Turbo Pudding

TirraleeMeet the cast

The three spirits you meet most on the Skyward Tree

· The Turbo Pudding team · 4 min read

Old Drizzle, a big gray-blue rain cloud with worried eyebrows, round shiny eyes, a tear on her cheek and her mouth open in a sad little O, floats in a pale blue rainy sky with a small dark gray scribble of a cloud over her head and raindrops falling from under her; below her, Tirra, a round apricot fledgling with a crest of three feathers and an orange beak, stands at the left end of a ledge of gray stone blocks with mint tops, facing her, and Lee, a round lilac fledgling with a curl on top, a long curled tail and sleepy half-closed eyes, stands at the right end, facing her too; soft white clouds and thin streaks of rain fill the sky behind them

It’s Monday, so let’s meet some of the cast. On the long climb up the Skyward Tree, Tirra and Lee run into three spirits more than any others: the Stompling walks, the Chirpet hops and the Spotkin flies. And at the end of the fifth level waits a big rain cloud who calls two of them in to help.

That cloud is Old Drizzle, in the picture at the top. More about her at the end.

All three have something in common with every spirit in the Tree. Each has lost its song, and the lost song hangs over its head as a small gray scribble of a cloud. Blow a bubble at a spirit, pop the bubble with a touch, and the song comes back.

Stompling, the one who walks

A Stompling is a little root: a round brown radish on two thin rootlet feet, with a sprout of two green leaves on top. It is by far the most common spirit in the game. There are 152 Stomplings in 47 of the game’s 50 regular rooms, and only three rooms, high up in the night, have none at all.

A Stompling walks along the ledges and turns around when it meets a wall. At the end of a ledge, it usually turns back, but now and then it simply walks off. Every second or two it makes up its mind again. If a fledgling is on the same level, it turns to face them. If not, one time in four it turns around anyway. And if a fledgling stands at least two tiles higher and there’s a ledge above to land on, the Stompling may hop up after them.

In a pale pink cloud room, Lee, a round lilac fledgling with a curl on top, a long curled tail and sleepy half-closed eyes, stands on a ledge of white cloud blocks and blows a big shiny lilac bubble from an open yellow beak toward a Stompling, a round brown root with two green leaves sprouting on top, two thin rootlet feet and big dark eyes, who stands at the other end of the ledge looking back at Lee, a small gray scribble of a cloud hanging over its sprout; another long ledge of cloud blocks runs across the top
Searched “can a radish walk.” This one does, on two rootlet feet.

Chirpet, the one who hops

A Chirpet is a grasshopper: a green, bean-shaped body with a pale green belly, a folded hind leg and two long feelers. Chirpets live in the meadow of the second level, then turn up in the woods of the fourth and once more in the very last level. That makes 20 Chirpets in 12 rooms.

A Chirpet never walks. On the ground, it stands still, and every half second to a second it jumps. Before most hops, six times out of ten, it turns toward the nearest fledgling first. It only moves sideways while it’s in the air, and it goes a good deal faster that way than a Stompling walks.

In a bright meadow room under a pale sky, a Chirpet, a green bean-shaped grasshopper with a light green belly, two long feelers, a folded hind leg and big dark eyes, hops through the air with a small gray scribble of a cloud over its head, while below it Tirra, a round apricot fledgling with a crest of three feathers and an orange beak, stands on a ledge of earth blocks with grassy tops, facing right; more short grassy ledges float around them
Typed “how high can a grasshopper jump.” Over Tirra, easily.

Spotkin, the one who flies

A Spotkin is a ladybug: a red dome with black dots, a dark head in front with two big white eyes, and a pair of see-through wings that never stop fluttering. Spotkins arrive in the woods of the third level, and there are 23 of them in 16 rooms.

A Spotkin doesn’t bother with ledges. It flies on a slant, straight through them, and bounces off walls, solid blocks, the floor and the ceiling. It doesn’t chase anyone, so its zigzag stays the same until something gets in the way. When a Spotkin is set free, its eyes turn into two happy little arcs.

In a night room in deep violet, two Spotkins, round red ladybugs with black dots, dark heads with big white eyes and pale see-through wings, fly in the air, one on the left facing right and one higher up on the right facing left, each with a small gray scribble of a cloud over it; below them Lee, the round lilac fledgling with a curl on top and a long curled tail, stands on a ledge of lavender blocks facing right with sleepy half-closed eyes, next to a tall pillar of lavender blocks, with a dark hill behind and a few pale stars
People also ask: “do ladybugs fly at night?” In level 9, yes.

A little quicker every level

The higher the fledglings climb, the quicker the Tree gets. Every level has its own pace, from 1.02 in the first level to 1.25 in the tenth, so the same Stompling walks more than a fifth faster near the top than near the roots. A spirit that wriggles out of a bubble comes out angry and 60 percent faster. And when dusk falls in a room, every spirit in it speeds up by another 35 percent.

Old Drizzle and her helpers

Old Drizzle is a big gray-blue cloud, and rain falls from under her all the time. The spirits frown when they’re cross, but she doesn’t. She has worried eyebrows and a tear on her cheek. Before every throw, she shakes and opens her mouth wide for about half a second, then sends a fan of three big raindrops at the nearest fledgling.

Bubbles can’t hold her. Fireflies can: firefly bubbles keep rising in her room, and it takes 14 fireflies to break the spell, compared with 8 for Old Dandel at the end of the second level. The more she’s worn down, the faster she drifts and the sooner she throws. Halfway through, her fans grow to four drops, and every nine seconds she calls in two helpers, Stomplings or Spotkins, as long as there are fewer than four spirits in the room.

Her helpers turn out to be useful, though. Catch one, pop the bubble, and the freed spirit sends a firefly straight at her.

Play alone, or with a friend on one keyboard: Tirra on the arrow keys, Lee on A, D and W. The first two levels are free to play in your browser at tirralee.com; the full game is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on its Tirralee page.

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