Inside DODGE.IO's Three Power-ups

DODGE.IO has three power-ups: Shield, Time Slow and Mini. The DODGE.IO guide gives each one a line. This post goes through what each one actually does in the game's code, because the details change how you should use them.

When and where they appear

A power-up appears every ten seconds of run time, on the dot: at 0:10, 0:20, 0:30 and so on. Each one is a circle with a letter in it, S, T or M, and the three are equally likely. It lands at a random spot kept a short way in from every edge, never tucked into a corner.

A power-up you don't collect stays for 400 game ticks, about 6.7 seconds at the game's fixed 60 ticks a second, and fades out over its last second. Since a new one only arrives every ten seconds, there is never more than one on the field. To collect it, touch it with your ship. The game confirms the pickup with three quick rising notes and the power-up's name in the middle of the screen.

Every effect lasts 300 ticks, five seconds. Collecting the same power-up again while it is running doesn't stack; it resets the clock to five seconds. Different power-ups can run together, and each active one shows as a small icon at the top right with a ring that empties as its time runs down. In the final second, the icon blinks, and so do the shield ring and the Time Slow tint.

Shield

The Shield draws a cyan ring around your ship and absorbs one hit. When something touches you, the shield breaks instead of the run ending. The threat that hit you is removed, and you get half a second of invulnerability.

The break also pushes back. Every threat near your ship is shoved away from you, harder the closer it was. Anything pushed this way has its remaining life capped at five seconds, so it fades out soon after rather than drifting back.

If five seconds pass without a hit, the shield simply ends. It can't be saved for later. The continue offered after a lost run uses the same Shield, five seconds of it, on top of three seconds of invulnerability.

Time Slow

Time Slow tints the screen blue and runs every threat at 40% of its normal speed. Your ship keeps its full speed.

It slows more than movement. Each threat's own clock slows down too, so countdowns like a Splitter's burst or a Bomber's fuse stretch out to match. What it doesn't slow is the spawner: new threats keep arriving at the normal rate. The screen can get busier during Time Slow, not calmer.

The effect doesn't snap off. Over its last 0.75 seconds, the threats ease back up to full speed, so the end of Time Slow never jerks everything forward at once.

Mini

Mini shrinks your ship to a little over half its width, which opens gaps that were too tight a moment earlier. Over its last half second the ship grows back smoothly. When it reaches full size you get a third of a second of invulnerability, so growing back can never put you inside a threat and end the run.

One side effect matters for scoring. DODGE.IO's near-miss ring is measured from the edge of your ship, so a smaller ship means the ring moves in with it. Mini makes it easier to slip through, but you have to pass closer to a threat to earn a near miss. How near misses and streaks build your score is covered in an earlier post.

Using them well

All three reward taking them when they appear and using them right away. Shield is a mistake you are allowed to make, and its break clears space. Time Slow buys reaction time, not an empty screen. Mini buys room, not points. The threat table in the DODGE.IO guide shows what each threat does, so you know what you are slowing down or squeezing past.