How to play Avoid the spikes

Your block runs along the floor while spikes grow from the floor and the ceiling. Tap, click or press space to flip gravity, and the block falls up to the ceiling. Tap again to fall back down. You can only flip while you stand on the floor or ceiling, so every flip is a commitment until you land. Pick the daily cave, which has the same spikes for everyone that day and changes at midnight UTC, or endless, which lays out a new cave every run. You get one run a day at the daily cave. It always runs at normal speed, has no shields, and shows its caves in a new order every day. Endless starts on normal. Pick slow, normal, fast or fastest with the speed buttons under the game, or press the 1 to 4 keys to select them in that order. You can switch speed during a run, and the current speed meter shows how fast the cave is moving. The speed keeps climbing until 50,000, and from 10,000 the spikes start coming in doubles and pairs on the same side. Now and then a hole opens in the floor or ceiling, and landing on it drops you out. Every 10,000 the spikes come 10% closer together. The cave itself changes much sooner: the first new part starts at 4,000, a new one follows every 5,000 to 8,000, and the bar under the game shows how far the next one is. You pass a mossy entrance, dripping stone with bats, an underground river, an old mine, a crystal hall, glowing mushrooms, fossils and wall paintings, a glowworm grotto, magma, and a dark place where something watches you. Past that, the deeper caves come round again, so the scenery keeps changing. In endless, a shield takes one spike hit for you, or throws you back across the cave when you drop into a hole. Gems in every colour lie scattered along the floor and ceiling. A small gem adds 2 to your count, and the bigger ones a short way behind a spike count double. Every 100 gems make your shield one layer thicker, up to three layers, and a bar under the game fills up as you get close to the next one. Each hit takes one layer off. Without a shield, touching a spike or falling through a hole ends the run. In endless a tap starts the next one, the daily cave opens again at midnight UTC. Need a break? The pause button at the top, or the P or Esc key, freezes the run. Your score is how far you made it.

Tips

• Flip early, a crossing takes more than a second
• The middle of the chamber is always safe, spikes only reach the floor and ceiling
• You can flip while a spike is still under you, as long as you leave before the next one arrives
• Plan one spike ahead, once you flip you cannot change your mind until you land
• Past 10,000, a double or a pair on your side means one flip, not two
• A hole only gets you if you land on it, so flip before it reaches you or wait until it has passed
• In endless, a big gem a short way behind a spike is worth two small ones, so land soon after the spike to grab it
• You only get one run at the daily cave, so warm up in endless first

About Avoid the spikes

One button cave games have been around since the early days of phone and browser games. The recipe never changes. One input, no end, a number to beat. This one swaps flying for flipping gravity, so the question is never how high but when. The fall takes the same time on every screen, whether you play on a phone in landscape or on a desktop with the spacebar. The daily cave gives everyone the same spikes and one run for a day, so you can compare how deep you got with a friend.

More action games

• Math sprint: Solve as many math problems as you can in 30 seconds.
• Snake: The classic, played straight: eat berries, grab timed apples, dodge bombs and don't bite your tail.
• Aim trainer: Train flicks, tracking and grid accuracy, then try the daily sequence.
• Reaction time: How fast can you click when the screen turns green?
• Mole mash: Bonk the moles before they pop back into their holes.
• Stroop test: Read the colour, ignore the word. Brain twister in 30 seconds.

Browse the full arcade →