Pavement strut

How to play Pavement strut

A tall, top-heavy walker in a purple jumper and a red beanie waits at the start of a city street. Your two fingers are its two legs: tap the left half of the screen (or press the left arrow or A) to step with the left leg in the amber boot, and the right half (or the right arrow or D) for the right leg in the teal boot. Step left, right, left, right in a steady beat. The beat bar at the bottom shows when the next step is due: step while the marker is in the green. Rush and the walker pitches forward until it trips over its own feet, dawdle and it sways back and sits down, and the gauge over its head shows which way it is leaning. Two steps with the same foot are a stumble that costs a second. Kerbs, puddles and dog leads get a yellow Hold sign: hold the next step a moment longer for a big step over them. Ice gets a blue Steady sign, so slow your beat and keep your feet down while every step slides. Clean steps in a row turn a shuffle into a stroll and then a strut, with longer strides and a style bonus off your time.

Tips

• Use the first 10 metres to find a comfortable beat, balance is extra forgiving there and no hazards show up yet
• When the tag on your next foot says Hold, keep that tap down until the boot lifts high, the dotted arc shows where it lands
• Holding a step where nothing is in the way halves your clean streak, so only hold for the signs
• Slow down a touch on ice: a quick beat there tips you forward and a big step makes you slip
• Gold, silver and bronze times are worked out for each day’s street, so a medal on a tricky street counts as much as one on an easy street
• Endless mode asks for a quicker beat as the street gets busier, and a missed hazard ends the walk

About Pavement strut

Pavement strut turns the oldest skill you have into a rhythm game. Instead of a run button, each thumb drives one leg, so the beat of the walk sits right in your hands and you feel the difference between a nervous shuffle and a proper strut. Everything is drawn in the browser with Canvas 2D: the walker, the dog, the shops, the hedges and the side streets, with the near street, the houses and the skyline sliding past at their own speeds. Every day brings one 60 metre street, the same for everybody from midnight UTC, with medal times, a daily streak and a share line that gives away your time but not the street. Endless mode keeps building pavement ahead of you until your first fall. Footsteps change with the surface underfoot, from dry paving and tarmac to kerbs, puddles and ice, and every cue is also on screen, so the game plays just as well with the sound off.

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