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 1×, 1.5×, 2× or 3× with the speed multiplier 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% thicker and the cave gets deeper and darker: 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 finally a dark place where something watches you. Touching a spike or falling through a hole ends the run and a tap starts the next one. 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

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.

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