); crossing the line into the level after that ends it. Shells fly straight through the green mine, so a stray shot can't waste it, but it isn't always in the easy lane. In a linked river everyone can collect it for themselves.
Why did I get a notification about the leaderboard?
If you've allowed notifications, Sea Sprint sends one when someone takes your #1 spot ("Mutiny, Captain! … just took your #1 spot") or knocks you out of the leaderboard's top ten ("Oh no, Captain! You're no longer in the top ten."). Each is sent once per drop, never for anything else, and only ever to your own phone; tapping it opens the game on the home screen with the fresh leaderboard in view. To stop them, turn off notifications for Sea Sprint in your phone's Settings; the game asks for permission the first time you finish a run inside the top ten, and you can say no then too.
Why did my ship jump to the top of the screen?
You've made Captain. From level 111 the river is sailed the other way for 100 levels; see About turn above. It turns back at level 211.
What's the difference between 8-BIT and 16-BIT?
Same game, two looks. 8-BIT is chunky pixels with a sea-shanty soundtrack; 16-BIT is twice the detail with an arpeggiated synth score. Switch under MENU → Style on the home screen; you can change as often as you like and your scores are shared between them.
There's no sound or music
Check Sound is ON under MENU on the home screen (the crash screen has a SND button in the corner too), that your phone isn't in silent mode with the side switch, and that the volume is up. Music starts on the home screen and changes with the graphics style. If a call or another app took the audio, returning to the home screen brings it back.
Ads look odd or say "Test Ad"
That only happens in pre-release builds. If you're seeing it in the App Store or Google Play version, email us with a screenshot and your app version (iPhone: Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Sea Sprint; Android: Settings → Apps → Sea Sprint).
How do I stop personalised ads?
iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking and turn Sea Sprint off. Android: Settings → Google → Ads (or Privacy → Ads) → delete or reset your advertising ID, or turn off ad personalisation. You'll still see ads, just not ones based on your activity elsewhere. To stop ads entirely, buy Remove Ads. Full details are in our privacy policy.
The game froze or won't open
Swipe up to close Sea Sprint fully and open it again. If it keeps happening, restart your phone, and if that doesn't help, delete and reinstall the app, then use MENU → RESTORE PURCHASES to bring Ad-Free for Life back. Reinstalling gives the game a fresh identity, so your old handle will show as taken until you email us with the handle to release it. Then let us know your device model and iOS or Android version so we can fix the underlying problem.
Can I play on Android or on the web?
Yes to Android: Sea Sprint is free on Google Play, and it's the same game with the same global leaderboard as the iPhone version, so you're ranked against everyone. There's no web version; the game is app-only.
Report a problem or suggest something
Email support@seasprint.app. Bug reports are most useful with your device model, iOS or Android version, the graphics style you were using and what you were doing when it happened. Ideas for new waters, ranks and mischief are welcome too.