Pocket Games
Targets
Circles appear, they shrink, you tap them. The rule that decides games is in the next line: tapping where there is nothing also costs you a life.
The rules
Targets appear in random spots and start shrinking immediately: you have to tap them before they disappear. You have three lives, and you lose them two ways:
- a target expires without being hit;
- you tap empty screen, where there is no target.
The second is the rule that changes the game: the spray of random taps that works in so many reflex games is, here, the fastest way to end your run.
Then there are the mines. They show up after the first few points and they do not take a life: they take all of them. They are a fixed size, always clearly recognisable, and they stay on screen longer than normal targets — precisely to give you time not to touch them.
On Pocket Games
The game starts after a 3-2-1 countdown, with the score and three hearts at the top. Every lost life is plain to see: a big red cross with a sound, and if you tapped an empty spot the cross appears exactly where your finger was.
- The hit area does not shrink. The target gets smaller, but what counts for a tap is the circle it had when it appeared. The shapes (circle, triangle, square, diamond, pentagon, hexagon) are only cosmetic.
- Targets come in waves: the game fills the screen up to the current maximum in one go. If you hit them all, the next wave arrives almost at once.
- Mines join in from 8 points, one at a time, and last 1.6 times as long as a target. If one expires, nothing happens.
- In the app, when you run out of lives, you can watch a video once per game and carry on with one heart and an empty screen. On the web this option is not there.
- If you leave halfway, your score and lives are saved; the targets on screen are not. When you resume the screen is empty and the countdown runs again.
- The record is the number of targets hit in one game, and it syncs with your account.
The exact values of the tiers:
| Points | Target lifetime | Pause between waves | Targets at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–9 | 2.4 s | 1.4 s | 2 |
| 20–29 | 2.0 s | 1.2 s | 3 |
| 40–49 | 1.7 s | 0.9 s | 4 |
| 60–69 | 1.3 s | 0.7 s | 5 |
| 90 and up | 0.9 s | 0.45 s | 5 |
How the difficulty ramps
Every ten points you move up a step, and three things change at once:
- targets live less long (they shrink faster),
- they appear more often,
- up to five can be on screen at the same time.
The opening pace is calm and it is there to fool you: the real game starts after the first thirty points, when the screen always has three or four open circles and one of them is about to expire.
How to play well
Always hit the smallest one. With several targets in play the order is not free: the smallest is the one about to expire. Taking the big comfortable one first is the standard way to lose a life you did not have to.
Never tap to be safe. If you are not sure you are on the target, wait: a tap on empty space is a guaranteed error, a delay is not.
Keep your finger lifted, not resting. Players who drag their finger across the screen tend to touch empty areas between targets. Moving above and dropping straight down is more precise, even though it feels slower.
Look at the centre of the screen. With four targets open you do not chase them with your eyes: you keep your gaze wide and let peripheral vision flag whichever one is shrinking. It is the same trick arcade reflex games rely on.
Avoid mines with your hand, not your eye. When one appears, stop passing over that area altogether, rather than remembering to dodge it each time. The cost of a mistake is the whole game.
Frequently asked questions
How many lives do I have, and can I get one back?
Three. An expired target or an empty tap takes one, a mine takes them all. In the app, when your lives run out, a video puts you back in with one heart, but only once per game.
Do I have to hit the centre of the target?
No. The starting circle is what counts, even once the target has shrunk: a tap inside its original footprint is always a hit. For the same reason a tiny target is still easy to take, as long as you know where it was.
Can I stop a game and pick it up again?
Yes. If you leave halfway your score and lives are saved, and the start screen shows Continue with the score you reached. You restart on an empty screen, after the countdown, at the difficulty tier you had reached.
Does my record survive if I change phone?
Yes, if you sign in with your account: the best score is synced and keeps the highest one across your devices.
More games to try
See the full list of games, or open Pocket Games in your browser: they are free and you don’t need an account.