How to play
Stunt Duel is a side-on race between two stunt buggies on desert courses full of hills, ramps and canyon gaps. Both drivers start on the same line and drive the same course at the same time, each in their own half of the screen. Reach the checkered arch first to take the round. Land on your roof, drop into a canyon or end up stuck on your side and the round goes to your rival. The first driver to win three rounds takes the match, and you can play to two or five on the menu instead.
- Lime drives with D (gas) and A (brake and reverse), tilts in the air with W and S, and fires nitro with Space.
- Violet drives with → and ←, tilts with ↑ and ↓, and fires nitro with Enter.
- Gamepads work too: the stick or d-pad drives and tilts, A fires nitro. The first pad is Lime, the second is Violet.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Each driver owns one half of the screen with a ◀ brake button, a ▶ gas button and a ⚡ nitro button.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Driving and flying
Each buggy has two sprung wheels that roll over the ground, so bumps compress the suspension and big landings make the whole car bounce. Grip comes from the wheels that touch the ground: on a very steep climb they start to spin and the buggy slides back. Floor the gas from a standstill and the nose lifts, which is useful for hopping a lip and dangerous on a steep hill, where too much gas tips you over backwards.
In the air the gas and brake keys turn the car: gas lifts the nose and rolls you into a backflip, brake drops the nose and rolls you into a front flip. If you prefer, the up and down keys do the same and leave your gas finger free. Turning speeds up while you hold the key and keeps going after you let go, so start counter-steering a moment before the car reaches the angle you want.
Flips and nitro
Every full turn you finish in the air counts as a flip, but it only pays off if you land on your wheels with the roof up: touch down nose-first or tail-first and the flips are lost. A clean landing is worth 100 points per flip and fills one nitro charge per flip, up to three. Press the nitro key and the buggy runs faster and pulls harder for about a second. Points never decide a round on their own: they only break a tie when both buggies cross the line on the same tick at exactly the same spot. Nitro is what turns stunts into a lead.
The courses
There are six courses and every round picks one you have not driven yet in this match: Sandstone Hills, Kicker Alley, Canyon Gap, Dune Sea, Big Air Drop and Quarry Steps. Canyon Gap has two real gaps, so arrive at the ramp with speed. Dune Sea is a long run over small waves that rewards a light touch on the gas, and Big Air Drop sends you down a long slope into the biggest jumps of the game. A round lasts at most 75 seconds; if nobody has finished by then, whoever is further along the course wins it.
Strategy
- Land with the slope. Match the angle of the ground where you will touch down, not the angle of the ramp you left. A buggy that lands parallel to a downhill keeps all its speed.
- Flip only when the air is long. One backflip needs about a second of flight. On a short hop, aim for a clean landing instead.
- Ease off on steep climbs. If the nose rises too far, let go of the gas for a moment rather than braking hard.
- Spend nitro on flat ground. A boost in the air does nothing, and a boost into a wall of sand is wasted.
- Watch the strip in the middle. The course map shows both buggies, so you always know whether to play it safe or go for the flip.
If you enjoy Stunt Duel, try Sumo Bump or Table Kick next.
