River Stile Gates

The river never stops pushing. River Stile Gates is a whitewater kayak slalom where the water itself is the opponent: it moves under you every second, it moves at different speeds across the channel, and half the gates on the course have to be taken against it. TWO INPUTS, ONE MOVING RIVER Drag sideways anywhere on the water to swing the bow. Tap the left half of the screen to plant a paddle stroke on the left, the right half for a stroke on the right. A stroke drives the hull along whatever line the bow is pointing and also nudges the bow away from the paddling side, so angle and power are two separate decisions you make at the same time. That is the whole control scheme, and it is deep enough to carry six courses. THE FERRY A kayak slides along its own length easily and resists sliding sideways. Point the bow part way upstream and paddle forward: the drive cancels the downstream push and what is left over is pure sideways travel across the river. That is a ferry, and it is the only clean way to cross a fast channel without being washed past the gate you were aiming for. Learning it turns the course from a steering problem into a planning problem. EDDIES Behind every rock is a pocket where the water reverses and runs back up the river. Ferry into one and the current stops fighting you and starts carrying you upstream. Eddies are drawn on the water as pale turning rings, and every red gate on every course has one within reach. Hopping from eddy to eddy is how a fast run gets built. GREEN DOWN, RED UP Green gates are crossed going downstream. Red gates must be entered from below, which means slipping past them first, crossing the flow, and climbing back up through the poles. The gate you are on shows a pulsing chevron pointing the direction you have to be travelling for it to count. THE CLOCK IS HONEST Your result is paddling time plus penalties. Touching a pole costs two seconds. Missing a gate costs fifty. The fastest clean run always wins, so there is a real decision on every gate between the tight fast line and the safe one. SIX HAND-BUILT COURSES Willow Chute is a gentle grade I with one quiet eddy. Kettle Bend throws the whole river at one bank. Stone Ladder staggers boulders the whole way down. Split Tongue divides the flow into two fast lanes with dead water between them. Anvil Drop runs a hard central tongue between two dead banks. Long Weir is the full championship line: five upstream gates and two crossing flows that never let up. Every course is hand-placed, so every one of them is runnable and every red gate has an eddy that will get you there. PRACTICE WATER Slack Water is one upstream gate on slow current with the flow field drawn straight onto the surface as arrows, so you can see exactly where the water is going before you commit. No clock pressure, no penalties that matter. WHAT THE APP TRACKS Best time on every course, clean runs, gates made, upstream gates made, pole touches and gates missed, plus ten awards from your first finish through to beating par on the grade IV line. Everything is saved on the device and survives a restart. BUILT TO BE LEFT ALONE Completely offline. No internet permission, no accounts, no sign-in, no ads, no analytics, no third-party services, no in-app purchases, no data collection of any kind. There is also no sound at all: every piece of feedback is visual, with optional short haptic buzzes you can switch off. Play it on a plane, on a train, in a waiting room, with the volume up on something else. Portrait only. Suitable for all ages. No gambling, no violence, no dark themes, no real-money anything. Just a boat, a river, and a line to find.