Geometry Dash
A cube that jumps on one button, in perfect time with the music, into spikes. Over and over until the pattern is memorised.
Geometry Dash came out in 2013 and turned auto-runner platforming into a rhythm game. The cube moves forward at a constant speed and the only input is jump, but the level is built around the beat of the track, so the correct timing is something you can hear as much as see.
It is brutally unforgiving: one touch restarts the level from the beginning, and levels run two minutes. That sounds punishing and is, but because the obstacles never change, every attempt teaches you one more section. The percentage counter is the whole progression system, and watching it creep from 34% to 41% over twenty tries is the entire experience.
Controls
Space, up arrow or click to jump. Hold to jump repeatedly
Tips
- Listen rather than watch. The jumps land on the beat, and playing to the music is more accurate than reacting to the spikes.
- Holding the key auto-jumps at every opportunity, which is correct through some sections and fatal in others.
- Expect to learn the level in chunks. Nobody clears these on reflex; the percentage counter is the learning curve made visible.