Avoid the Spikes

What it is

Avoid the spikes is a one-tap endless runner where the tap flips gravity. Your character runs along the floor. Tap and it flies up to run along the ceiling. Tap again and it drops back. Spikes scroll in from the right on the floor and on the ceiling, and holes open up beneath you, so survival means being on the right surface at the right moment. The run gets faster, the spikes keep coming, and your score is how far you got.

How to play

Press start, then tap the screen or press a key to flip. You can only flip while you are standing on the floor or the ceiling, never in mid-air, and the flight across takes a moment, so you have to commit early. Dodge a spike by flipping to the opposite surface before you reach it, stay out of the holes, and keep going. Touching a spike ends the run. Your best distance is saved in the header, and there is a pause button for real life.

What makes it different

One button, two surfaces, no mid-air correction. That last rule is what separates it from a flapping game: a flip is a decision, not a nudge, and once you have made it you are in the air until you land. The speed climbs as you go, so long runs are about rhythm and reading ahead rather than reflexes alone.

Why it is on Bored

Our take on the one-button runner, with a gravity flip in place of a jump. A run is a thirty-second loop that plays as well on a phone held sideways as on a desktop with the spacebar, and the no-mid-air-correction rule means every tap is a small commitment rather than a nudge. You leave with a best distance in the header and a clear idea of which spike you misjudged.

Tips

• Flip early, you are in the air for a moment and cannot change your mind
• Watch the far right edge, that is where the next spike appears
• Short, calm taps beat mashing, one tap is one flip
• A phone in landscape gives you the full width of the track

FAQ