How to play Kinetype
Kinetype looks like a fighting game and plays like a typing test with consequences. One sentence at a time, one move per word. These five things decide almost every exchange, and they are worth two minutes before your first match.
1Read the sentence, because it is your next few moves
You get one sentence at a time and you type it straight through. Every word in it is a move, decided by how difficult the word is: a small word blocks, an ordinary word punches, and a long word kicks. The kick is the one that ends rounds, the punch is the workhorse, and the block is what keeps you alive. You cannot skip a word, so the sentence you were handed is the hand you have to play. Read it before you start typing and you will know when your block lands.
2Type it, starting with the first letter
There is nothing to click and nothing to select, and no spaces to type: the game moves you to the next word the moment you finish the last letter of this one. Every move fires on the final letter of its word, and every keystroke counts from the first press.
3Watch the damage colour, not a health bar
There is no health bar, because damage does not knock you out on its own. It makes you easier to knock out. Your outline shifts from white to yellow to orange to red as it climbs, and the same kick throws you further at 100 percent than it did at 10. Once you are deep in the red, one kick ends the round.
4Block and parry the kicks
A block lasts about a second, and you raise it by finishing a small word. When your opponent commits to a kick you get a KICK INCOMING warning: if your block is up when that kick connects, you parry it and take about a third of the knockback, and you get a counter window that doubles your next hit. Blocking at the wrong moment is not free, because you spent the time typing a word that did no damage.
5Type the save word if you go off the edge
Going past the red line does not end the round straight away. A large SAVE word appears with a short timer. Complete it and you climb back onto the stage with a brief moment of invulnerability. Miss it and the round is over. This is the most important word in the match, so keep an eye on the timer.
Controls
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| A to Z | Types the word in front of you. Every word is a move |
| Esc | Quits the match |
That is the whole control scheme. There is no jump, no block button and no movement keys, because typing is the only verb in the game: your block comes from finishing a small word, not from pressing another key. You do not need to type spaces either.
Common questions
- Do I need to be fast to win?
- Speed helps, but blocking and damage decide more fights than raw words per minute. A player who reads the incoming kick and parries it beats a faster player who never blocks. The bot ladder lets you test that: try beating the 70 word per minute bot while you type at 45.
- What do I lose if I make a mistake?
- By default, only the bonus on that one word. A wrong letter clears that word's precision bonus, and you carry on from where you were once you press the right key. You do not start the word again, you are not stunned, and the rest of the sentence still earns its own bonus. Turn on Strict mistakes if you want a wrong letter to cost you about half a second of movement.
- How do I choose the difficulty?
- You set the bot's typing speed directly, from 20 to 120 words per minute, rather than picking easy or normal. Typing speed and gaming skill are not the same thing, so a number tells you far more about what you are in for. Your sentences also get longer as the speed goes up, so the slow bots hand you short sentences you can actually finish.
- How many rounds is a match?
- Best of three. Rounds also have a 90 second limit, and if the clock runs out the player with less damage wins the round.
- Why do words sometimes look different?
- Each word carries a coloured underline and the word you are typing is highlighted: teal blocks, purple punches, red kicks. So you can see the next few moves at a glance. A large amber SAVE word replaces your sentence when you are knocked off the edge.