Spindle
Hard course
A tower climbed on a widening spiral, with nothing to bank on the way up.
What it is
Spindle is a tower climbed on a widening spiral with nothing to bank on the way up. It has the smallest footprint on the whole ladder — 18 by 16 cells — and is 27 cells tall, so it is very nearly a vertical line. Twenty-four jumps in 26 steps, and only three checkpoints.
The route
The spiral widens as it rises, which means the jumps get longer the further into the run you are and the more a fall costs. There are no drops: every step goes up, 24 cells in total. Three checkpoints across 24 jumps is the thinnest cover in the Hard tier.
How to approach it
The top third is where the run is won or lost, so practise it by reaching the last checkpoint and falling on purpose rather than by restarting from the bottom.
What it teaches: Holding concentration as the cost of a mistake rises.
By the numbers
| Blocks | 368 |
|---|---|
| Footprint | 18 × 16 cells |
| Height | 27 cells |
| Checkpoints | 3 |
| Jumps on the solved route | 24 |
| Widest gap | 3 cells |
| Total climb | 24 cells |
| Start to finish | +24 cells |
Measured from the geometry the game builds for spindle, not estimated. Route figures describe the course, not a human run.
How it compares to the rest of the ladder
Ranked against all 23 courses on the same measurements, this one holds 3 places:
- the second-most climbing of any course on the ladder — 24 cells gained
- the shortest route on the ladder — 26 solver steps
- the smallest footprint on the ladder — 288 cells of ground
Outright places only — ties are not claimed.
Medal times
Derived from this course's own geometry, not typed in — how the times are worked out.
| Medal | Time |
|---|---|
| Author | 0:23.99 |
| Gold | 0:27.59 |
| Silver | 0:33.59 |
| Bronze | 0:47.99 |
Controls
What you need to start
| Move | WASDArrow keys work too. |
|---|---|
| Jump | Space |
| Sprint / lock on | ShiftA latch, not a hold: tap once to arm sprint and a camera lock-on together, tap again to release both. Neither carries over into the next world you open. |
Sprint is a latch rather than a hold — tap it once and it stays on. Every control, keyboard and touch, including respawn, restart and the camera keys, and all of them rebindable.
Other Hard courses
- Vault of Wires — One-cell walkways and a zigzag that turns on every pad.
- Zip Line — Vault's zigzag as the whole course. Sixteen turns, not one cell of slack.
- The Gauntlet — A plunge of six 2x2 pads, banked by one checkpoint at the top of it.
- Needlepoint — Every other landing is a 2x1 pad seen end-on. Straight, and unforgiving.