Spiral Drop

What is Spiral Drop?

Spiral Drop is a spin and drop arcade game. The ball bounces in place and never moves sideways. You turn the tower underneath it. Each ring around the pole has a gap somewhere, and when the gap passes under the ball, the ball falls through to the next ring. Get to the bottom of the level and you move on to the next one.

Most of each ring is safe to bounce on. Red sections are not. It's free and plays in your browser on phone, tablet or computer with no download.

How to play

Controls on phone and computer

On a touch screen or with a mouse, drag left and right anywhere on the screen to spin the tower. It turns as far as you drag, so small moves give fine control. On a keyboard, hold Left or Right (or A and D) to spin at a steady speed.

The rings

• Gap: the ball falls through to the ring below and you score.
• Colored section: safe. The ball bounces back up, and your chain resets.
• Red section: the ball splats and the run ends with an Ouch!
• Finish ring: the solid striped ring at the bottom of a level. Bounce on it to clear the level.

Red sections get more common as the levels go up. From level 7, some rings start spinning on their own, which changes your timing. Spinning rings never have red on them, though.

Scoring, chains and the Fireball

Your chain is how many rings you've fallen through in a row without bouncing. Each ring you pass scores your current chain number times the level bonus, so the third ring in a chain is worth three times the first.

Clearing a level adds 10 × the level number, so finishing level 6 is worth 60.

Fireball

Fall through three rings in a row and your ball lights up as a Fireball. While it's burning, the next ring you land on, red sections included, gets smashed to pieces instead of bouncing you. A smash is worth 5 points. After the smash the fire goes out and your chain starts again.

Modes

Play

The level ladder. Each level is longer than the one before, from 14 rings on level 1 up to 36. Your progress is saved, so when you lose you try the same level again rather than starting over. The game over screen tells you how far through the level you got, as a percentage.

Daily Tower

One 36 ring tower for everybody, getting harder every six rings. Each ring scores your chain number with no level bonus, and reaching the finish adds 50. It resets at midnight UTC, and playing on back to back days builds a streak.

Balls to unlock

Tips and strategy

• Keep the Fireball alive. The fire doesn't go out when you fall through a gap. It only ends when you smash a ring. So if the next gap is easy to reach, take it. Your chain keeps climbing, each ring pays more, and the fire is still there as a safety net for the next tricky ring.
• Spend the Fireball on the worst ring. When you see a ring that's mostly red or has a tiny gap you can't reach in time, that's the one to smash. Steer the burning ball onto it on purpose.
• Spin in short moves. The tower turns exactly as far as you drag. Small nudges are much easier to control than big swipes, especially once the gaps get narrow.
• Trust the landing right under a gap. When you fall through a gap, the game almost always keeps the spot directly below it free of red. You don't need to spin in a panic mid fall. Let the ball land, then look at the next ring.
• Line up on the bounce. The ball spends most of its time in the air. Use the top of each bounce to turn the next gap into place, so it's waiting when the ball comes down.
• Watch spinning rings for a moment. From level 7 some rings turn by themselves. Bouncing on them is safe since they carry no red, so take a bounce or two to read the speed before you chase the gap.
• Chains matter more on high levels. At level 17 and above, every ring in a chain is worth five times as much. A five ring chain there scores 75 points, compared to 15 on level 1.
• Use the Daily Tower to practice. It's the same tower all day, so a second or third try lets you learn exactly where the red sits.

Questions