About Wizard Tower
The shadow, and what it actually costs
The shadow starts slow and accelerates with your height, from 34 pixels a second to 96. Touching it costs a life and puts the wizard back on the highest safe platform, rather than ending the run outright - which keeps it a pressure mechanic rather than an instant loss.
It also has a leash. If you climb far enough ahead of it, it is dragged upward so that it never falls more than a screen and a half behind. A very fast climber does not simply leave the game behind.
The bar at the top of the screen shows how close it is. When it reddens the shadow is within about 130 pixels, which is roughly two platforms.
Three traps, each with a fixed cycle
Braziers fire upward on a 2.4-second cycle with a visible half-second wind-up, and they sit on platforms you want to land on. Pendulums swing across gaps on a fixed arc, and the entire arc is drawn faintly so the swing can be read before it arrives rather than learned by dying to it.
Rune traps are the only reactive hazard: they arm when you land on a nearby platform and discharge 0.7 seconds later. Landing next to one and immediately jumping away is always survivable; landing next to one and pausing is not.
None of the three can end the run on their own. All of them cost a life and, more importantly, the second or two that lets the shadow close.
Blink, and the route problem it creates
Space teleports the wizard 130 pixels upward for a third of the mana bar. It is not a better jump - it is an escape from a jump that has already gone wrong, and treating it as a faster way to climb is the most common reason runs end early.
Mana barely regenerates: four points a second, against a blink cost of 34. The real source is magic crystals, which are deliberately placed to one side of a platform rather than on the natural line of the climb.
So the tower is also a route problem. Do you take the crystal detour now, while the shadow is still far enough away, or do you save the blink you already have for a mistake you have not made yet? Good runs answer that question early and stick to it.
How to play
- Press Space, Enter or tap to start.
- Press Left/Right or A/D to move, Up or W to jump.
- Press Space to blink 130 pixels upward for a third of your mana.
- Collect magic crystals - they are the only meaningful source of mana.
- Watch the shadow bar at the top. Red means it is about two platforms away.
- Braziers, pendulums and rune traps each cost a life and the time you needed.
Controls
| Where | What to do |
|---|---|
| Keyboard - move | Left/Right arrows or A/D |
| Keyboard - jump | Up arrow or W |
| Keyboard - blink | Space |
| Keyboard - pause | Escape or P |
| Touch - move and jump | Tap either side of the wizard, or use the buttons |
| Touch - blink | The Cast button below the canvas |
Scoring
These are the point values this game awards, before the combo multiplier is applied where it uses one. Hit quality changes the figure: a strike at the centre of the correct moment is worth substantially more than one at the edge of it.
Tips
- Blink is for escaping a mistake, not for climbing faster. Runs end when it is spent early.
- Decide about a crystal detour before the shadow is close. Deciding late is deciding badly.
- Braziers fire on a 2.4-second cycle. Land on the beat rather than watching for the flame.
- The full pendulum arc is drawn. Read it before you commit to the gap it crosses.
- Rune traps arm on landing nearby and fire 0.7 seconds later. Land and leave.
- The shadow accelerates with your height, so the tower gets harder even if you do not slow down.
Common mistakes
- Using blink as a jump, then having no mana when a jump actually fails.
- Going back down for a crystal with the shadow bar already red.
- Standing on a platform to time a brazier, which is exactly what the shadow wants.
- Ignoring the pendulum arc and treating the bob as the whole hazard.
- Assuming the shadow will fall behind if you climb fast - it is leashed and it will not.
Features
- A rising shadow that accelerates with height and never recedes.
- Three traps with fixed, visible cycles: braziers, pendulums and rune traps.
- A blink spell refilled only by crystals placed off the natural climbing line.
- Reachability guaranteed by the shared platform generator.
- A shadow-proximity bar so the pressure is readable rather than a surprise.
- Personal best height, crystals and score stored locally.
