Popcorn Pop

Popcorn Pop is a popcorn kiosk at the pictures: an oxblood wall with marquee bulbs, a cream enamel stove and a hammered copper pan under a glass lid. Every tap is a shake that pays popcorn, the game's own currency, and pops kernels towards a full pan. Shake steadily and the streak fills, multiplying every shake up to three times at first; it drains soon after you stop. A full pan pours into the bucket for a bonus, the bucket keeps growing, and a new flavour arrives every four pans, each worth a little more a shake.

Every shake also adds heat, and the pan cools by itself, faster the hotter it is, so a steady hand holds the needle still. About five shakes a second sits in the middle of the golden sweet zone, where a shake pays half as much again, pops two kernels and grows the streak twice as fast. Too slow and the pan stays cool; too fast and the needle climbs to TOO HOT and the batch scorches with a puff of smoke. Nothing burns and nothing is lost: the streak starts again and the pan comes off the heat until the needle is back below the zone.

The Upgrades tab sells Butter Brush, Sea Salt and Gold Pan for bigger shakes, Glass Lid and Copper Base to stretch the sweet zone, and more. The Helpers tab adds extra pans on the stove, a popcorn cart that rings its bell, a cinema machine and a giant kettle stirred with a long paddle. Tap the golden kernel when it floats by for a Pop storm! or a heap of popcorn. Helpers keep popping for up to two hours while you are away. Once a run is worth 10 Gold Tickets, take an Encore: upgrades, helpers and pans start again, and every ticket adds 25% to all popcorn, forever. Progress is saved in the browser on this device.