Sumo Ring▶Play

Each bout opens with a 1.5-second countdown. Push within 0.35 seconds of GO for a fast start; pushing before GO is a false start that costs 25 stamina. After that the rival repeats a cycle: it stands set, crouches (an orange glow), then charges. A charge you meet while braced hits with only 45% of its force. Right after the hit the rival is off balance for 0.65 seconds: the correct side shoves it far back, and a second, shorter window (80% as long) opens on a new random side for a follow-through. Let the opening pass and the rival drives into you instead.

Stamina runs from 100. A push into the opening costs 8, the wrong side 12, a push while the rival is set 18 (it barely moves them and invites a quick counter). Bracing drains 22 per second; stamina refills at 16 per second once no finger is down. Below what a push costs you are out of breath and nothing happens.

From the second bout the rival can feint: it crouches but never charges, and if you push in the next 0.38 seconds you stumble forward and get charged at once. It also watches how you play — push at a steady beat, or keep pushing at the instant you expect the hit, and it times its crouch to catch you.

Shove the rival's heels past the straw bales to win the bout. Each bout lasts at most 30 seconds; time-up is a draw and, like a loss, ends your streak. Every win makes the next rival stronger: the opening window shrinks 6% and the charge grows 7% per win. Your score is the win streak, and equal streaks are ranked by the total time of the bouts you won, measured to 1/100 of a second.

Tips & strategy

React to the hit, not to the crouch. The crouch tells you a charge may be coming — that is the moment to put a finger down and brace — but the only reliable signal that the rival is off balance is the impact itself: the screen jolts, dust flies and one pad lights up. Players who push the instant they expect the collision do well for a bout or two, then meet feints and the rival's rhythm reading. Waiting a heartbeat for the jolt costs almost nothing while the window is 0.65 seconds long, and it is the habit that still works when the window gets short.

Play with two thumbs. Rest one thumb on either pad to brace when the rival crouches, and keep the other free for the shove. When the wobble comes you only lift or press — you never have to slide a finger across the screen — and a braced charge pushes you back less than half as far, which matters most when your heels are near the glowing red bales. Lift every finger between exchanges: stamina only refills when nothing is pressed, and a bout where you brace for the full 30 seconds leaves you too winded to finish the job.

Don't waste pushes while the rival is set. Shoving a planted opponent moves them about as far as a breath, costs 18 stamina and makes them charge almost at once, often while your finger is still up. The rhythm that wins is: brace on the crouch, take the hit, shove the glowing side, shove the next glowing side, let go and breathe. Two clean exchanges from the centre usually end an early bout; later rivals hit harder and their windows shrink 6% per win, so the follow-through stops being optional.

Watch the clock as well as the bales. A draw ends your streak exactly like a loss, so if you are ahead with little time left, keep taking the safe exchanges rather than gambling on early pushes. And because equal streaks are ranked by total bout time, a quick fast start — pushing within 0.35 seconds of GO — is worth practising: it shoves the rival back before the first exchange and shaves seconds off every win.