THE MOSS RING

WHERE EVERY RUN BEGINS

Every run of Kai's Greedy Loop starts here, on a perfect circle of old paving stones. Moss grows between the slabs, and mossy ruins gather around a tall crystal in the middle that throws cold blue light over everything. The circle is the only road in the game that keeps still. Every later world bends, breathes or crosses itself, so this is where you learn what the road is telling you before it starts to move.

Kai starts with three lanes. As he eats and grows, his form changes and the road gives him a fourth and then a fifth lane, so a run that goes well gets wider before it gets harder.

THE OPENING LESSON

The first stretch of every run is the same short lesson, one idea at a time, the way the first level of an old platformer teaches by what it puts in front of you. First comes a feast, a road packed with creatures and nothing to fear. Then a staircase of walls, each one a lane further over, so you learn to tap early. Then a golden line of creatures threaded between walls, which teaches you that greed and danger sit in the same lane. A row of bumpers follows, and last a slalom. After that the road is dealt at random, and it never repeats.

WALLS, BUMPERS AND THE MARK OVER HIS HEAD

Red walls are the only thing on this road that can hurt you. A hit takes a heart, scatters half of the creatures you carry and costs a little score. Bumpers are a different color on purpose: they never take a heart. They shove Kai back along the road, and they cost something else: the whole line of creatures he was carrying, and a small bite of the score. A dash breaks both.

Watch for the small warning mark that rides over Kai's head. It is there exactly while his own lane is blocked somewhere ahead, and it goes away the moment the lane is clear. You do not have to find the wall on the screen to know it is coming; when the mark is up, change lane or get ready to dash.

HOW TO PLAY THE MOSS RING

Do not release too soon. Early in a run the score per creature is low, and a full line of ten is worth far more than three small releases. Use the opening lesson to fill your line, keep it while the road is easy, and save the dash for a wall you cannot get around. When the line is full the screen says RELEASE THEM, and every creature you pass after that is wasted until you let them go.

The world ends with a gate. When the run has grown enough, a ring of stone slabs closes every lane but one and turns. The gap is the safe lane past it; the only way through is to dash the slabs down, one lane at a time. When the last one falls the road gives way under Kai, and he falls into the Pale Tide.