Sticky floors

A sticky floor grabs the ball the moment it touches. The ball sticks and the shot is over. Unlike spikes, the stage doesn't restart: your drawings stay where they are, so you can fix them and shoot again.

How sticky floors behave

A sticky patch is usually a thin strip on the floor. When the ball touches it, it slides a little depending on its speed and stops inside the patch; it can never come out the far side. Even a fast ball can't roll across. That's what separates it from a magnetic floor: you can cross a magnet at speed, but not a sticky patch.

Sticky patches aren't only on the floor. A thin sticky strip on the bottom or top edge of the hole catches the ball in the opening and narrows the hole. Sticky patches on the ceiling punish high shots.

Sticky floors are formally introduced in Level 2, though you first meet them as mud in Level 1's forest stage. In the forest, sticky ground is drawn as mud and the ball sinks straight in without sliding.

Getting past sticky floors

• Go over it: the only way. Lift the ball with a short ramp or tilted spring before the patch and land it beyond.
• Plan the landing: a ball that lands just past the patch and bounces or rolls back will get caught. Keep the landing well clear.
• Sticky edges on the hole: send the ball in flat, close to horizontal. A diving ball catches the bottom edge, a climbing one the top. As with spiked edges, put the top of the arc before the wall.

Sticky plus rubber

In later Levels, sticky floors often come with rubber blocks. Rubber sends the ball into fast, hard-to-predict bounces, and the sticky patch punishes even one bad bounce. On these stages, decide carefully whether to lift the ball before or after the rubber.

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.
• Rubber blocksBounces the ball without losing speed. Think of it as a spring you can't move.
• Magnetic floorsSlows a touching ball by 18 m/s every second. Cross fast or don't touch it.
• 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.