Rubber blocks

Rubber blocks are springs fixed in the play area. A ball that hits one bounces back with almost all of its speed. You don't choose where they are, but if you plan around them you can build shots with very little ink.

How rubber blocks behave

A rubber block is made of the same material as a spring: restitution 0.92 and no friction on its surface. The ball leaves at the same angle it arrived at, relative to the surface. Because a block is a rectangle it has four faces and four corners. Hitting a face gives a predictable bounce; hitting a corner can send the ball somewhere unexpected.

Rubber blocks are introduced in Level 2 and are among the most common obstacles after that. Mushroom caps in the forest are made of the same rubber, but because they're round, the ball bounces off in different directions depending on where it hits.

Using a rubber block

The bank shot

If a rubber block is in the ball's way, treat it like a billiard cushion. Send the ball at its face at the right angle and the reflection can carry it into the hole. Where the ball hits matters: stay away from the corners.

A block on the ceiling

A rubber block hanging from the ceiling bounces a high shot back down. It's a good way to drop from high up into a low hole. The ball's height and angle before it hits the block decide where it lands.

A block on the floor

A rubber block sitting on the floor cuts across the ball's path. If the ball hits its side it comes straight back, which can help when the target is behind you. To go forward you need to get the ball over the block: a ball that lands on its top face bounces high and keeps going.

The opposite of rubber is a sticky floor: the ball stops dead when it touches it. Stages that combine the two are common; you bounce the ball off the rubber and over the sticky patch.

More in this section

• SpikesTouch them and the ball pops and the stage restarts. Your margin is a few centimetres.
• PitsA ball that falls in is lost. Jump it, or cross it at speed.
• PipesTakes a slow ball from the floor and drops it from the ceiling. Speed is everything.
• GatesSlides up and down in front of the hole. When you shoot matters as much as what you draw.
• Wall behind the ballThe target is behind you. Send the ball forward, then bring it back.
• TrianglesTheir slope carries the ball upward. Used well, a free ramp.
• No-draw zonesYou can't draw in the hatched area. The solution has to live outside it.
• Magnetic floorsSlows a touching ball by 18 m/s every second. Cross fast or don't touch it.
• Sticky floorsThe ball sticks and the shot ends. Your drawings stay, though.
• PistonsExtends from the floor or ceiling and pulls back. You get past by choosing your moment.
• Ceiling targetThe hole is in the ceiling, not the wall. You have to send the ball up through it.
• Black holesPulls in a passing ball and swallows one that gets too close. A slingshot at the right distance.