Jimothy is a wild animal, not a pet and not an attraction. This game is as close as any of us should ever get to him.
If you find yourself in his neighborhood: don't go looking for him, don't feed him, don't try to touch him, and don't crowd him for a photo. Food from people teaches raccoons to approach humans, and that is how a beloved neighborhood raccoon becomes a "problem animal" who gets removed. A short spine means he already moves slower than he should have to. A crowd is a genuine danger to him.
Secure your trash, keep your dog leashed, give him the whole sidewalk, and let him get on with his night. Love him from a distance. That's the whole ask.
If you see a raccoon that is injured or in trouble, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your area rather than handling it yourself.
Jimothy is a free 8-bit game in the style of a late-1980s NES cartridge, starring Seattle's viral short-spined raccoon. Hobble through four missions pulled straight from his real life: raid trash cans, cross Ballard streets to the park, sneak past the paparazzi, and climb to the safety of the big tree. Built by Chris Pirillo.
| Move | Arrow keys. On touch, the D-pad below the screen. |
|---|---|
| A button | Z, Space, or the A button. Rummage bins, confirm menus. |
| B button | X, Shift, or the B button. Hop. |
| Start | Enter or the Start button. Begins a mission, pauses mid-game. |
| Difficulty | Settings → Difficulty toggles Basic and Advanced. Advanced is faster, tighter and hungrier, and keeps its own hi-scores. |
| Select | Tab or Backspace, or the Select button on the pad. Goes back from the mission and settings screens; Escape does the same. Remappable in Settings. |
| Mute | M, or the speaker control. |
| Gamepad | Plug in or pair a controller and press any button. |
"Jimothy" has four missions. Pick any of the first three from the select screen — The Big Climb stays padlocked until those three are cleared, because the den is where Jimothy ends up. Each has its own goal, its own tune, and its own hi-score. You get 5 lives per mission. Clear all four to unlock the ending.
A side-view scramble. Rummage the bins for food before the garbage truck arrives. Latched lids are raccoon-proof, so keep moving. Two dogs work the alley - time your hops to clear them.
Frogger, Ballard edition. Five blocks of streets, yards and sprinklers stand between Jimothy and the park, and no two blocks are laid out the same way twice. Somewhere in the run you will hit a five-lane crossing with nowhere to stand. Traffic does not brake for raccoons.
Top-down stealth at night. Reach the hedge without being photographed. The real Jimothy's trick works here: stand perfectly still and you all but disappear. Five photos and the mystique is gone.
A vertical climb up ledges and garden trellises to the den at the top. Some ledges crumble under you, and a crow objects to the whole enterprise. This one is locked until the other three missions are cleared — the den is the end of the night, not the start of it.
Every track is generated live by a 2A03-style synth in your browser — there are no audio files in this page. Tap one to hear it. Tap it again to stop.
On July 14, 2026, a few seconds of video shot near the Ballard Goodwill in Seattle asked the internet a simple question: "What am I looking at?" The answer was a small, round raccoon with an unusually short spine, front and rear legs bunched close together, and a determined little hobble. The internet named him Jimothy, and within days the clip passed 10 million views.
Wildlife veterinarians believe Jimothy has a congenital spinal deformity, often called short-spine syndrome, which compresses the vertebrae so he appears to have no neck. It is rare in raccoons, but it does not seem to slow him down. One expert who reviewed the footage called him resilient and adapting - the fact that he has survived in the wild at all is the impressive part. Some Ballard neighbors say they have seen him around since 2023 and called him Nubby; the vets think he was likely born more recently. The legend accommodates both.
Jimothy became a folk hero almost overnight: fan art, tattoos, merch, a dedicated subreddit, and the slogan "hot Jimothy summer." Neighbors report he freezes in place when spotted, as if holding still makes him invisible, then scoots up the nearest tree. Every mission in "Jimothy" comes from that real life - including the paparazzi, because people really did start combing Ballard hoping to spot him.
Experts say the kindest thing you can do for Jimothy is leave him alone. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends: never feed raccoons, never let them reach your garbage, feed dogs and cats indoors, and lock pet doors at night. A fed raccoon loses its healthy fear of people, and that rarely ends well for the raccoon. If you are worried about an animal in the Seattle area, the PAWS Wildlife Center can help at 425-412-4040. Photograph from a distance, keep your dog leashed, and let the little guy hobble in peace.
Common questions about "Jimothy" the game and Jimothy the raccoon.
Jimothy is a real raccoon living in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood who went viral in July 2026 after a short video asked the internet "What am I looking at?" His unusually short spine makes his torso look almost spherical, and his scuttling hobble made him an overnight icon: 10+ million views, fan art, merch, and the slogan "hot Jimothy summer."
Yes, he is real. Wildlife veterinarians believe he has a congenital spinal deformity, often described as short-spine syndrome, which compresses the vertebrae so he appears to have no neck. Experts who reviewed the videos say he is adapting and thriving. This game turns that real resilience into gameplay.
Arrows move, A or Z is A, B or X is B, Enter is Start. On phones an NES-style pad appears under the screen. Gamepads work too. Pick a mission, clear all four to unlock the ending, and chase hi-scores. If you like road-crossing chaos, our Chicken game is the same genre with more poultry.
Trash Night (side-view bin rummaging on a garbage-truck timer), Get Across Easy Street (Frogger-style street crossing), Paparazzi in the Park (top-down stealth through a park of photographers), and The Big Climb (vertical fence-and-branch ascent). Different mechanics, different camera angles, same raccoon.
Yes. Touch devices get an NES-style d-pad plus A, B, and Start buttons. The game scales to any display at crisp integer pixel sizes, and hi-scores save locally. Free, no account, nothing uploaded. For more pocket-sized retro, try Electronic Sorcerer.
No. Experts say Jimothy is best left to his own devices. Washington Fish and Wildlife's advice: never feed raccoons, secure your garbage, feed pets indoors, lock pet doors at night. Concerned about an animal near Seattle? PAWS Wildlife Center: 425-412-4040.
Yes. Open Settings from the title screen and switch Difficulty from Basic to Advanced. Advanced raises the Trash Night quota from 8 to 10, cuts that clock from 56 to 46 seconds, speeds up the dogs and the traffic, fills the photographers' meter faster, and narrows the ledges on The Big Climb. Basic and Advanced keep separate hi-score tables.
No. Jimothy is a wild raccoon and has, as far as anyone knows, signed no licensing deals. This is a free fan tribute built by Chris Pirillo in the style of a late-1980s NES game, with an original synthesized chiptune soundtrack and real raccoon-coexistence tips in the manual.