Hurdle Hero

Hurdle Hero is a side-on track and field game about rhythm. You do not hold a button down to run: you alternate two keys, one for each foot, and the meter at the bottom of the screen watches how evenly you do it. Tap in a steady beat and the rhythm bar fills, the stride opens up and the metres start falling away. Mash as fast as your fingers will move and the cadence needle swings into the red, the bar drains and you actually slow down. Finding the beat and holding it for ten seconds is the whole sport.

Then the barriers arrive. A green band is painted on the track in front of each hurdle to show where the take-off is, and it slides as your speed changes. Hit it and you float over with the lead leg out and lose nothing. Leave it late and you clip the board, the crowd groans and your rhythm takes a knock. Leave it very late and you go straight through the hurdle and stumble. Four events run on the same skills: a flat 100 m that is pure cadence, the 110 m hurdles over ten high barriers three strides apart, the 400 m hurdles where a stamina bar forces you to pace yourself instead of sprinting the first half, and a 4 x 100 m relay with a twenty-metre box to get the baton away in.

Every race is run against seven rivals in their own lanes, with names, flags, starting blocks, a starter's pistol and a big scoreboard counting the leaders. The finish is settled by a real photo finish strip that lines the whole field up by hundredths of a second, and a quick medal table follows you through a meet of all four events, handing out points and gold, silver and bronze. Your personal best for each event is saved in your browser, and the field quietly gets faster as you do, so the high score to beat is always your own. Touch, mouse and keyboard all work, portrait and landscape both fit, P pauses and M mutes.