Fliptempo has one input, but three systems sit on top of it: the chain that drives your multiplier, the Surge meter that fills while you touch walls, and the beat. Good runs come from making all three work together. This chapter explains the exact rules and the habits that follow from them.
What counts as a flip
Each tap reverses gravity and gives the ball a small kick toward the other wall. The tap always flips you, but it only counts, for your chain and for the flip target, if the ball has travelled at least a quarter of the corridor's height since the last counted flip. Two quick taps on the same wall flip you away and back, and only the first one counts; the second earns a token 12 points times your multiplier and nothing else.
The practical rule: make your flips real crossings, or at least real moves. Jittering on a wall does not build anything.
The chain and the multiplier
Every counted flip adds one to your chain, and your score multiplier is 1 + 0.2 for each step of it. Five flips give x2.0, at which point the trail ignites. Ten give x3.0, full blaze. There is no cap. The multiplier applies to everything you score, so a long chain is worth more than any single pickup.
Callouts mark the big milestones: Flip Spree at 5, Rampage at 10, Dominating at 16, Unstoppable at 24, Wicked Fast at 34, Monster Chain at 46, Godlike at 60 and Beyond Godlike at 80. A 20-flip chain (x5.0) earns the On Fire trophy and a 45-flip chain (x10.0) earns Flip God.
Some objects add to your chain without a flip: Belt crystal geodes and Forge quench canisters each count as one step.
What breaks a chain
Only two things: crashing, and staying on one wall too long. If the ball rests against the same wall for more than 1.15 seconds, the chain drops to zero with a KEEP FLIPPING warning. A craft with a higher Wall grace rating stretches that limit; see The Garage, rank and trophies. Any counted flip resets the wall timer.
Surge
The Surge meter fills while you are touching a wall. It takes 1.6 seconds of wall contact in total to fill it, and the charge carries over between touches. When it is full, Surge fires by itself.
The catch is the overload. If any single, unbroken wall contact goes past about one second, the meter overloads and empties completely. So the meter rewards a particular rhythm: land, ride the wall briefly, leave. Two or three short touches of half a second or so fill it without ever overloading.
While Surge is active, for 2.5 seconds on the starting craft:
- your distance score is doubled, on top of your multiplier;
- gems are pulled in from 3.4 times further away;
- you smash through solid obstacles instead of dying, and beams, lava, floods and flares cannot hurt you;
- each obstacle you smash pays more than the last: 600, then 800, then 1,000 and so on, times your multiplier. Four in one Surge triggers a DEMOLITION callout.
The meter does not fill during a Surge, and the Surge does not touch your chain. The skill is timing the last touch so that Surge goes off just before a crowded stretch, a set piece, or a run of gems you would otherwise struggle to reach.
The beat
A counted flip made within 70 milliseconds of a beat in the music scores an ON BEAT bonus of 40 points times your multiplier, with a small shockwave to tell you it landed. That window is tight, but because each world's music has a steady tempo, you can feel it. More importantly, flipping on the beat tends to space your flips evenly, which is exactly what keeps both the chain and the Surge meter healthy.
The beat also tells you what is coming. Belt arc tethers, Forge machines and almost everything in the Signal are timed in beats, and the big set pieces are warned in beats: four for a solar flare, a furnace tap or the Signal's drop, two for a pulsar sweep. Count them.
Where the points come from
| Source | Points |
|---|---|
| Distance | 25 per metre, times your multiplier, doubled in Surge |
| Gem | 1,500, times your multiplier |
| On-beat flip | 40, times your multiplier |
| Surge smash | 600 for the first, 200 more for each after it in the same Surge, times your multiplier |
| World bonuses | Geodes, fuse rocks, close calls, tempered ingots, notes and more, listed in Hazards, helpers and gems |
Because the multiplier touches everything, the single biggest lever on your score is not crashing a chain. A gem picked up at x4 is worth twice a gem picked up at x1.5.
General habits
- Watch the right side of the screen. The ball sits just over a quarter of the way in from the left, so almost everything you need to see is ahead of it. Decide the next flip before you need it.
- Use the fixed layouts. Each level is identical every attempt. If you crash at the same place twice, the fix is a different line one or two flips earlier, not a faster reaction.
- Follow the gems. Gems always sit on a line that is proven safe. When you are unsure where to go, the next gem is a good answer.
- Treat the opening as free. Every level starts with a short clear stretch. Use it to start the chain, not to wait.
World by world
Downtown
The road carries the lamp posts and cars, the ceiling carries the signals and trains, so you can predict what a wall will hold before you see it. For a scanner gate, look at which wall the beam is charging from and be on the other side when it fires. Cars close faster than the street scrolls, so commit to your side early.
The Storm
Ice spikes on both walls mean your Surge-charging touches need to be placed, not taken anywhere. Rotors are a timing problem: the gap turns, so arrive when it is facing you. Through a shard comb, follow the low point of the wave.
The Belt
Geodes and ion rings sit where the route crosses the corridor, so they double as signposts. Hit the ring dead centre: the ion dash smashes everything in front of you for 1.7 seconds. When a solar flare starts glowing, look for the big rock on one wall and settle into its shadow early, then stay clear of the rock itself.
The Forge
The safe line runs high, so your wall touches will mostly be on the ceiling, between stalactites. A quench canister turns the floor safe for a while: that is your chance to use the low half of the corridor and to recharge Surge on the floor. When the furnace tap's glow starts rising, you have four beats to be in the upper half. Skim hot ingots for the TEMPERED chain; they are only dangerous if you hit them.
The Signal
Listen more than you look. When the music suddenly goes quiet, the drop is coming: get to the ceiling. Kick pistons punch out on every beat and then sink back, so pass them just before a beat, when they are lowest. A compressor is safest dead centre. Notes hit close to the beat pay PERFECT, almost double a plain hit, and they chain.