Fire Run

How to play

Both runners race through the exact same course. Keep running right — a wall of fire is chasing each of you, and it gets faster and faster. If the fire catches you, the other player wins.

• Biomes — the course changes as you run: about every 350 m a wooden sign marks a new biome. The first race starts in the green prairie; after that a race can start anywhere.
• Snow biome — the spikes are tall ice spikes. Shiny blue ice is slippery: you keep sliding when you let go. Icicles hang under snowy ledges: when they start shaking, slow down, because they're about to drop (and don't jump into them). Snowballs roll at you and grow as they roll, so jump over them.
• Desert biome — the spikes are cactuses: much taller (hard to jump), but only one or two at a time. Darker, swirling quicksand pulls you under in 3 seconds: mash jump (about 4+ times a second) to struggle free, or just jump over it. Tumbleweeds bounce towards you as they roll, so time your jump.
• Vultures — the desert's special danger. Every so often a group of 1 to 3 comes for whoever is in the lead. A brown vulture circles above you for a couple of seconds, then swoops down and skims the ground at your feet: jump over it, or it snatches you and carries you back. A black vulture doesn't circle: it dives straight in, faster, and kills you if it hits. Watch its shadow on the ground.
• Bears — the snow's special danger. Once in every snow biome, a bear charges in from the left with a roar, chasing whoever is in the lead. Keep running right! A polar bear chases for 5 seconds and catches you if you slow down at all. A brown bear chases for 10 seconds; you can afford a quick stop. A black bear chases for 15 seconds, and if it catches you it covers you in honey, slowing you down for a few seconds. If a bear runs over the other player on its way, it launches them high into the air.
• Spikes and pits — touch one and you'll come back a little way behind after a second. That's time the fire uses to catch up.
• Moving platforms — slide back and forth over big gaps. Hop on and ride across.
• Crumbling platforms — shake when you land on them, then fall. Keep moving!
• Portals — a blue portal on a high ledge teleports you to the orange one ahead, skipping a spiky stretch.
• Spike shooters — stone blocks that fire 4 spikes diagonally every couple of seconds. They sit on the ground, float at head height or hang overhead. Their red core glows just before they fire, so time your run.
• Missiles — the rarest danger, after 400 m, and only in the prairie. One zooms in from far away in the background, from the left or the right, then locks on to the player in the lead: a red target flashes on them and a dotted line shows where it will fly. Then it fires in a straight line. Black missiles aim where you are; red-striped ones (after 500 m) aim where you're going to be, so change your speed or jump. Stay clear of the explosion.
• Swinging maces — spiked balls swinging on chains from the sky, each at its own speed. Run past while it's swung away, or jump right over it.
• Golden orbs — floating in the air. Some swap you and the other player's places. Others freeze you for 3 seconds. They look almost the same, so look closely before you jump into one. Each orb only works once.
• Dash orbs — golden orbs with a » in the middle. Grab one and you hang in the air for a second, then get launched far to the right. Where you land is up to luck.
• Wind dash orbs — golden orbs with one white arrow and white wind blowing off them. Grab one, then press S (Red) or ↓ (Blue) to instantly whoosh about 12 tiles the way you're facing. It works in the air too, so use it to cross a gap, dodge something, or get ahead.
• Lightning orbs — golden orbs with a white zigzag. Grab one to store a lightning shot, then press S (Red) or ↓ (Blue) to fire it along the ground. It flies the way you're facing when you shoot, so turn around (press left) to shoot back at a player behind you. It travels to the other player wherever they are. Jump over it, or get zapped back.
• Hand orbs — golden orbs with a purple hand. Grab one, then press S (Red) or ↓ (Blue) to throw a mystic hand a short way in the direction you're facing. Facing right, it grabs the other player and suplexes them backwards. Facing left, it backhands them further back. It flies in a straight line, so jump over it or duck under it. You hold one power at a time: a new wind dash, lightning or hand orb replaces the old one.

1 Player: race the fire on your own, with WASD or the arrow keys, and see how far you get. Only the dash and wind dash orbs appear (the others only matter against another player).

Press P or Esc to pause. Press F or the Fullscreen button to make the game fill the screen. Press M or the Sound button to turn the sound off or on.

About

A practice project. The course is generated as you play, so every race is different and it never ends.