Choose a game.
Small, sharp, single-screen games for arcade.hellodarren.com. Snakebyte is the opener, and Vector Vault has now mutated into a harder-edged ricochet game beside it.
Block Breaker 49K
A bright paddle-and-brick cabinet game from the Qwen 49k run: steer the paddle, chain combos, clear waves, and chase the high score.
- Fixed 760x720 cabinet canvas
- Left/right/start controls, no shoot button
- High score, combo ramp, hazards, and 10-second return
Sky Paint
Fly a colour-changing bird through pastel skies: match your trail to cloud patches, paint them clean, and chain combos before they drift away.
- Arrow/WASD or touch-drag to fly
- 1/2/3 or tap palette to switch colour
- Three lives, combo multiplier, satisfying confetti pops
Signal Kitchen
A frantic diner switchboard: route coloured pulses through chunky wires to matching burners before orders burn.
- Mouse, touch, and keyboard switching
- Order streaks, efficiency bonus, and shift hazards
- Single-file canvas prototype
Beam Rider
A one-button photon lane-surfer: shift between beams, catch relays, dodge static gates, and keep charge alive as the timing tightens.
- Fixed 760x720 cabinet canvas
- Tap/Space lane switching
- Charge, score, streak ramp, and PRESS START loop
Maze Munch
A clean Pac-style maze chase baseline: eat pellets, dodge ghosts, hold the board, and roll into faster waves.
- Fixed 760×720 cabinet canvas
- PRESS START title loop
- Lives, score, levels, and 10-second game-over return
Grid Runner
A tight grid dot-collector: scoop the board, dodge patrols, survive chasers, and push into faster waves.
- Fixed 760×720 cabinet canvas
- Tap-latched and held-key movement
- Lives, score, waves, and PRESS START loop
Tideline Thief
One tiny crab, one collapsing pier, too much treasure. Grab coins, dodge gulls, hide under shells, and bank the loot before the tide sweeps through.
- 60-second greed-vs-escape loop
- Keyboard and mobile controls
- Playable first prototype
Tideline Sprite Sheet
Curated pixel-art reference sheet for Tideline Thief, with stable ID codes for every active sprite so feedback can be precise.
- 41 active sprites across player, loot, cover, hazards, tide and UI
- ID codes like CRAB-A / UMBRELLA-B / DIVEGULL-A
- Game-facing SVG + JSON metadata
Tideline Motion Lab
One animation test at a time. Crab, gull, and loot are in; tide and bank are parked for a cleaner rethink.
- Crab scuttle direction pass
- Gull dive + shadow warning pass
- Loot glint readability pass
Snakebyte
The fast, clean opener. Classic snake with a tight restart loop, local best score, and rising speed.
- Single-screen arcade loop
- Arrow keys / WASD
- Playable prototype on staging
Vector Vault: Ricochet
The current main prototype. Charge the shot, bank the glowing core off mirrors and bumpers, and sink it into the vault pocket in as few shots as possible.
- Single-screen neon bank-shot prototype
- Mouse or keyboard charge-and-release controls
- Current live tuning branch
Vector Vault: Engineered Banks
Misses reset the chamber and stamp permanent reflective rails into the board, so each failed shot becomes part of the eventual solution.
- Reset-to-start loop
- Persistent player-built bank rails
- Built to chase the engineered ace
Vector Vault: Dashline Rescue
Misses rewind you to the start and grow a single dashed rescue rail, turning repeated attempts into a bigger, bouncier solve tool.
- Reset-to-start loop
- Growing dashed assist rail
- Darren's compare concept
Vector Vault: Dashline Course Grid
Static concept boards — four intentional one-shot ricochet chambers, each with a distinct family, read note, and ace line.
- Concept boards (not playable)
- Four course families
- Intended ace lines illustrated