RippleLoop turns skipping stones into an incredibly satisfying incremental

When was the last time you stood by a body of water, surrounded by pebbles, and just started throwing them in, hoping they'd bounce off the surface a few times? Skipping stones is a relic of my childhood, and probably yours too, but DistortedGameDev has turned this simple pleasure of the past into a delightful incremental game called RippleLoop. 

In RippleLoop, you just have to throw pebbles onto the water and see how many bounces you can get. The further you get and the higher your multiplier, the more money you earn, which then buys you upgrades to make your little pebbles go further and earn more. All the usual incremental stuff, but there's something so charming and nostalgic about RippleLoop, and I can't help but love it. 

Skipping the bad part

Thankfully, RippleLoop doesn't require you to track down the perfect smooth, flat pebble. That was always the worst and most tedious part of stone skipping when I was a kid, and I hated it. Frankly, that could be an entire horror game on its own, and if the developers are reading this, you're welcome for the prequel idea. 

Imagine a game about finding the perfect stone, thinking you've done it, then throwing it into the water only to hear an impossibly deep “plop” and having to watch as it immediately sinks to the bottom. That was my experience at least half the time as a child, so I have thoroughly enjoyed not having to do that at all in RippleLoop. 

Anyway… 

The little pebble that could

Rather than relying on a hope and a prayer to make your pebble hop, skip, and jump across the water's surface, RippleLoop has plenty of upgrades you can buy to improve the performance of your stone. You can increase the anti-gravitational properties, make it faster, and even purchase little boosts that let you click the pebble to keep it going. 

And some of these upgrades are absolutely worth piling on early, such as one that makes your stone tougher and another that spreads obstacles in the water further apart. Scattered down the course on which your pebble bounces, there are obstacles scattered along your pebble's path that will completely devastate your progress unless you manage to bounce over them. You need to harden your pebble and separate the obstacles to maximize the distance your little stone can go. 

There is something intensely satisfying about watching your little pebble soar through the air and bounce on the water, traveling further and further each time you throw it. This really is a case of “numbers go brrr”, but it’s packed in a nostalgic wrapping that makes it feel really special. 

RippleLoop is set to release before the end of 2026, although there's no more specific release date as of yet. If you want to give it a try, there's a demo available right now on Steam.