Colossal Itch! Guide: Climbing Titans, Dash Chains and Every Heart Thorn

Glowbit Games · Updated November 8, 2026

Colossal Itch! is an action adventure about Nib, a hero the size of a pebble, and six giants with glowing thorns stuck in them. Every titan is a level that walks, swims or coils while you climb it. This guide covers the moves, what each surface does, and how to beat every titan.

The moves

Run and jump. Hold jump for a higher jump. Tap it for a small hop.
Dash-strike. A short, fast dash in any direction. On a keyboard it goes where you hold W, A, S and D. With a mouse, click and Nib dashes at the cursor. On a phone, swipe the right side of the screen or press DASH. A gentle aim assist bends the dash toward a thorn, mite or puffpod in front of you.
Every hit refills your dash. Thorns, rust mites, puffpods and rust spores all give your dash back. This is the most important rule in the game: you can stay in the air by dashing from one thing to the next.

What you can climb

Fur and moss are grippy. Touch them and Nib holds on, and W or S climbs. That includes the tortoise’s mossy shell and legs, the stag’s shaggy chest, neck, haunches and rear legs, the stone ape’s mossy arms and vine-covered back, and the ember giant’s crusted forearm, leg and back ridge. Bare skin, smooth fur, stone and scales are slippery. You slide down them slowly and can wall-jump off.

Standing on a titan carries you with it. When you jump off, you keep its speed, which can send you a long way.

Shakes, flings and attacks

When a titan rumbles and its eyes glow, a shake is coming. Anyone holding on gets thrown off. Jump just before it lands and you stay where you are. The on-screen warning says “HOLD ON… JUMP!” the first time you see it.

Other attacks always glow first: snaps and lunges from heads, tail flicks, stomps that send a shockwave along the ground (jump over it), the stone ape’s slam and floor sweep (dash over the sweep), lightning columns, geysers, falling rocks and embers with a red ring where they land, and the ember giant’s fire breath, which sweeps down from the mouth. Standing on the giant’s own body, behind the mouth, is safe from the breath.

The titans

Mossback, the Wandering Hill. A tortoise that strolls to the right. Climb the front leg, then the moss. Watch the head: it snaps at anyone close to its face.
Grumblehorn, Antlers of Autumn. A stag with slippery front legs. Get on through the shaggy rear leg and rump. If you stand on the head or antlers it tosses you, and it charges anyone on the ground in front of it.
Bellows, the Sky Whale. There is no ground. You start on a cloud above it. Falling below costs a heart. Puffpods float around the body: use them to reach thorns on its belly and to climb back up either end.
Old Knuckles, Keeper of the Ruins. A stone ape that stays put. Right after a slam its fist rests on the floor: climb the mossy arm then.
Coilmother, Storm Serpent. Her coils turn around the tower, and only the coils in front of it can be stood on. Ride a coil, then hop to a ledge before it swings behind.
Hearthmaw, the Ember Giant. The lava rises during each phase. Touching it bounces you up and costs a heart. Once the islands sink, the giant himself is the safest ground.

Each titan has three phases. Clearing a phase makes it sigh with relief and giggle, then new thorns grow. The last phase hides one big heart thorn that needs several hits.

Stars, upgrades and modes

Each titan has three stars: free it, lose at most one heart, and beat the par time. If you are knocked out, you can retry from the phase you reached.

Glimmer from broken thorns and freed titans buys upgrades: extra hearts, a second air dash, a longer needle, stickier socks for climbing and a glimmer bonus. Stars unlock seven scarves.

Daily Itch picks one titan and one twist for everyone each day, such as a mite swarm, low gravity or a single heart. Titan Rush runs the final phase of each titan back to back, with your hearts carried over.

Quick tips

Do not land if you do not have to. Chain thorn, mite, pod, thorn.
Look for the arrows at the edge of the screen. They point to thorns you cannot see.
On tall titans, climb first and dash second: a dash from a high perch reaches more thorns.
When a titan rumbles, jump. It is almost always the right answer.