How do you play Light Cycle Duel?
On a square grid your light cycle rides without ever stopping and leaves a wall of light behind it. All you can do is turn, and if you are the last cycle still riding when everyone else has crashed, you win the round. The first to win two rounds wins the match.
After a 3, 2, 1 countdown every cycle launches at once. Cycles advance one grid cell at a time, and a direction key makes the cycle turn the moment it reaches the next cell. You cannot reverse, only turn left or right. Two quick presses are remembered in order, so a tight U turn in a narrow lane is possible.
It is the same duel you may remember from an old neon film, and people also call it a tron like game, a tail dodging game or a snake battle. The rule fits in one line, but as the arena fills with walls the match turns into a fight over who holds the larger open space.
What makes you lose?
The moment the nose of your cycle touches a wall or the edge of the arena, the cycle crashes. Your own wall counts just as much as a rival's.
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Hit a rival wall | You crash. The rival scores a point |
| Hit your own wall | You crash. The rival scores a point |
| Hit the arena edge | You crash. The rival scores a point |
| Two cycles enter the same cell at once | Both crash, including a head on charge |
| The last two crash together | Draw. No point, next round |
| Wall of a crashed cycle | Flickers out and disappears. Its cells can be crossed again |
| Only one cycle left | It wins the round. Two points win the match |
Each round win fills one of the circles beside your name at the top, and when both are full the result screen appears with the score, your longest ride and the length of light wall you laid in the final round.
What modes are there?
On the title screen pick vs Computer, Two players or 4 way melee. All three end when someone wins two rounds.
| Mode | What happens |
|---|---|
| vs Computer | One on one against the computer on a 40 cell grid. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard |
| Two players | Two people on one keyboard or one phone. 1P on the left uses WASD, 2P on the right uses the arrows |
| 4 way melee | You and three computer cycles launch from the four corners of a wider 46 cell grid. The last one riding wins the round |
In the melee, if you crash early you watch the remaining computers finish the round before the next one starts. When a fallen cycle's wall disappears a large space can suddenly open up, so a spot that looked sealed may become your way out.
How do the computer levels differ?
Easy only looks one cell ahead, Normal measures how much room each turn leads into, and Hard divides the whole arena into cells it can reach before you and cells it cannot, choosing the move that grows its territory. The level applies to both vs Computer and the melee.
| Level | How it thinks |
|---|---|
| Easy | Turns to any free side only when the cell ahead is blocked, and sometimes turns for no reason at all. It will ride into dead ends on its own |
| Normal | Counts the reachable cells behind each of the three options (straight, left, right) and goes where there is more room. It rarely traps itself but does not try to trap you |
| Hard | For each option it compares the cells it reaches first against the cells you reach first (a Voronoi style split of the arena) and picks the move that widens its region and shrinks yours. Once cut off from you it fills its space by hugging the walls |
The Hard computer does not flinch in a head on charge and comes in to cut across your path. Learn the feel of space on Normal before moving up.
How does the speed setting work?
Slow, Normal and Fast on the title screen set how many cells a cycle covers per second: 8, 12 and 17.
Slow leaves time to look at the whole arena and plan a route, which suits a first game or two players. Fast is a reflex duel where one late turn becomes a crash. The computer thinks the same way at any speed, so Fast tilts the odds toward the computer.
How do you win?
- Never turn your back on the open space. At each turn check that the room ahead of you is bigger than your rival's. Once you are stuck in the smaller pocket, no amount of clever riding gets you out before the wall.
- Cut across your rival's path. A wall drawn in front of where they are heading forces a turn, and if the side they turn to is the narrow one, the round is yours.
- Seal pockets with your wall. Close the gap between a rival wall and the edge and they are locked in a small room.
- Alone in your space, hug the walls. Once you are cut off, do not cross the middle. Spiral along the walls so not a single cell is wasted.
- Turn one cell early. A direction key applies when you reach the next cell, so press it a cell before the wall, not at the wall.
- In the melee, survive the first seconds. The computers often crash into each other early. Ride quietly along the edge and you will frequently be one of the last two.
Controls
- Keyboard: arrows or W A S D to turn. In Two players, 1P on the left uses WASD and 2P on the right uses the arrows. Space or Enter starts, Esc returns to the menu.
- Phone and tablet: swipe in the direction you want to turn, or tap the round direction pad at the bottom. A light tap to the left or right of your cycle also turns it that way. In Two players the left half belongs to 1P and the right half to 2P.
- Mouse: click to the left of your cycle, relative to the way it is riding, to turn left, and to the right to turn right.
- Buttons: the speaker at the top right toggles sound effects and the house icon returns to the title screen.
Your records (wins against the Hard computer, melee wins and longest ride), the sound setting and your last chosen mode are saved only in this browser and never sent to a server. The game pauses when you switch to another tab.