PhD = persistence to a high degree, right? I am the kind of student (and academic) I am because I'm the kind of person who is doggedly persistent when something doesn't work the first (or second or twenty-seventh) time. That still feels like failure.) You just take Alto back up to the top of the mountain and try again. (Except when you finish a stylish and well-executed string of flips and grinds with a faceplant. And it certainly doesn't feel like failure most of the time. It doesn't always feel like learning, though. By playing the game, you get better at it, practicing tricks over and over again until you get them right. There are a few upgrades possible in Alto's Adventure, but really you are leveling up, not your character or your gear. RPGs 1) the more you level up, the more advanced your gear becomes. Playing Alto's Adventure last night, it struck me that I'm learning. But each new level has new goals, and I often fail at them the first few (dozen) tries. I can land triple backflips and flow from one trick to the next. I've played this game for a few weeks now, and I've gotten well past Level 1. I'm pretty sure I did that the second time, too. The first time I tried to have Alto backflip, I landed the poor kid on his face. Get enough levels, and you unlock a new character. Complete all three goals, and you level up. Each time you start down the hill, you get a list of three goals. If you land on your head, get your snowboard stuck in the snow, faceplant into a rock, or tumble down a chasm, your score (from performing tricks, catching llamas and successfully escaping elders) is tallied, and you start back up at the top of the mountain. When you land on your feet, you get a speed boost that can smash through rocks and help you escape pursuit. You can also shoot over chasms or perform tricks as you fall through the air.

By timing your jumps well, you can land on and slide along bunting lines and tiled roofs, or you can bounce off of rocks and campfires while catching llamas along the way down the snowy mountainside.

For much of the game you have only one control: tap on the screen to jump (if you keep your finger pressed, the jump turns into a flip). The rules of the game are deceptively simple: don't fall, and don't get caught by a disapproving elder. As you progress, you can choose to play as some of Alto's friends (my husband's favorite is the quick-flipping Maya I tend to prefer Izel, who has apparently attached rockets to her snowboard). You start as Alto, a snowboarding boy who is trying to catch runaway llamas. Alto's Adventure is a beautiful little game.

Alto's adventure land a triple backflip