Slope for Beginners: Your First 100 Points

Why your first runs end at 20

Almost every new Slope player dies the same way: not to a red block, but to the edge. The ball has weight, so a key held for half a second drifts it two lanes and off the platform. The slope at the start is wide enough that doing nothing survives longer than doing something. Start each run with your hands off the keys and only tap when a block or a gap is directly ahead.

The speed bands

Up to about 30 points the game is slow enough to react to what is under you. From 30 to 100 you have to read the platform after the one you are on. Past 100 you are steering by pattern and sound more than by sight. Knowing which band you are in tells you how early to commit.

The habit

Look at the top third of the screen. The ball is always at the bottom; there is nothing to learn from it. The next fork, the next block and the tunnel entrance all appear at the top first, and the players who pass 100 are the ones who moved before the obstacle reached the middle of the screen.

Tunnels

The tunnel is the safest place on the slope: you cannot fall out. Centre the ball on entry and stop steering. Every tap inside a tunnel is a risk with no reward.