Game Mechanics

Gameplay overview
Gameplay in A Dance of Fire and Ice consists of two planets, one stationary on a track and the other orbiting the first one. The player has to tap the screen or press a key when the orbiting planet is over the next tile on the track, at which point the other planet will start orbiting. If the orbiting planet makes a full circle around the stationary planet or the player taps too early too many times, the orbiting planet will crash into the stationary planet, causing them both to explode, resulting in failure.

Tiles can have an effect on them that is applied when a planet lands on it.
 * Goal.png: Placed at the end of the track. Landing on it results in success.
 * Rabbit.png Rabbit : Increases the BPM
 * Snail.png Snail : Decreases the BPM
 * Double Rabbit and Double Snail.png Double Rabbits and Double Snails also exist, which increase/decrease the BPM respectively, even more.
 * Anti-clockwise and Clockwise Swirls.png Swirl : Reverses the direction the planets orbit (eg. if the planets orbit clockwise, when a planet lands on a swirl, they'll start orbiting anti-clockwise).
 * Planets always orbit clockwise at the start of the track.
 * Checkpoint.png Checkpoint : Causes the planets to respawn at this tile when they fail, rather than the beginning.

Timing windows
A tap will successfully move the orbiting planet to the next tile if it is within 60&deg; of the tile. Due to the timing windows being based on the physical distance of the planet from the tile, the timing windows get stricter as the planet orbits faster, but once above a certain BPM, the timing windows become fixed and will always be the timing windows as if the planet was orbiting at that speed. For example, if the cap was 200 BPM, any BPM below that would have timing windows for the current BPM, but any BPM equal to or higher than 200 BPM would have timing windows for 200 BPM. For reference, a 180&deg; rotation correlates to a quarter note at the current BPM.

The specific cap is dependent on the timing option the player has selected.

Judgement Windows
These are the outcomes of landing on a tile. The first three outcomes will land your planet on the next tile, but if you get the 4th outcome, you need to tap again. If you get the 4th outcome (late), you will lose the level.

Tile angles
The angle of a tile will determine how many beats it takes to get to the next tile. The 180° interval tile can be found in every world. It portrays a crotchet, or a quarter note beat. It has a beat number of 1. Every other beat number will be relative to this interval. The 90° interval portrays a quaver, an eighth note, or half of a crotchet. It has a beat number of ½. The 270° interval portrays a dotted crotchet, a dotted quarter note, or 1.5 times a crotchet. It has a beat number of 1½. The 135° interval portrays a dotted quaver, a dotted eighth note, or 1.5 times a quaver. It has a beat number of ¾. The 225° interval portrays five quarters the length of a crotchet It has a beat number of 1¼. The 60° interval portrays a quaver triplet, or a third of a crotchet. It has a beat number of ⅓. The 150° interval portrays five-sixths of a crotchet. It has a beat number of ⅚. The 120° interval portrays a crotchet triplet, or two-thirds of a crotchet. It has a beat number of ⅔. The 240° interval portrays a minim triplet, or four-thirds of a crotchet, It has a beat number of 1⅓. A 300° angle portrays five quaver triplets, or five thirds of a crotchet. It has a beat interval of 1⅔. A 45° interval portrays a semiquaver, or a quarter of a crotchet. It has a beat number of ¼. A 315° interval portrays a double dotted crotchet, or seven quarters of a crotchet. It has a beat number of 1¾. A 360° interval (a.k.a. 360 spin) portrays a minim, a half note, or two times a crotchet. It has a beat interval of 2. Landing on a 360° interval guarantees that the next place you should land is the place before the interval.

In addition, there are four tiles which are not used in the official levels, but are available in the Level Editor: A 30° angle portrays a semiquaver triplet, or a sixth of a crotchet. It has a beat interval of ⅙. A 210° angle portrays seven semiquaver triplets, or seven sixths of a crotchet. It has a beat interval of 1⅙. A 330° angle portrays eleven semiquaver triplets. It has a beat interval of 1⅚. Finally, there is one more tile which the planets do not land on, but must be pressed on beat. This is the midspin tile. Midspins can be at any beat interval.

Also of note is multitap tiles. Multitaps can be at any beat interval, and are hit by pressing two keys at once, but they can be changed to only require one press in the settings. If the two presses are at different times, but both within the 60&deg; window, the later one is used for timing (eg. If the player hits a mulitap tile perfect with one press, but late with the other, it's counted as late, but if the player hits early with one press and early with the other, it's counted at perfect).

Patterns
Levels are made up of multiple patterns as representation of a song's beat. Memorising and recognising patterns makes a level much easier and is necessary in certain Worlds.

Z-Bend
Debut: Level 1-2

Consists of: 270°, 90°

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in 270° Off beat

S-Bend
Debut: Level 1-3

Consists of: 90°, 270°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in 90° Off beat

3-Point Z-Bend
Debut: Level 3-1

Consists of: 270°, 270°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in 270° Off beat

3-Point S-Bend
Debut: Level 3-1

Consists of: 90°, 90°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in 90° Off beat

Sixteenth S-Bend
Debut: Level 4-1

Consists of: 135°, 225°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in 135° Off beat

Z-Bend Semi-Octagon Tresillo
Debut: Level 4-2

Consists of: 135°, 135°, 270°

Ending: On beat

S-Bend Semi-Octagon Tresillo
Debut: Level 4-3

Consists of: 135°, 135°, 90°

Ending: On beat

Triplet Triangle
Debut: Level 4-4

Consists of: 60°, 60°, 60°

Ending: On beat

Triplet S-Bend
Debut: Level 5-1

Consists of: 120°, 240°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in triplet skewed step

Triplet Z-Bend
Debut: Level 5-3 (with a 180° in between)

Consists of: 300°, 60°

Ending: On beat

Modification: Placing any number of 180° tiles between these tiles will result in inverted triplet skewed step

Skewed Loop
Debut: Level 5-4

Consists of: 120°, 60°, 120°

Ending: Inverted triplet skewed step

4-Point S-Bend
Debut: Level 6-1

Consists of: 90°, 90°, 90°

Ending: 270° Off beat

5-Point S-Bend / Interior Square
Debut: Level 6-X

Consists of: 90°, 90°, 90°, 90°

Ending: On beat

Exclusive Patterns
Patterns almost exclusively seen in one world can be found on the Worlds page.

Deaths
There are currently 2 types of deaths in the game. If you lose in game, a death screen will occur. There are 2 possibilities.