OlliOlli arrived on the PlayStation Vita on 21 January 2014 in North America, and on 22 January 2014 in Europe. Roll7 developed the game and published the Vita version. Across its many platforms, the listed publishers are Curve Digital, Devolver Digital and Roll7. It is a skateboarding game with a side-on view, a single-player focus, and a control scheme built on almost nothing.
Roll7 asks a lot of that almost-nothing.
Trailer, via Roll7.
One Button, One Chance
OlliOlli uses the “X” button, the shoulder buttons, and the left analog stick. That is the whole instrument. The player combines tricks and then tries to land them perfectly. Land badly and the game hands over only a fraction of the points a clean landing would have earned. There are no checkpoints. Fall anywhere in a level and the level starts again from the top.
That is the deal, and it never softens. The one-life structure is the source of both the game’s pull and its cruelty. A run is short. A run is also over the instant you misjudge a landing.
The game ships with over 120 tricks and grinds spread across 50 levels. Each level carries 5 achievements. Clear them and a harder level opens. Clear everything and RAD Mode unlocks — a harder tier still.
50 Levels, 250 Challenges, and the Daily Grind
The content stacks up beyond the campaign. There are 250 Challenges, plus Spots Mode and Daily Grind. Daily Grind picks a random Spot and gives every player 24 hours to post a score there. Practice is unlimited. The scored attempt is not. One chance, one score, then the clock runs out.
Leaderboards run across every mode, so the competition is global rather than local. The pitch is simple: rack up the biggest combos, time the landing, and climb.
That structure is where OlliOlli earns its keep. A single-life run against a worldwide board is a clean loop, and it gives the player a reason to replay a level. The Daily Grind is the sharpest version of the idea — a shared, timed, one-shot test that resets the field every day.
Ports, Sequels, and a Retail Bundle
OlliOlli did not stay a Vita exclusive. General Arcade handled the Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux port, published by Devolver Digital. BlitWorks built the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions, published by Roll7, and later the Android version, published by Devolver Digital. Carbon made the Xbox One, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS ports, published by Curve Digital.
The full platform list runs PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Linux, Nintendo 3DS, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Wii U, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One.
The sequels followed. OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood was announced for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 on 25 September 2014, and released on 3 March 2015 in North America and 4 March 2015 in Europe. OlliOlli World arrived on 8 February 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows.
There was also a physical push. On 9 April 2016, Roll7 said it had worked with Spanish publisher and distributor Badland Games to bring OlliOlli and OlliOlli2 to retail stores as OlliOlli: Epic Combo Edition for PlayStation 4. And on 14 February 2019, the two games were collected for Nintendo Switch as OlliOlli: Switch Stance.
What the 7.9 Actually Says
The published critical score sits at 7.9 out of 10, drawn from an aggregate of 10 outlets. That number is honest about what OlliOlli is.
Ranked by what matters most here:
- The landing system — perfect or fraction, no middle ground.
- The one-life runs — no checkpoints, instant restarts.
- Daily Grind — 24 hours, one scored attempt, a fresh Spot each day.
- The 50 levels and 250 Challenges — real volume behind the hook.
- RAD Mode — the payoff for clearing every challenge.
The landing mechanic is the whole game. Everything else is scaffolding around it.
Where OlliOlli holds up: the control scheme is genuinely lean, and the scoring punishes sloppiness without ever feeling arbitrary. A fraction of the points is a clear, readable penalty. The player always knows why a run failed.
Where it grates: 50 levels with no checkpoints is a lot of repetition, and the difficulty curve is steep enough that some players will bounce off before RAD Mode is ever in reach. The 5 achievements per level gate progress, which means a stuck player is a stuck player.
The ports matter more than the original release date suggests. OlliOlli started on Vita, but the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS and Xbox One versions are the ones most players met. A game this twitchy lives or dies on input feel, and Roll7 farmed those ports out to three different studios — General Arcade, BlitWorks, Carbon. Handing a precision game to outside hands is a real risk. The score is what we have to go on, and it is a good one.
OlliOlli is not a game that wants to be liked quickly. It wants a perfect landing, every time, and it will take back everything else. That is a narrow promise, and Roll7 keeps it.
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