Off the AppStore: Test your tapping with extreme XTRIS (PICO-8)

• Challenge tapping with XTRIS (PICO-8)
• Various grids to tap and Xs to chase
• X marks the spot on itch.io

Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these - as with all the games we cover here - are games that you can play on your phone, they're ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone browser. We'll make sure to detail that for each game though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.

We reached the tipping point when it comes to tapping years ago. Tapping is so tiny and ordinary that we do it without thinking about it, like blinking or breathing. And yet, even with all the hours we've spent tapping, there are still ways to challenge just how skilled we are at tapping. That's why we need creators like Fletch to dive into the core of our inherent tapping lifestyle and put it to the test. That's the story of how XTRIS (PICO-8) came to be, and I'm sticking to it for reasons that will become clearer the more you read.

You might think tapping is no big deal; you tap all the time (maybe you've been tapping just to get through this article). However, that's why you must play XTRIS (PICO-8) to remove a few floors from your tapping tower. All you must do at its core is follow the X. Sounds easy enough.

You have a small grid shaped like a block piece that doesn't get invited to the Tetris family picnic and a green X occupying one of the free spaces. Using the onscreen directional pad, you need to move the highlighted square to where the X is and force it to move. Then, you must follow it again and again, and- Did I mention you only have 60 seconds to catch the X as many times as you can?

You may have thought Pong and Pac-Man were simple games, but XTRIS (PICO-8) makes them look like standardized tests. You're just following an X using arrow buttons and keep thinking you can always do better. After all, you send texts as your primary way of communicating; you've been tapping buttons ever since computer classes first became a public school thing. You can defeat XTRIS (PICO-8)! Or, at the very least, try and get a new personal best each time you try. There are multiple levels with different block arrangements to test your sense of direction, as strange as that might sound when you've only got four arrows.

You can play XTRIS (PICO-8) on its itch.io page right here.