How to play
Reflex Party is a pack of eleven tiny duels for two players. Each player has one big button and nothing else. The mini games arrive in a shuffled order, a short card explains each one before it starts, and the winner of each mini game scores a point. The first player to five points wins the match. You can also play to three or seven.
- Coral presses A, Teal presses L.
- Gamepads work too: any button counts. The first pad is Coral, the second is Teal.
- On a phone, lay it flat between you and sit face to face. The bottom half belongs to Coral and the top half, turned upside down, belongs to Teal. Tap anywhere on your own half. On a sideways phone or a tablet, the left half is Coral and the right half is Teal.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard. The harder the bot, the faster it reacts.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Presses only count once a mini game has started, and holding the button down through the intro does nothing: you have to let go and press again.
The mini games
- Quick Draw. Wait for the light to turn green, then press first.
- Colour Clash. A colour word appears in coloured ink. Press only when the word and the ink agree.
- Count Up. Bubbles pop in one at a time. Press when there are exactly as many as the target.
- Tug of War. Every press pulls the rope your way. Mash until the knot crosses your line.
- Sweet Spot. A needle swings back and forth. You get one press to stop it in the middle of the green zone.
- Pump It. Press and hold to blow up your balloon and let go to keep it. Both balloons burst at the same secret size. The bigger kept balloon wins, and a burst one always loses. While you pump you can see whether your rival is still pumping, has kept their balloon or has burst it, but not how big it is.
- Blind Clock. A stopwatch starts and then vanishes. Press when you think it reads 5.00 seconds.
- Snap. Cards flip one after another. Press when the new card matches the one before it.
- True or False. Sums flash up. Press only when the sum is right.
- Hot Potato. Press to toss the bomb to your rival. Whoever is holding it when the hidden fuse runs out loses. A bomb still in the air already counts as your rival’s.
- Your Colour. The lamp changes colour. Press on your own colour to score a hit, but a press on any other colour takes a hit away. Three hits win.
Fouls
In every “press when…” game, the first correct press wins the point. A wrong press is a foul and hands the point straight to your rival. If both players press in the very same instant, nobody scores.
Strategy
Do not guess. In Quick Draw, Count Up and True or False a nervous early press costs more than a slow one.
Read the ink, not the word. In Colour Clash your eyes jump to the word. Look at the colour first.
Watch your rival’s balloon. In Pump It, if your rival’s balloon bursts, yours is close to bursting too, so let go at once.
Count the beats. Blind Clock rewards a steady inner rhythm. Count “one and two and…” under your breath.
Toss fast. In Hot Potato the bomb is safest in the air. Throw it back the moment it lands.
Want more two-player games for one screen? Try the ring-out shoving of Sumo Bump, or take to the air in Sky Duel.
If you enjoy Reflex Party, try Rock Drift or Sky Duel next.
