Help & FAQ

On This Page

• Getting started
• Controls
• Pausing and the Back button
• Continuing after you lose
• Sound, vibration and motion
• Scores and saving
• Troubleshooting
• The Android versions

Getting Started

Every game runs free in your browser. There's nothing to download, no account and no sign-in. Open a game from the catalog, press PLAY, and the run starts.

The games are built for a phone held upright. On a computer they still fill the window: ORBIT.IO, DODGE.IO and SPLIT.IO show their tall playfield in the middle with bars at the sides, INK.IO and PHASE.IO use a tall column, and GROUND.IO and DON'T SQUISH BOB stretch to fit. Bars at the sides are normal, not a sign that something went wrong.

If you're new to the catalog, Which Game First? compares all seven and suggests where to start. Each game also has a full guide covering its scoring and every threat type.

Controls

Each game has one input. Here's how it maps to a touch screen, a mouse and a keyboard.

On the menu and game over screens, Space or Enter presses PLAY, CONTINUE or PLAY AGAIN in every game except DON'T SQUISH BOB, which is touch and mouse only.

In DODGE.IO, your ship follows your finger's movement, not its exact position, and sits a little above your fingertip so your hand never covers it. With a mouse there's no offset: the ship follows the cursor while you hold the button.

Pausing and the Back Button

• Switching away pauses. Change tabs, switch apps or lock your phone mid-run and the game pauses itself. On a computer, clicking outside the browser window pauses too, in every game except DON'T SQUISH BOB.
• Back pauses instead of leaving. On a phone, the Back swipe or button pauses the run rather than closing the game. Press Back a second time to quit the run.
• Pause buttons. DODGE.IO, GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO have a pause button on screen during a run. On a keyboard, Esc pauses in every game that takes keys, and P works in DODGE.IO, GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO.
• Resuming. Tap the screen (or use the RESUME button where there is one). ORBIT.IO, DODGE.IO, GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO count you back in, so you're never thrown straight into danger. SPLIT.IO and DON'T SQUISH BOB pick up the moment you resume, so be ready.
• Turning the screen. Rotating your phone or resizing the window during a run pauses GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO while the playfield adjusts.

Continuing After You Lose

Every game offers one continue per run, and on this website it's free. In six of the games, CONTINUE is the first button on the game over screen, with no timer to rush you. Your score and time carry on, and each game brings you back its own way:

• ORBIT.IO clears the board and gives you a 3-2-1 before your shape starts moving again.
• DODGE.IO puts you back in the middle with a shield.
• SPLIT.IO gives you one life back on a cleared field, with a 3-2-1.
• GROUND.IO gives the core a shield and clears the threats closest to it.
• INK.IO relights two dark lamps, clears the board and refills your ink.
• PHASE.IO clears the threats, refills the phase meter and resets the multiplier.

DON'T SQUISH BOB asks differently: when Bob loses his last heart, a "ONE MORE BREATH?" card gives you five seconds to choose CONTINUE or NO THANKS. Bob comes back in the middle of an empty box with one heart. The five seconds only count down while the game is on screen.

After you've used your continue, the next loss ends the run.

Sound, Vibration and Motion

Sound

ORBIT.IO, DODGE.IO, SPLIT.IO, GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO have a SOUND switch on the menu. In DON'T SQUISH BOB, the speaker button at the top of the screen during a run turns sound on and off. Browsers keep a page silent until you've touched it, so sound starts with your first tap or key press.

Vibration

GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO buzz on impacts, with a VIBRATION switch on the menu. DON'T SQUISH BOB buzzes when spikes pop and when Bob gets hurt, and has no switch for it. The other games don't vibrate. Vibration only works on phones whose browser supports it, which includes most Android phones but not iPhones.

Reduce motion

GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO have a REDUCE MOTION switch that turns off screen shake and halves the particle effects. It starts out matching your device's own reduce-motion setting, and your choice in the game takes over from there. DON'T SQUISH BOB and SPLIT.IO follow your device's setting automatically: Bob drops its screen shake and pulsing effects, and SPLIT.IO drops its screen transitions. ORBIT.IO and DODGE.IO don't have a reduce-motion option.

Scores and Saving

• Where they live. High scores and settings are saved in your browser's local storage on your own device. The games don't send them anywhere, and there's no account to sync them.
• Per browser, per device. A best score set in Chrome on your phone won't show up in Safari, on your laptop, or in the Android app.
• What erases them. Clearing your browser's site data or cookies resets every game. In a private or incognito window, scores last only until you close it.
• Run history. DODGE.IO keeps a Stats screen, linked from its menu, with your best score and time and running totals across your runs in that browser.

For the full picture of what's stored and what isn't, see the Privacy Policy.

Troubleshooting

There's no sound

• Tap the screen or press a key once. Browsers don't allow sound before you interact with the page.
• Check the game's SOUND switch, or the speaker button in DON'T SQUISH BOB.
• On an iPhone or iPad, check the Ring/Silent switch. With the device on silent, browsers mute game sound.

The game stutters or feels slow

• Close other tabs, especially ones playing video.
• Turn off Low Power Mode or battery saver. On iPhones, Low Power Mode can limit the browser to 30 frames per second.
• In GROUND.IO, INK.IO and PHASE.IO, turn on REDUCE MOTION to halve the particle effects.
• Update your browser. Every game draws its graphics live, and newer browsers do it faster.

My high score disappeared

It's almost always one of three things: the browser's site data was cleared, the game was played in a private window, or you're in a different browser or on a different device from the one where you set the score. See Scores and saving.

The game won't load

The games need JavaScript turned on. Reload the page, and if that doesn't help, try another browser. If a game still won't start, email the details below so it can be fixed.

Where's the Daily Challenge?

The Daily Challenge is switched off on the website for now. The Android apps still have it. How the Daily Challenge works explains what it is.

The Android Versions

All seven games are also in closed testing on Google Play. To join, follow the steps in the beta section of the home page. Scores don't carry over between the browser and the app; each keeps its own.