Watch for Rolling Objects

They see me rollin'
They hatin'
^{Clockwise from top left} Adventure Island, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Lords of Exile, Hugo

If you don't need to run away from a boulder or some other object Indy Escape style, then you probably need to avoid them some other way. Usually you have to either jump over them, hide in a conveniently located spot, jump up onto a platform, or just time when you cross the path. Sometimes they can be destroyed, but timing the attacks is usually more difficult than just avoiding them.

This trope can occur in a few ways, though usually the rolling objects simply appear out of thin air. Sometimes they're Justified however, such as being dispensed by some machine, object, or even just a slot in a wall. An enemy could be throwing them at you as well. In this case, what separates it from a normal enemy is that the enemy is undefeatable or a Level Goal, so all you can do is get to them or get past them.

This trope has several variations depending on where it is encountered. Rocks can be found commonly in Death Mountain and Underground Level, though can appear in Green Hill Zone or other settings that could have rocky mountains or hills. A version involving massive snowballs can appear in Slippy-Slidey Ice World, sometimes even briefly turning the player into Human Snowball when caught. A third form is a rolling barrel, either a classic wooden keg or metal barrel, both usually most common in urban or village settings, or in Gangplank Galleon, with metal barrels being more common in modern or futuristic settings. The fourth most common form is just a big metal ball. This one is usually not tied to a particular setting. The bounciness of rolling objects can vary as well.

This trope is common in platforming games, though can appear in any genre. Despite how complex it can be at times, this trope first appeared in games dating back to the early 1980s, making it Older Than the NES. Sometimes present in Death Course.

Compare with:

• Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Rolling objects are a common hazard in that kind of segment.
• Guerrilla Boulders: A Sister Trope of this. Applies when boulders roll offscreen but stop until the player reaches the source.
• Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball
• Indy Escape: When a character or player needs to run away from a threat. May include a rolling object.
• Rolling Attack: When it's the enemies themselves that roll.
• Spike Balls of Doom: A (usually) non-rolling and spiky ball.

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Examples:

Platformer Games

• 1001 Spikes: Rocks that roll along the ground start to appear from world 3 onward.
• Action 52: In Hambo the player needs to dodge balls that roll back and forth across the platforms.
• The Addams Family on the NES: Ice stage section has snowballs that roll along the ground.
• Adventure Island: Boulders rolling downhill are a common hazard in the series. Fireballs can destroy the boulders.
• Bible Adventures: From the second level of Noah's Ark, there are brock rocks that roll along the surface that must be avoided. In David and Goliath, the same rocks appear in the last two levels.
• Broforce: In Temple levels, there are boulders activated at certain spots so the player needs to dodge, usually by jumping over them.
• Chameleon Twist: In Desert Land, there is a section where bouncing and rolling boulders fall from the sky and roll downhill. The player has to dodge them.
• Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers: Zone F has grey spheres. While some fall immediately to Bottomless Pits, others roll along the ground, making the player dodge them.
• Congo's Caper: One of the hazards are rocks that roll along the surface. These can be destroyed.
• Crash Bandicoot (1996): Several of the jungle levels have large stone wheels rolling from one side of the path to the other and back again, and Crash has to time his jump to get past them. There's also "Toxic Waste", one long Corridor Cubbyhole Run in which Crash has to periodically duck into small crannies to avoid the toxic barrels rolling down the stage.
• Donkey Kong: The 25m level is centered around Mario dodging rolling barrels that roll down the construction site.
• Donkey Kong Country Barrel Maze: Rolling boulders start moving once the player's barrel is close enough to them.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (NES): In the final level, the main obstacles in Jekyll's way are the barrels that roll along the street at different speeds. Some even bounce slightly. Jekyll must jump over them to have a chance of winning.
• Ex Mutants: Sewer level has rocks dropping down to a floor and then proceeding to roll along the surface. Rocks make a return in Locomotive Level.
• The Flintstones: The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak: In the first level, there is a section where the player needs to climb up the ledges while rocks are rolling downhill.
• Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no Bouken: Future stages have rocks as a hazard that fall down from the sky and then start rolling back and forth.
• Gex: Enter The Gecko: In Toon TV: Fine Tooning level, there is a section where coconuts roll downhill, bouncing slightly. Gex can use alcoves to avoid getting hit.
• Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2: There are large boulders rolling down the hill. The player must destroy them.
• Hook: From the first stage, rolling rocks as obstacles appear as a hazard. Rolling acorns are also present.
• Indiana Jones:
  • Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures: The snow mountain level has sections where snowballs roll downhill and Indiana has to jump over them. The burning house features rolling flaming debris that also needs to be jumped over.
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: In the Sega Genesis version, in the first stage, the player has to defeat the boss and grab the Cross of Coronado. Doing so springs up a nearby trap: boulders will soon roll out from the left corner of the screen and One-Hit Kill Indy. The player has to make a quick jump to avoid being hit by the boulders.
• Joe & Mac: Stage 4 has boulders that move along the ground.
• Jurassic Park (Sega Master System): There are sections where rocks frequently fall on the ground in order to roll down the slopes.
• Kenseiden has a few instances where the player needs to avoid rolling rocks.
• King of Kings: The Early Years: In the last level of Flight To Egypt, the player needs to dodge snowballs that roll down the hill.
• Kirby:
  • Kirby's Return to Dream Land makes the first appearance of rolling boulders. Kirby needs to jump over them.
  • Kirby: Planet Robobot: In the casino stages in Resolution Road and Rhythm Route, there are rolling billiard balls Kirby must avoid.
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land: In the Rocky Rollin' Road and Forgo Plains stages, before the Indy Escape portion of each, Kirby encounters groups of boulders rolling downhill, acting as a timing-based obstacle.
• Knight's Try: In a handful of locations, the knight needs to run along the places where rolling boulders move towards the knight. These need to be jumped over or dodged.
• Lester the Unlikely: In the section before Lester boards the pirate ship, there are wooden barrels moving back and forth across the slopes that must be jumped over.
• Lords of Exile: The first level has the players dodging barrels that roll on the ground until they hit a spiked wall. Third level introduces rocks that fall from holes to drop vertically on the ground while rolling.
• Monster in My Pocket: In one of the levels, your character goes downhill and has to jump over blue rolling balls.
• Moon Crystal: In stage 5, there are a few locations where rocks fall from the ceiling, bouncing downward from surfaces they hit.
• Pitfall!: Barrels that roll along the surface from right to left are a common obstacle that Pitfall Harry must jump over to proceed.
• Skull N Crossbones: Rolling barrels are a common hazard.
• Sonic Generations: Rooftop Run Act 1 has a section in which Classic Sonic has to avoid barrels that periodically spawn and roll along the level.
• Cave level of Star Wars on the NES has blue rocks that roll along the ground.
• Super Mario Bros.: Rolling rocks are commonly found throughout the series.
  • The first boulders that appear as obstacles rather than spawned by enemies are in Super Mario 64 in the course "Hazy Maze Cave", and are prominent in the mission "Watch For Rolling Rocks".
  • Super Mario Galaxy: Rolling boulders act as an obstacle.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2: In Slipsand Galaxy, the player needs to dodge stone rolls while sliding downhill.
  • Super Mario Odyssey: In Seaside Kingdom, there is a section where Mario has to climb uphill while boulders roll down from there. In Bowser Kingdom, there are cannonball dispensers that fire rolling cannonballs. Mario can use pokio capture to redirect those cannonballs.
• Super Robin Hood in Quattro Adventure have two rolling hazards that appear out of nowhere: Metal balls and barrels. Both of them roll along a predetermined path before falling off the screen. The difference between the two is that barrels can be jumped on to reach higher areas.
• Time Lord: Rolling barrels appear as hazards in the pirate ship's stage.
• Total Recall: In a rocky level, rolling rocks roll down the slopes.
• Wacky Races (1991): Late in the game, there are rolling rocks that the player must avoid.
• Whomp Em: In Fire Test and Secret Cliff, there are boulders that roll along the ground.
• Downplayed in Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom. In Arcade Panik, there are sections where metal balls roll downhill and the player has to dodge them. While not deadly upon contact, they can easily push the Taxi into Bottomless Pits.

Other Video Games

Action-Adventure

• The GBC version of Daikatana has an area where you have to run into cubbyholes to avoid rolling boulders. It's notable for being the sole hazard in the entire game that kills you instantly rather than deducting a small amount of HP.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: A close variant happens during Link's initial approach to Death Mountain: the native Gorons start attacking him by rolling down the mountain to knock him back down the path. He has to go back to Ordon Village to get the Iron Boots from the mayor so that he weighs enough to catch the Gorons and throw them past him.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: The Mo'a Keet Shrine's challenge consists of navigating a series of sloping chutes along which large stone or metal balls roll down periodically. The pathways are too narrow to dodge aside on, and too long for Link to traverse between a ball dropping into the bottomless pit at the end and its replacement being deposited at the top. Clearing the first part, which as stone balls, requires using Stasis to halt them in place when they exit the chute and running up the slope in the larger time window afforded until the Stasis breaks and the ball continues on its way. Clearing the second, with metal balls, requires using Magnesis to grab the sphere before it flattens you and depositing it somewhere flat.
• Naturally, being inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark and the rest of the Indiana Jones films, Tomb Raider has giant rolling boulders, forewarned by the screen vibrating (and sometimes a Scare Chord), which Lara must dodge. Boulders aren't the only rolling object of doom she must dodge though, as massive wine barrels, spiked logs, and runaway cars, among others, are also hazards that will kill her if she's hit by them.
  • A specific example occurs in Tomb Raider II: nearing the last section of "The Great Wall of China" (stage 1), Lara/the player is faced with two large round spinning blades rolling from one side to the other in perpetual motion.

Adventure

• Krull is loosely based upon the 1983 sci-fi fantasy film of the same name. The opening level has the player character attempt to collect the five pieces of the Glaive (a five-armed bladed weapon) from a hillside. Hindering this effort are many rolling boulders that will flatten the player if he doesn't dodge them.

Beat 'Em Up

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game: Metal balls that roll down the stairs can be encountered in the very first level, requiring some timing to dodge.
• Toxic Crusaders on the NES: There are screens where barrels roll across the area. The player can destroy them although it is recommended to jump over them.

Action / Hack 'n Slash:

• MediEvil: At one point, there is a mountain where infinite boulders roll downhill. It's in the style of Corridor Cubbyhole Run.
• God of War: In this game, the main part of the action happens in the three gods' trials in the Temple of Pandora. The third and last trial is the Challenge of Hades. After a certain point, the player enters a large room as giant boulders on fire keep rolling in the direction of the screen, trying to stop the player from finding the right exit.

Metroidvania:

• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, in Sandy Grave, there is a section where boulders roll down the ramp.

Racing Games

• Mario Kart: Some courses have rolling boulders and balls that have to be avoided, such as Athens Dash 2 and GBA Bowser Castle 4 (The original from Mario Kart: Super Circuit did not have any.) in Mario Kart Tour featuring boulders and metal balls, respectively, and boulders in Choco Mountain in Mario Kart 64.
  • Mario Kart DS adds DK Pass, which has snowballs that roll down the uphill portions of the course, and Waluigi Pinball, which has pinballs rolling along the course. Both returned in Mario Kart 7, with Waluigi Pinball also returning for Mario Kart 8.
  • Rock Rock Mountain (or Alpine Pass in the European version) from Mario Kart 7 has an uphill portion of the track with boulders rolling down it. The track would return in Mario Kart 8 as part of its DLC.
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed: The Ocean View track contains a section in which several Kaos (the giant rolling wheels from Ocean Palace's Indy Escape sequence) roll back and forth across the track, and hitting one spins you out.
• Zoo Race: In a few courses, there are Exploding Barrels that roll downhill. Getting hit with these slows the player down.

Role-Playing Games

• BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm: There are places in Mt. Dramatica that are filled with rolling boulders.
• Final Fantasy VII: One of the obstacles thwarting the party in the Temple of the Ancients is a corridor full of rolling boulders. The key to getting past it is to run from one safe spot to another while making sure the party isn't hit by a boulder.
• Persona 5: Futaba's Palace features several boulder corridors, one of which needs to be filled by said boulders in order to create a passageway to proceed. Unlike most versions of this trope, you're not at risk of being damaged by the boulders because the protagonists will simply refuse to enter the corridor until you've disarmed the trap.
• Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Titan Bombirdier first shows itself by dropping boulders down a hill that the player has to dodge to get to it.
• Skies of Arcadia features two descending corridors in the Temple of Pyrynn, with huge boulders rolling down in regular intervals. There are niches for you to dodge them, a few of them containing hidden treasure.
• StarTropics: There is a section where the player needs to do Corridor Cubbyhole Run to dodge rolling ball. The player can temporarily stop the ball with the fire.

First-Person Shooter

• Serious Sam: Sometimes rolling boulders appear. Usually as Death Traps.
  • Serious Sam: The Second Encounter: In Ziggurat, there is a location where boulders are dropped down the slope Sam is on. The player needs to make sure not to get crushed by them.
  • Serious Sam 3: BFE: In Last Man on Earth, there is a boulder trap in the underground section with a slope. The player needs to dodge it using a convenient cranny in the corridor.
• Splatoon: Octoballers will roll over anything in their path, leaving a trail of ink behind them. They can only be destroyed by splatting the Octotrooper attached to them.

Other

• Adventures In The Magic Kingdom: In Pirates Of The Caribbean level, there are barrels thrown by men (who can't be defeated) from windows. The barrels roll along the ground and off the surfaces.
• Dragon's Lair: One level is a trench with giant, multicolored rolling balls. Dirk has to cross the trench while avoiding being Squashed Flat by the balls.
• Dynasty Warriors: In some games, there are sections where endless boulders roll downhill.
• Goose Goose Duck: One of the Duck-activated death traps on the Jungle Temple map is a massive boulder sent rolling down a corridor of the temple and must be dodged by nearby players; any players that get caught in its path are squished into unidentifiable bloodstains and cannot be reported as dead bodies.
• Hugo: There are two levels where Hugo has to avoid incoming stone boulders. In the forest, he has to jump over them. In the upper part of the mountain, he has to avoid them by jumping on platforms located on the left side of mountain path.
• Time Crisis II: At the beginning of area 2, there are wooden barrels that roll down the ramp in small groups. The player must use cover to avoid them.
• Wii Fit: In the obstacle course, one obstacle to dodge is a giant rod that rolls along. If you are caught by it, your character is ironed flat.

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Non-video game examples:

Live-Action TV

• Takeshi's Castle has a Corridor Cubbyhole Run where contestants must dodge boulders. Some of these alcoves have guards that try to push the contestant back out.

Tabletop Games

• HeroQuest: One quest in the expansion Kellar's Keep has a boulder that falls from the ceiling and rolls along a very straight corridor after the players, causing them significant damage if it hits them.
• Ghost Castle: When the skull is dropped into the coffin at the top of the tower, sometimes it rolls down the stairs. Any playing piece which is hit or knocked over by the rolling skull has to be sent backwards some distance.

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