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 full ahead, slide down to ease off, 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.
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
Make Captain (level 110) and the river turns. From level 111 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. Share cards made after the turn show the river the way you sailed it.
Ranks
You're promoted every ten levels. 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: reach level 10 in one run and you're an Ordinary Seaman, level 20 makes you an Able Seaman, and so on up to Captain at level 110. 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 | Highest level in one run |
|---|---|
| Recruit | 1 |
| Ordinary Seaman | 10 |
| Able Seaman | 20 |
| Leading Hand | 30 |
| Petty Officer | 40 |
| Chief Petty Officer | 50 |
| Midshipman | 60 |
| Sub-Lieutenant | 70 |
| Lieutenant | 80 |
| Lieutenant Commander | 90 |
| Commander | 100 |
| Captain | 110 |
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.
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 instead of ALL PLAYERS
The game couldn't reach the shared leaderboard when it started, usually because the phone was offline or on a very slow connection. Your runs are still saved on the device. 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 does Remove Ads work?
It's a single one-off purchase, not a subscription. Tap GO AD-FREE on the home screen and confirm with Apple or Google. The banner disappears immediately, 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).
What is the 24-hour pass?
A cheaper, short-term version of ad-free revives. It's offered on the crash screen once you've used all three of the day's ad revives and have nothing banked. For 24 hours from the moment you buy it every run gets a free revive with no video to watch, one per run, then it expires on its own; it isn't a subscription and nothing renews. Buy it again whenever you like. It doesn't remove the banner or the ad breaks between stages; Remove Ads does that.
I bought Remove Ads 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 RESTORE under the GO AD-FREE 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.
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. 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. The streak is kept on your phone, so it doesn't follow you to a new device.
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 score and level and the store link. It fires the moment you take the top spot from someone; if you're already leading and beat your own best it stays quiet.
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, 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 pass or Remove Ads 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.
Why did I get a notification about the top ten?
If you've allowed notifications, Sea Sprint sends one when someone knocks you out of the leaderboard's top ten ("Oh no, Captain! You're no longer in the top ten."). It's sent once per drop, never for anything else, and only ever to your own phone. To stop it, 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 from 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 SND ON is showing in the corner of the home screen (tap it if it says SND OFF), 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 RESTORE for Remove Ads. 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.