Here are the top 10 tips/tricks/cheats you need to know for Alto’s Odyssey.
1. Get Used to the Sandboarding Roster of Alto’s Odyssey
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• Alongside Alto (who’s an all-around sandboarder), there’s a few other master sandboarders. Those extra characters are Maya, Paz, Izel, Felipe, and Sumara. Maya unlocks at Level 11, Paz comes in at Level 21, Izel becomes playable at Level 31, and Felipe joins the roster at Level 41. Maya and Sumara have great air rotation skills, Paz starts out slow but can be a force once his speed increases, Izel is a master user of the Wingsuit and is a Jack of all Trades in every stat, and Felipe and Sumara can double jump. Sumara also has an easier time dealing with Lemurs since they’re unable to directly attack her board. You’ll get acquainted with Sumara after you reach Level 51.
2. Backflipping is Your Bread and Butter
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• Rolling hills are a great place to sneak in a quick backflip. You can earn bonus points from landing tricks while you’re operating close to the ground. Proximity backflips and proximity Wingsuit flights drive up your score, too. Proximity backflips can be accomplished by landing a trick while closer to the ground. Flying close to the ground with your Wingsuit on classifies as a Wingsuit flight. Pushing your score multiplier up to 8x or more will activate your Wingsuit, by the way.
• Each of the game’s characters have a different feel to them when it comes time to pull off backflips. Alto’s jump is the most balanced of the entire cast, Maya has better rotation but needs a faster leadup in order to get more air, and Paz has an easier time landing after a backflip but his rotation is much slower than Maya’s. Landing multiple backflips in a single jump gives you more points, which gets added to your score multiplier should you land safely. A single backflip nets you 10 points, 50 points comes your way for making a successful chasm jump, and a double backflip grants you 60 points. Triple and quadruple backflips can also be pulled off, but only master sandboarders can land those.
3. How to Stay Ahead of Lemurs
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• The desert is home to an abundance of wildlife – some helpful, some dangerous. The Lemurs fall into the dangerous category. Once your character makes it past the two-kilometer mark during a stage run, Lemurs appear onscreen and chase you down. In order to keep them from catching up to you, you’ll need to keep landing tricks. Pulling off backflips and doing so while you’re grinding increases your speed. Lemurs can also jump and grind, but it’s easy to stay away from them if you just stay ahead of them by pulling off quick jumps and constant backflips.
4. Head to the Temple City to Pull Off Some Water-Based Maneuvers
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• Skimming across the water gives you a speed boost, a temporary forcefield, and a score bonus! Pulling off that maneuver is easier to do at the Temples location since it’s jam packed with streams, ponds and waterfalls.
5. Grinding to Greatness
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• Sometimes a balloon bunting line is the perfect escape route from Lemurs. Long, uninterrupted grinds give you a speed boost while you ride. There’s a particular type of grinding action known as Vine Grinds, which you’ll notice are more present at the Temples destination. Vines can be found attached to various tress and poles. Vines eventually come apart after you ride them for a while. Pay attention to the game’s visual and audio cues during a Vine Grind session – they’ll let you know when that vine’s close to snapping. That notification will tell you when it’s time to hop off, land on another vine, and keep your score multiplier alive.
6. Wall Riding!
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• Wall Riding is an integral part of properly navigating the Canyons. Your Wall Ride trajectory is dependent upon both where you start your jump and when you start your Wall Ride. Before you hop onto a wall, build up your speed exponentially by landing tricks. That’ll lead into a Wall Ride via your character jumping into the air near a wall, which should be your signal to tap and hold the screen to start riding it. If you start riding a wall near a low point, your boarder will ascend the wall and eventually move downward. Let go of the screen just before you reach the end of a wall in order to pull off a Wall Jump maneuver.
7. Take Advantage of Mother Nature’s Ever Changing Moods
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• Some weather patterns can be used to your advantage. You can ride straight through a tornado or jump into one to gain a boost in height. Grinding and jumping off/onto other objects in the game goes towards chaining your tricks together and keeping your score high. Bouncing off a balloon, grinding on the flagged lines attached to a balloon, going airborne after coming off ramps etc. are examples of that method towards trick progression.
8. Take a Trip to Izel’s Workshop
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• Head to Izel’s Workshop to buy new items and upgrade your gear. The items you can obtain are the Signal Amplifier, Sandboard, Wingsuit, Magnet Timer, Lotus Timer, Helmet, and Chasm Rescue. The coins you collect during your stage runs are put towards purchasing those goods. One tool that you need to focus on upgrading before anything is the Magnet Timer, which automatically attracts coins to you as you pass them during a sandboarding session.
• The Helmet and Chasm Rescue are one-time use items that save you from a single crash after a trick and keeps you from falling into a chasm, respectively. Obtaining the Lotus Timer allows your character to stay airborne for a while longer, protects you from crashing, and clears out any rocks in your path. The Sandboard is used towards riding walls. And finally, picking up the Signal Amplifier leads to the appearance of green crates that contain all types of goodies. Simply smash into them to get all those extra coins, Magnet Timers, and whatever else is waiting inside.
9. So What Does the Compass Do?
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• The other item that’s obtainable from Izel’s Workshop is the Compass. Once it’s in your possession, all you have to do is pay a “small fee” (1000 coins doesn’t seem so small…) in order to pick which destination you’d like to go. Each area is catered towards certain elements, so using the Compass to choose where you’d like to go is best when you’re looking for those particular features. For instance, the Dunes are full of more balloons and tornadoes, plus they offer more ruin grinds and line bunting opportunities. The Compass is also a great tool when you’re looking to complete area specific achievements.
10. Enjoying the Scenery Actually Makes a Difference in Your Trick Point Total
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• Every adventure has challenges, lessons, and moments of discovery. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy the view. Completing certain achievements can only be done by doing an entire stage run during a day or night setting. You’ll also get extra points at the end of a run depending on how many chasms you’ve cleared and how many landscapes (aka “biomes”) you’ve laid eyes on.
