Here Comes Niko! - How to Speedrun (Useful Tips)

Have no time to chill? In a hurry? Or do you just want to make friends quick? If you say yes to any or all of these, then this guide is for you! Also you should try to catch a break at some point and care for your digital pet. Seriously, that snail is one of the cutest things that deserves to be protected and cared for, no matter how quick on your feet you are.

Speedrun Guide

All credit goes to Cinovel!

As for spoilers, I’ll do my best to avoid them.

The Basics

Like they all say: You have to learn to crawl before you stand, and you have to learn to stand before you walk.

Here I’ll show you the basic feats Niko can perform!

Starting off with the default controls, they can:

Run with the WASD keys on keyboard or the left thumbstick on a controller.
Look around with the mouse on keyboard or right thumbstick on a controller.
Jump with the space bar or A/X on an Xbox or PlayStation controller.
Perform actions like talking with fellow friends using the Q key or the B/Circle button.
Dive with the E key or with the X/Square button.

If these controls feel awkward to you, you can change the bindings in the Controller/Keyboard & Mouse settings at any time! I only had to change my dive button to my right trigger since I was more used to that in A Hat in Time.

As for the things Niko can do on the surface, they are able to:

Climb walls by jumping or diving into them (they will just hang there if no buttons are pressed).
Dive multiple times to get from point A to point B faster than running alone.
Jump from or dive from walls by pressing the respective buttons.
Be one of the most adorable main characters in a platformer alongside Hat Kid and Celeste.

These are all of the things Niko can do when looking at the game through a basic understanding of platformer games, but those who are willing to look deeper will discover some neat elements about Here Comes Niko.

The Double Jump

Because every platformer character needs one, right?

So you want to discover secret tricks in getting around faster? Alrighty! Remember, this is a work in progress, so if more discoveries are made, they’ll be added here!

First up, we have a fairly basic technique known as:

The Double Jump

Normally, Niko can only jump once before having to land again to get it back, and the jump itself is somewhat low to the ground, so unless they’re next to a wall, they won’t jump very high. However, there is a trick to jump higher up and get over certain obstacles faster, or reach places that would be harder or impossible otherwise.

Mild spoiler for an ability you can get later on in the game: That is, unless you have the super jump available, which can be obtained later on in the game from my understanding.

To perform the double jump, you dive, and almost right after you jump up from it, press the jump button. If you don’t press the jump button during a dive, Niko will automatically jump up with a distinctive (and cute) sound. There is a moment in just a few frames of the jump (yes, we’re talking frame data now) where you can press the jump button to jump again. Somewhat complex for a double jump, but at least they have one!
In the context of a speed run, this can be really useful if you need some extra height to scale a wall faster than normal, but you have to dive into it right, not hitting it, but landing almost right in front of it.
You may have to shorten the distance of your dive somewhat to pull it off. You can do that by holding the opposite direction of which Niko is diving.
You can also use it in certain situations in a volley, like when you dive for the ball, but have to go a bit higher to pass it back!

While practicing, I recommend trying this technique on the front of the train, since you’ll know you’re doing it right if you can get on top of it in a single climb.

Small tip for a bit more extra height: Dive into a wall after a wall jump to jump up another time and gain extra height, as well as being able to climb up that same wall again. This is assuming you haven’t used up a dive in the air yet. I don’t have a name for this trick yet, but I thought about putting it in anyways since it can be really convenient to learn.