Juggling Act

Juggling Act puts you in the ring of a travelling carnival's big top after dark: striped canvas, strings of warm bulbs, bunting, a tied-back door with the Ferris wheel turning outside, and tiers of people round a sawdust ring. In the spotlight stands the juggler. Every object that comes down lands in the left or the right hand, and you tap that side of the screen (or press A or D, or the arrow keys) as it arrives. A ring closes on the hand to show the moment. Tap on the beat and the throw goes up in a clean high arc; a little early and it goes up low, a little late and it wobbles while the juggler steps to save it. Miss one and it bounces on the sawdust, and the act carries on with one fewer until three are down.

Every few catches the prop trunk pops another object into the pattern: balls first, then clubs that spin twice on their way over and rings that go straight up and come back to the same hand. The band organ plays an original tune in time with the juggling, every catch rings a bell on a note of the music, and the crowd claps along harder as your streak grows. Eight acts, from a two-ball warm-up to a six-object grand finale, each ask for a streak and give up to three stars, and the stars fill a prize shelf with plush toys.

Endless is the quick mode for a high score: objects keep joining up to six in the air, then the band speeds up, and points grow with the streak and with how many you keep going. It is a rhythm game first, so a steady beat matters more than fast fingers, and the timing stays fair however busy the pattern gets. Your stars, prizes, best score and longest streak are saved in your browser.