Dash Hop: when to jump, when to duck, and what changes at 200, 500 and 1000 m

Dash Hop is a one-touch runner: Hopling runs on its own, and your only jobs are jumping and ducking. A single hit ends the run, and your distance in metres is the score. You can play it in your browser.

Controls

Jump: tap anywhere in the upper part of the screen, or press Space or the Up arrow. Every jump has the same height, and you can only jump from the ground.
Duck: touch and hold the bottom part of the screen (roughly the lowest third), or hold the Down arrow. Letting go stands Hopling back up, and a duck lasts at most 1.2 seconds even if you keep holding.
You can't jump while ducking or duck in mid-air, so finish one move before starting the next.

The three obstacles

Cactus: the only obstacle for the first 150 metres. Jump.
Crate: shows up from 300 metres, short or tall. Jump, and jump a little earlier for a tall one.
Boopbird: a low flyer from 200 metres. Duck under it. Jumping is risky because the bird flies at about jump height.

Speed steps

The run gets faster in three steps:

200 m: about 15% faster, obstacles a little closer together, and the first Boopbirds.
500 m: about 30% faster than the start, with more birds.
1000 m: about 45% faster, the tightest gaps, and the run switches to night mode.

The first obstacle comes after a calm start, then the gaps vary from one to the next. When you reach a new step, give yourself a few obstacles to adjust: everything arrives sooner, so start each jump earlier than you did a moment before.

Stars

After some obstacles a star floats in the air. You need a jump to catch it. Stars are counted per run and your best star count is saved next to your best distance, but distance is the main score. Never jump for a star if a bird or crate is right behind it.

A simple habit

Watch the right edge of the screen, not Hopling. The earlier you see whether the next thing is on the ground or in the air, the less likely you are to jump into a bird.

More on the Dash Hop page, or start a run.