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Which Game First?

All seven Vibe Games titles use a single input, but they don't test the same thing. One is about timing, another about aim, another about where you're looking. Here's how they compare, so you can pick the one that suits you and know what the next one will ask of you.

Updated October 21, 2026 · Covers all seven games · Each one plays free in your browser

At a Glance

Game	Input	How a run ends	All threats by
GROUND.IO	Hold, release	One hit or one Overload, unless you're carrying a shield (earned by an 8-kill blast)	1:40
ORBIT.IO	Tap to reverse	One hit, unless you're carrying a shield (earned every 5 near misses)	2:20
INK.IO	Drag to draw	The last of five lamps goes out. A 5-kill chain relights one.	1:40
PHASE.IO	Hold to ghost	One hit, unless you're carrying a Shell (earned every 10 grazes)	1:40
DODGE.IO	Drag to move	One hit, unless you're carrying a Shield power-up	3:40
SPLIT.IO	Tap to swap	Three hits, shared between both sides, with a moment of mercy after each	0:50
DON'T SQUISH BOB	Drag the walls	Bob loses all three hearts	0:35

"All threats by" is the point in a run when the last new threat type arrives. After that, a game keeps getting faster and busier, but it has nothing new to show you. Every browser game also offers one continue per run after you lose.

If You Want Something Forgiving

SPLIT.IO and DON'T SQUISH BOB give you three lives, and INK.IO gives you five lamps, so one mistake doesn't end the run. SPLIT.IO also absorbs hits for a moment after you lose a life, which gives you time to fix the other side. INK.IO is the only game in the catalog where you can win back what you lost: chain five kills from one stroke and a dark lamp lights up again.

Forgiving doesn't mean slow. SPLIT.IO has all six of its threat types in play by 50 seconds, and Bob's box makes room for more spikes every ten seconds.

If You Want the Purest Test

ORBIT.IO has the simplest control in the catalog: one tap reverses your direction around a ring, and that's all you can do. The difficulty is in what reversing costs. Every tap turns you away from the threat ahead and toward whatever was behind you. Without a shield, one hit ends the run.

DODGE.IO is the closest thing here to a classic bullet hell, and it has the longest climb: a new threat type every 20 to 45 seconds until all eight are in play at 3:40. If you like a game that keeps surprising you deep into a run, start here.

Same Input, Opposite Lessons

Several games share an input but ask completely different things of it. Playing them back to back is the quickest way to see how much one action can change.

The two holds: GROUND.IO and PHASE.IO

In GROUND.IO, holding is power. The longer you charge, the wider the shockwave, and holding past full gives you Overdrive's double points, until one beat too long overloads the core. In PHASE.IO, holding is spending. Every moment as a ghost drains a 1.5-second meter and scores nothing, so the skill is to ghost late and let go early. Good GROUND.IO habits are bad PHASE.IO habits, and the other way round.

The two taps: ORBIT.IO and SPLIT.IO

ORBIT.IO's tap changes where you're going. SPLIT.IO's tap doesn't move anything: it changes which of your two shapes is exposed. ORBIT.IO is a game about space. SPLIT.IO is a game about attention, and most lost lives come from forgetting the side you just left.

The three drags: DODGE.IO, INK.IO and DON'T SQUISH BOB

In DODGE.IO the drag moves your ship, which follows your finger's movement rather than its position, so your hand never covers it. In INK.IO the drag draws a wall that lasts a heartbeat, and the skill is the angle: a bounced threat turns on the others. In DON'T SQUISH BOB the drag moves the walls of the box itself, which crush spikes and can also hide Bob, as long as you let him back out before his air runs out.

The Thread Through All Seven

Every game in the catalog pays you for waiting a little longer than feels safe:

ORBIT.IO earns shields from near misses, so you let threats pass close on purpose.
DODGE.IO raises your multiplier with near-miss streaks. Its strongest opening rides right beside a slow bullet.
PHASE.IO scores grazes: red threats skimmed past while solid, and purple ones let through.
SPLIT.IO rewards close calls on your exposed shape, and three in a row trigger SLOW-MO. Swap late.
GROUND.IO multiplies each blast by the number of kills in it, so you let the Crawlers bunch up.
INK.IO plays best when you let the early Drops fall a little, so one bounce has more to hit.
DON'T SQUISH BOB pays nothing for a spike crushed the instant it appears. It has to be loose for about a second first.

Once that idea clicks in one game, it carries over to the rest.

A Suggested Order

DON'T SQUISH BOB or SPLIT.IO. More than one life, and the rule fits in a sentence.
ORBIT.IO. One tap, one hit, and a clean introduction to scoring from near misses.
GROUND.IO, then PHASE.IO. The two hold games back to back, to feel how differently one hold can work.
INK.IO. The most to think about per stroke: the angle, the ink you have left and which lamp to save.
DODGE.IO. The longest climb, with its last threat type arriving at 3:40.

There's no wrong place to start, though. No game unlocks another, nothing carries over between them, and each one plays free in your browser.

Playing on a Computer

Every game works with a mouse: click where the game says tap, and click and drag where it says drag. Most of them also take the keyboard: Space or Enter taps in ORBIT.IO and SPLIT.IO (the arrow keys work in SPLIT.IO too), and holding Space or Enter charges in GROUND.IO and ghosts in PHASE.IO. DODGE.IO, INK.IO and DON'T SQUISH BOB need the mouse. See Help & FAQ for controls, settings and fixes for common problems.