How to play Pond Pulse

Circles appear on the pond in time with the music, each with a ring closing in around it. Click or tap the circle at the moment the ring meets its edge. The closer to the beat, the better the hit: Great, Good or Okay. Too late, or not at all, is a Miss, and it ends your combo.

Circles: click, tap, or point with the mouse and press Z or X. The numbers show the order.
Sliders: hit the start, then keep holding and follow the ball to the end. The little dots along the way and the end each add to your combo.
Combo: every hit in a row counts up; a miss, or letting go of a slider, starts it again.
Pause: Esc or P. When you carry on, the song backs up a second so you can find your place.

Play your own song

Choose a music file (MP3, M4A, OGG, WAV or FLAC usually work) and Pond Pulse listens for the beats and the moments where a new sound starts, then lays out a map on them. Easy keeps to the strongest beats, Normal adds the half beats and Hard adds the quick notes in between. Songs with clear drums make the best maps.

Everything happens in your browser. The file is never uploaded, and it’s forgotten when you leave the page; your best score on it stays saved on this device.

Scoring

Your score is out of a million on Hard (800,000 on Normal and 600,000 on Easy): most of it comes from how close your hits are, the rest from long combos. Accuracy counts Great as full marks, Good as a third and Okay as a sixth. An S needs 95% with no misses, then A from 90%, B from 80% and C from 70%.

Tips

Watch the ring, but listen too: the notes sit on the music.
Notes far apart on screen are far apart in time. Close ones come quickly.
If every hit feels a little late or early (Bluetooth headphones often add a delay), change the Timing offset. After a song, Pond Pulse tells you how far off you were on average and can set it for you.
On a phone, use two thumbs and keep them low so you can see the next circle.

Questions

Is it free? Yes. No account, no download, nothing to pay for.

Where does the built-in music come from? The three songs were written for this game and are played by your browser’s own synthesizer, so there are no audio files at all.

Why does my song’s map feel off? Beat finding works best on music with a steady beat. Songs that speed up and slow down, or have no drums, give rougher maps. Try a different difficulty, or another song.