How to Play Kite Duel

Kite Duel is a fast arcade game inspired by kite fighting, the rooftop duels flown every winter in South Asia and in many old towns around the world. Fly your red kite over a sunset city and cross your string over rival strings to cut their kites loose. Clear wave after wave, chain cuts into combos and survive the Dragon Kite.

Controls

• Mouse: your kite flies toward the cursor. Move the mouse to steer.
• Touch: drag anywhere on the sky. The kite flies a little above your finger so your thumb never hides it.
• Keyboard: arrow keys or W, A, S, D.
• Pause: the pause button in the top-left corner, Esc or P.

Cutting strings

1. Cross the strings. When your string crosses a rival kite's string, the two strings start sawing at each other and sparks fly.
2. The faster string wins. Sawing power comes from how sharp your string is and how fast it is moving at that moment. Sweep across the other string quickly and you cut it in a blink.
3. Never hold still. If you stop while the strings touch, the rival string grinds yours down instead. Keep moving through the crossing.
4. Watch your string bar. The String bar at the bottom shows how much wear your string can take. When it runs out, your kite flies away and the run is over.

Crossings hidden behind the rooftops do not count, so take your duels up into the open sky.

Rival kites

• Paper kites are the most common. 100 points.
• Swift kites are small and quick, but their strings are thin. 150 points.
• Armored kites appear from wave 3. Their strings take more than twice as long to cut. 250 points.
• The Dragon Kite is the boss of every fifth wave: big, aggressive and very tough. 1,000 points.

Combos and score

Cut another kite within 3 seconds of the last one to build a combo, up to ×10. Every cut is multiplied by your current combo, so a quick chain of cuts is worth far more than the same cuts spread out. Clearing a wave also pays a bonus of 50 points per wave number.

Waves and upgrades

Each wave sends more kites, up to nine at a time. After every wave you choose one of three upgrades and your string recovers some of its strength:

• Glass String: your string cuts 30% faster.
• Longer String: fly 10% higher and wider.
• Light Frame: your kite flies 12% faster.
• Thick String: +30% string strength.
• Fresh String: fully repair your string.
• Wax Coating: slowly repair your string while you are not cutting.
• Cheering Crowd: +1.5 seconds to keep your combo going.

Tips

• Swoop, do not hover. Dive through a rival string in one fast stroke, then pull away.
• Fight above the roofs. Lure rival kites up into the open sky before you cross them.
• Take Fresh String when you are low. Early on, Glass String and Light Frame make every cut quicker.
• Save the boss for last. In a Dragon wave, clear the small kites first so they do not saw your string while you duel the dragon.

Saving

Your best score, best wave and settings are saved automatically in this browser on this device. There is no account and nothing to install.

Play Kite Duel