Notch Lock Tips: Hit Windows, Speed Levels and Safe Taps

Updated October 2026

Notch Lock looks like a pure reflex test: a needle sweeps around a dial and you tap when it crosses a yellow notch. In practice it rewards patience and anticipation far more than raw reaction speed, because nothing forces you to tap at any particular moment. This guide lays out the exact numbers behind the dial, explains which taps are safe, and gives you a routine that holds up as the needle gets fast.

How a round works

The needle starts at the twelve o'clock position and always turns clockwise. It never reverses and never changes speed within a level. Each level places a set of yellow notches around the ring, and you clear the level by landing a tap on every one of them. Each hit is worth one point, the notch turns green, and clearing the whole set adds a bonus of ten. There is a short pause of just over half a second before the next level appears, and taps during that pause are ignored.

A tap anywhere on the game area while the needle is outside every notch ends the run. That includes your very first tap: the needle is already sweeping slowly before you start, and the tap that begins the game is judged like any other. Wait for a notch before you touch the screen. On a keyboard, Space or Enter acts as a tap.

The order of the notches does not matter. Any yellow notch under the needle counts, and there is no clock. You are free to let the needle pass a notch you are unsure about and take it on the next lap.

The hit window, in numbers

Each notch has a tolerance on either side of its centre, and the yellow arc drawn on the ring is exactly that tolerance. If the centre of the needle's head is anywhere over the coloured arc, the tap counts. The arc gets slightly narrower as the needle speeds up, but most of the difficulty comes from the speed itself. Converting angle and speed into time gives the real window you have to hit:

• Level 1: 2 notches, one lap takes about 3.9 seconds, and each notch is under the needle for about 200 milliseconds.
• Level 5: 5 notches, a lap takes about 2.2 seconds, and the window is about 100 milliseconds.
• Level 10: up to 9 notches, a lap takes about 1.4 seconds, and the window is about 56 milliseconds.
• Level 17 and later: the needle reaches its top speed and a lap takes just under a second; the window starts at about 31 milliseconds and from then on shrinks by 3 percent each level, to about 21 ms at level 30 and 15 ms at level 40.

The notch count grows by roughly one every one or two levels and stops at ten from level 12. Notches are always at least about 26 degrees apart, so two of them never merge. At top speed that minimum spacing is crossed in roughly 70 milliseconds, which means close pairs demand two taps in very quick succession.

One quirk of the layout: from level 10 the game sometimes cannot fit every notch it wants on the ring. In our simulation of the placement code, about 5 percent of level 10 and 11 dials had one notch fewer than planned, and from level 12 onward roughly 43 percent of dials had nine notches instead of ten. The counter in the top-right corner always shows how many yellow notches remain, so trust it rather than the level number.

Timing is measured at the moment of touch

The game judges each tap by where the needle was at the instant your finger landed, not where it was drawn on the last frame. Two things follow. First, a slow or busy phone does not shrink your window, so practice transfers between devices. Second, the press counts, not the release. Committing to a tap means starting the finger movement early enough that contact happens inside the arc, not lifting it at the right time.

Human reaction time to a visual event is typically around a fifth of a second, which is already about as long as the whole level 1 window. That is why waiting to see the needle touch the notch fails at higher levels. You have to predict where it will be, using the steady speed of the sweep.

Safe taps and how to use them

Green notches are safe ground. Tapping while the needle is over a notch you have already hit does nothing at all, neither scoring nor ending the run. This gives you a rhythm tool. Once a level has a green notch or two, tap on them as the needle passes to keep your finger in time with the sweep. It costs nothing and keeps the beat in your hand before you commit to the next yellow one. At the start of a level, when everything is still yellow, the equivalent is to watch one full lap without tapping at all.

Because there is no time limit, the most valuable safe action is simply waiting. A new level never places a notch in the first stretch directly ahead of the needle, so you always get a moment to look at the layout before the first notch arrives.

A tapping routine that scales

1. Pick one target per lap. Choose the notch you will hit next and ignore the others until it is green.
2. Prefer isolated notches. A notch with a wide empty gap before it gives you the clearest approach. Leave tight pairs for when you are in rhythm.
3. Aim at the leading edge. Plan for contact as the needle enters the arc. Being slightly early keeps you inside the window; being late runs out of arc.
4. Skip freely. If your finger is not ready, let the needle go by. A full lap at top speed is under a second, so skipping is cheap.
5. Finish with a fresh look. The last notch of a level is often the one you have been skipping. Treat it as a new target, not a leftover.

What a good score looks like

Each cleared level is worth its notch count plus ten. Clearing level 1 gives 12 points, reaching the end of level 5 is worth 68 in total, and finishing level 10 puts you around 150. Beyond level 12 each level adds about twenty points, and from level 17 the speed and notch count stay fixed while the hit window keeps narrowing, so every level past that point is a little less forgiving than the one before. Your best score is kept on the device, and any score above zero can be saved to the Hall of Fame from the result card.

Common mistakes

• Tapping to start. The first tap is judged. Wait for a notch.
• Chasing the notch you just missed. If you hesitate, the needle is already past it. Let it go and catch it next lap.
• Reacting instead of predicting. From around level 5, the window is shorter than a typical reaction, so you must move before the needle arrives.
• Tapping between notches to "keep rhythm". Only taps over green notches are free. Any tap over the bare ring ends the run.