Aizkolari: Basque Log Chop

Aizkolari puts you on top of a beech log at a Basque village fiesta, axe in hand, string lights overhead, the crowd waiting for the first strike.

Herri kirolak, the rural sports of the Basque Country and Navarre, built a whole tradition around wood chopping: the aizkolari stands ON the log, cuts a V-shaped notch down to the centre, turns around, and cuts the opposite face until the log splits. Aizkolari turns those real rules into a rhythm score-chase.

HOW YOU PLAY
- Tap in rhythm on the pulsing timing ring. A perfectly timed strike bites deep; a late one glances off.
- Swipe left or right to angle the axe and keep both sides of the V even — a lopsided cut makes the log split late.
- Reach the half-way mark and swipe up to turn around and attack the far face.
- Hurried, mistimed strikes drain your stamina; clean rhythm restores it. Button-mashing loses.
- Build a combo for a score multiplier, and watch the crowd clap faster when you're ahead.

A CAST OF RIVALS
Challenge a veteran champion from a mountain village in Navarre who never hurries, a young coastal chopper who bursts out fast and fades on heavy logs, a metronome-steady regular, and a quiet farmer nobody has ever beaten on the heaviest 72-ontza beech.

REAL PLACES, REAL SIZES
Logs are measured by circumference in ontzak, from the lighter 45 and 54 ontza up to the heavy 60 and 72. Progress through a village fiesta, then the plazas of Tolosa, Azpeitia and Leitza, and finally a championship inside a fronton, each with its own light, log sizes and crowd.

APUSTUAK AND THE TXAPELA
Set up a challenge (apustua) against any rival you've unlocked — pick the opponent, the log count and the size — or enter a full championship (txapelketa) for a chance to win the txapela, the beret awarded to the champion. No money, no stakes: an apustua here is just the name for a sporting contest.

YOUR AXE AND YOUR RECORDS
Track every log you've split, your best times at each size, a plaza leaderboard, and a case holding every txapela you've won. A daily apustua keeps a streak going if you return.

MAKE A POSTER
Take a portrait, or pick one from your library, and Aizkolari turns it into a silhouette poster styled like the night sky above the plaza — share it or keep it in your axe collection.

Aizkolari is entirely offline. No account, no in-app purchases, no ads, no betting or wagering of any kind.