How to play
FREEZE RUN is red light, green light in a pastel 3D playground. At the far end stands giant Marigold. While she sings with her back turned, everyone runs towards her. When she turns round, everyone must freeze. Anyone still moving while she is looking pops into confetti. You are runner No. 001, in a crowd of numbered runners played by the computer.
Hold Space, W or Up (or hold the mouse button or a finger) to run, and let go to freeze. Steer with A and D or the arrows, or by dragging left and right while you hold on a phone. On the result card, Enter or Space moves on or retries; R retries and M mutes.
Each level opens with a 3-2-1 countdown. Reach the finish before the timer runs out to be SAFE!. Get spotted and it is CAUGHT!; run out of time and it is TIME UP. Either way you can try the level again.
Tips and strategy
- Listen. Marigold's song resolves to its low "home" note right before she turns. Once you hear the tune heading home, let go.
- You have a split second. She has to swing round before she can see you, which takes half a second on the first level and gets quicker on later ones. You stop almost at once when you let go, so a release as she starts to turn is still safe. A release after she is facing you is not.
- Release early, not late. Stopping a fraction too early costs a few centimetres. Stopping a fraction too late costs the level.
- Fake-outs cannot catch you. From level 5 she sometimes does a quick half-turn in the middle of her song. She is not really looking, so you are safe to keep running, but plenty of the other runners will flinch and stop.
- Mind the clock too. Stars are given for how much time is left. Being too careful can run you out of time on long fields.
- Steer round the bumpers. From level 3 there are mushroom bumpers on the field. Running into one at speed cuts your speed by more than half, so plan a line round them while you are frozen.
What's in it
Twelve tuned levels, then endless levels after that. Every level changes in the same few ways:
- The field gets 9 m longer each level, from 79 m on level 1.
- The crowd grows by three runners a level, from 21 on level 1 up to 40 at most.
- Her songs get shorter, from four to six seconds at first down to as little as a second and a half.
- Her stares get longer, and her turn gets quicker.
- Mushroom bumpers arrive at level 3, and there are more of them each level.
- Fake half-turns arrive at level 5 and become more likely as you go on.
The timer grows with the field, so the longer levels give you more time as well. You earn one to three stars per level: three if more than about two fifths of the time is left, two if more than about a fifth is left, and one for any finish. The level menu shows the stars on every level and your total. The result card shows where you finished in the crowd, the time left and how many runners were caught.
The look is flat pastel shapes with ink outlines, like a picture book.
Behind the game
Each round is a loop of four parts: she sings with her back turned, swings round, stares, and turns back. Only the stare counts. The song is a short run of notes spaced across her singing time, so a short song sounds faster, and its last note is always the low home note. That is your cue, and it works even when the songs get short.
The other runners have little personalities. Each time she starts singing, every runner picks how quickly to set off, how quick its reactions are and how cautious it is. Cautious ones stop well before the end of the song; bold ones keep going and can be caught by a slow reaction. About two in five are nervous and freeze at a fake half-turn. That is why the crowd thins out as the level goes on, and why the runner next to you is not always a safe guide.
Runners only count as moving above a small speed, so a frozen runner can tremble without being caught. Runners also push each other apart, so in a crowd you can be nudged sideways.
Questions
Do I need an account?
No. Your stars and unlocked levels are saved in your browser.
How many levels are there?
Twelve hand-tuned ones, and after that the levels keep going, getting longer and harder each time.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Hold a finger on the screen to run, slide it left or right to steer, and lift it to freeze.
Can I play with the sound off?
Yes, but the song is your best warning that she is about to turn, so it is harder. A banner also shows GO! and FREEZE! on screen.
Is it violent?
No. Caught runners pop into confetti and paint splats.
Does it flash?
No. The edges of the screen tint green and red to show when to run and when to freeze.