How to play
Two little runners, Coral and Mint, sprint across the rooftops of a city at dusk. They run by themselves and the camera keeps sliding to the right, a little faster every few seconds. Your only job is to jump at the right moment.
- One button each. Coral jumps with Space or W. Mint jumps with Enter or the up arrow. Hold the key longer for a higher jump, tap it for a short hop.
- Gamepads work too: any face button jumps. The first pad is Coral, the second is Mint.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Each player taps their own half of the screen.
- Playing alone? Pick vs Bot in Race or with Bot in Co-op, and choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
A runner is out when they fall into a gap between buildings, touch a spike strip, or get left behind by the camera. Walls and crates do not hurt, but running into one stops you dead while the screen keeps moving, so jump over them or onto them. Awnings can only be landed on from above, and a blue spring pad throws you high into the air.
Race
The last runner standing wins the round. The first to win three rounds takes the match (you can also play a single round or first to five). Every round builds a fresh set of rooftops, and the runner who starts in front swaps each round.
Bonk your rival. Land on the other runner’s head from above and you bounce high into the air, while they are left dizzy for a moment: they cannot jump and they slow down. A dizzy runner in front of a gap is in real trouble.
If both runners fall within half a second of each other, the round is a draw. A round that somehow lasts longer than two and a half minutes is also a draw, but after about a minute and a quarter the camera starts speeding up again, so that rarely happens.
Co-op
Run as a team and see how far you get together. Gold stars float above the rooftops; each one is worth five points on top of the distance in metres.
Rescue bubbles. When one of you falls, they come back as a soap bubble that drifts across the screen for about eight seconds. The runner still on their feet can jump into the bubble to bring their partner back, right where they are, with a short moment of spike protection. The run only ends when nobody is left running. Your team best is saved on this device.
In co-op, landing on your partner’s head does not hurt them. It is a free boost, handy for reaching high stars.
Strategy
Watch the ground ahead, not your runner. At full speed a gap arrives in well under a second. Your eyes should already be two buildings ahead.
Short hops for crates, long jumps for gaps. A full-height jump at top speed carries you about six tiles forward. Over a single crate or spike, a tap is safer because you land sooner.
Do not jump too early. Most falls happen because someone jumps a beat early and lands in the gap. Wait until the edge.
In co-op, rescue first. A bubble lasts eight seconds. Stars can wait.
Use the bot to practise. The Hard bot looks ahead with the real physics and jumps at the last safe moment, so racing it is a good way to learn the timing.
If you would rather fight than run, Bounce Tanks puts two tanks in a maze with ricochet shots. For another co-op game for the same two seats, Lumen & Umbra is a puzzle platformer where light and shadow work together, and in Bobble Kick the two of you play one-button football instead.
If you enjoy Dash Duo, try Flop Wrestle or Fuse Arena next.
