Issue 001 · May 2026 · Now Live #01 in the Founding Twenty-Five
#01 · Editor's Score 4.7 / 5 · Timing

Pulse Lock

One button. One pointer. One target. The target shrinks every time you hit it; the pointer speeds up every time you hit it. Miss once, start over.

Score0
Best0

Press SPACE or tap to start

Hit the orange arc

Desktop · SPACE to lock   ·   P to pause   ·   Mobile · tap anywhere

What it is

Pulse Lock is the flagship of the Founding Twenty-Five — the title we kept reopening during internal testing. It's a single-screen, one-button timing game built on a simple rule: press at the right moment, get rewarded; press at the wrong moment, start over. There is no level select, no menu, no power-up store, no second chance. There's the dial, the pointer, and the target arc.

How to play

  • The pointer sweeps clockwise around the dial.
  • The target is the orange arc on the edge.
  • Press SPACE (or tap, on mobile) when the pointer is over the target. That's a hit.
  • Each hit shrinks the target by 5% and speeds the pointer up by 3%. The target also jumps to a new random spot.
  • Miss the target — press when the pointer is outside the orange arc — and the run ends.
  • Your best score is kept in this browser. No account. No upload.

The trick

Beginners try to react. That doesn't work past a score of about 10 — the pointer is already too fast. The trick is to anticipate the entry rather than respond to it. Look ahead of the pointer, watch the gap close, and commit your press a heartbeat before the pointer arrives. The brain stem is much faster than the cortex; once you stop "deciding", scores climb fast. A run of 50 means you've crossed into anticipation. A run of 100 means you've stopped looking at the pointer entirely and are reading the rate at which the gap closes.

What this scored well on

  • Cleanness of failure. Every loss is unambiguous. You pressed; the pointer was outside; that's on you. No hidden frame, no input lag the game won't admit to.
  • Input that feels right. Built around requestAnimationFrame with no debouncing, no animation queue. The press is read on the frame it happens.
  • A difficulty curve that earns it. Each hit speeds up 3%, target shrinks 5%. Both numbers are capped so the game stays playable at very high scores rather than becoming a coin flip.

What it gets wrong

Pulse Lock is not generous. There is no warm-up. If you misclick on the first press, you immediately lose. We considered adding a one-press grace period and decided against it — the start of a run should feel as honest as the middle of one. If you bounce off in the first three attempts, give it five more. You'll feel the rhythm settle around the sixth try.

Who it's for

Pulse Lock is for anyone who has ever closed a stopwatch app exactly on a round number and felt a small private rush about it. If the words "I can do this on the next try" are in your vocabulary, this is a game you should not start within twenty minutes of an important meeting.

Where we'd point you next

If you liked the rhythm of Pulse Lock, watch for Echo Tap (#04 — playing a beat back). If you liked the cleanness of the input, watch for Reflex Lane (#03 — three-lane dodge). Both shipping in this batch — check the full catalogue for the release schedule.

Released · 12 May 2026 · Editor's score 4.7 / 5 · Reviewed by Bill