v1 · updated 2026-07-11

You are a spark of static trapped on a 5×5 capacitor grid, deep inside some vast machine — and the machine has a heartbeat. High-voltage beams sweep the rows and columns in strict time with the music: every emitter charges for exactly four beats, locks, and fires on the beat. Learn the pulse and you’ll see every strike coming; the whole board breathes it, so you can play by sight even with the sound off.

Survive all ten waves to clear the grid.

Controls

• ⬅️➡️⬆️⬇️ — leap between nodes (hold a direction to glide)
• 🅾️ + direction — shatter-leap: detonate the node you leave behind. The crater swallows any beam that hits it, shielding everything beyond — but nothing can stand there until it regrows (8 beats). Costs a charge. Not sure where to go? Tap 🅾️ alone to aim: chevrons mark every legal direction, and your next press executes (or it cancels itself, free).
• ❎ — surge absorb: stand your ground and press exactly as a beam strikes you to eat it. Perfect timing earns a charge and big points; the closing white brackets around your node show you the moment.

How to survive

• 💡 Watch the emitters: dim → red → orange → yellow lock means that row or column fires on the next beat.
• 🕳️ Craters block beams from the side they came from — drop one between you and an emitter when you’re boxed in.
• ⚡ Absorbing is the only way to gain charges mid-wave. Dodging is safe; parrying is profitable.
• 💔 Three hearts for the whole run. Wave clears refill one charge, never a heart.
• 🔊 Prefer playing quiet? The pulsing nodes, the swelling ring, and the beat pips under the score all carry the rhythm visually. Screen shake and flashes can be toggled in the pause menu.

📜 Changelog

v1 — 2026-07-11

• First release of Grid Burst, a beat-locked arcade dodger played on a 5x5 grid.
• Dodge incoming attacks by moving in time with the beat.
• Absorb beams with on-the-beat parries, or shatter-leap to leave beam-blocking craters.
• Synthesized music and sound effects keep every run locked to the rhythm.