Red Light
Run while she sings. Freeze when she turns. A free one-tap game.
Play nowHold to run · Let go when she turnsRed Light is a one-button version of the playground game red light, green light. A girl stands at the far end of the field with her back to you, singing. Hold to run toward the finish line. When the song stops she spins round, and if anything is still moving when her eyes land on you, you're out. Your runner has momentum, so you need to let go a moment before she turns. Some spins are fakes, and every round has a clock, so you can't just stand still and wait.
How to play Red Light
- Hold anywhere to run toward the finish. Let go to stop. You slow down quickly, but not instantly.
- While she sings (green light) it's safe to run. When the music stops and she goes quiet, she's about to turn.
- If you're still moving when she's facing you (red light), you're out.
- Cross the finish before the round clock runs out. Each round the clock gets shorter.
Tips to get a high score
- Watch for the tell: the notes stop and she pauses. That's your cue to let go.
- Stopping takes a split second. Let go as she starts to turn, not when she's already facing you.
- Some turns are fakes: she spins halfway and goes back to singing. Get going again fast.
- Freezing at the last possible moment scores a CLOSE!, and several in a row climb in pitch.
- Finish with plenty of time on the clock for a bonus coin.
How the watcher speeds up
Her rhythm follows the clock rather than the round, and it tightens over roughly the first 70 seconds. Early songs last about 1.3 to 3.7 seconds; later ones about 0.7 to 2.5. Her quiet pause before turning shrinks from half a second to about a fifth, and the spin itself gets twice as quick.
She keeps her schedule between rounds too, so a new round can begin mid-song or just before a turn. Check what she's doing the moment the round starts instead of assuming you have a full song to run.
Fake spins begin once she's fully turned round twice. About one turn in five is a fake at first, rising to one in two. A fake stops partway round and she turns back, then sings for only half a second to a second and a half before the next turn.
Exactly when you're safe
You can only be caught while she's fully facing the field. Moving during her quiet pause and during the spin is fine, as long as you're completely stopped when her eyes land on you. From the moment the song stops, that gives you about 0.9 seconds early in a run and about 0.4 seconds later.
From full speed your runner needs about a sixth of a second to skid to a halt, and from standing it takes about half a second to reach full speed. Even the briefest press while she's watching gets you moving, so keep your thumb right off until she turns away.
It works the other way too. She isn't watching while she turns back, which takes a little over a tenth of a second, so you can start running then instead of waiting for the song. Those frames add up over a long run.
Beating the shrinking clock
A clean sprint from start to finish is about two and a half seconds of running. The round clock starts at 12 seconds and shrinks to 7.5 by round 15. After that it loses a twelfth of a second every round, down to a floor of 4 seconds.
So the clock is mostly about how long you spend standing still while she watches. Each look lasts between about one and two and a half seconds, and two or three of them can eat most of a late-round clock. Using every safe moment of the pause and the spin is how you keep up.
Your score is rounds cleared. Finishing with more than 45 percent of the clock left drops a coin, and crossing the line while she's past halfway round earns a CLOSE!, but neither adds to your score. In late rounds, the safe stop beats the risky dash.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Red Light level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
How do I know when she'll turn?
Her song stops, the light beside her goes amber and she pauses for a moment before spinning. The pause gets shorter as the game goes on.
Why was I out when I let go in time?
Your runner needs a moment to skid to a stop, especially at full speed. Let go a little earlier, or run in shorter bursts when she's due to turn.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Red Light to your site
Red Light is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
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