Beat Duel
Drum a beat. Copy theirs in time. First to 5.
Beat Duel is a two-player rhythm game in which one player drums a set number of beats on a ring and the other must copy them in time. Whoever copies or stumps the other scores, and the beat grows by one every point.
One of you drums a few beats on your drum, the other drums them straight back in time. A ring in the middle shows every beat as a dot, and the beat grows by one every point, so it starts easy and ends frantic.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 5
- Length
- About 1 to 2 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Beat Duel: quick rules
About 1 to 2 minutes at first to 5. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Leader: drum the beats in one bar.
- 2Follower: copy them on the ring.
- 3One more beat every point.
Beat Duel rules
Setup and roles
- Each player has a drum at their own end, and a beat ring with eight steps sits in the middle.
- Every point has a leader and a follower. A coin toss picks the first leader; on a rematch, the player who lost leads first.
- Roles swap after every point. If both players are one point from winning, a fresh coin toss picks who leads the deciding point.
Leading
- After a 1, 2, 3, 4 count-in, a hand sweeps round the ring through one bar of eight steps.
- The leader drums the set number of beats anywhere in that bar. Each tap snaps to the nearest step, so leading is forgiving.
- Tapping a step you've already played does nothing.
- Dropped: if the bar runs out before the leader has drummed enough beats, the follower scores.
Following
- The ring turns to face the follower, there's another count-in, and the follower must drum every beat back in time on the same steps.
- Echo: copy every beat in time and the follower scores. With Perfect stamp on, a spot-on echo shows "Perfect!", still worth 1 point.
- Off beat: a tap that matches no beat, or a beat missed altogether, ends the point at once and the leader scores.
- With Ghost notes on, the leader's beats stay shown on the ring while you copy. With it off, you play from memory.
- With Two drums on, each player has a low and a high drum, and the follower has to copy which drum was hit too.
The beat grows
- The first point uses the first beat count (3 by default), then each point adds one more beat, up to 8.
- With Tempo up on, the tempo rises a little every point, the same for both players.
- Taps outside your own bar are simply ignored, never punished.
Winning
- Every point has exactly one scorer; there are no drawn points.
- First to the target wins: 3, 5 or 7 points.
- Pausing mid-point cancels it; it's replayed with the same roles, beats and tempo.
Tips to win at Beat Duel
- 1As the leader, put beats off the main count. Syncopated patterns are much harder to copy than beats that land on 1, 2, 3, 4.
- 2Use the whole bar: a beat late in the bar is easy to forget when it's your turn to copy.
- 3As the follower, hum or count the pattern in your head during the leader's bar, then tap only what you heard. Extra taps end the point.
- 4Keep your taps short and light. Only the moment your finger lands counts, so a crisp tap is easier to time than a press.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Tap your drum. Only the moment your finger touches down counts, not how long you hold.
- Both players can tap at once; each drum only hears its own player.
- Touches outside your drum do nothing. Mashing as the follower counts as off beat.
- The game is fully playable with the sound off: every beat flashes and ripples on the ring.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Points to win | 35 (default)7 | The score that wins the match. |
| First beat count | 2 (Kids)3 (Classic) (default)4 (Drummer) | Beats in the first point; one more every point after. |
| Tempo | SlowMedium (default)Fast | The starting speed of the bar. |
| Ghost notes | On (default)Off | Keeps the leader's beats shown while you copy. Off is Memory mode. |
| Two drums (extra) | OnOff (default) | A low and a high drum each; copy the drum as well as the timing. |
| Tempo up (extra) | On (default)Off | The tempo rises a little every point for both players. |
| Perfect stamp (extra) | On (default)Off | A spot-on echo shows "Perfect!" with a flare. No extra point. |
Play Beat Duel against the bot
The bot plays Blue as leader and follower. It only hears your beats as you play them, never before, and plans its echo from what you drummed.
Easy
Leads simple on-the-beat patterns, and as the follower is often loose in time or drops a beat.
Normal
Leads with some off-beats and copies most short patterns well, slipping as the beat gets longer.
Hard
Leads syncopated patterns anywhere in the bar and copies almost every beat in time. Long, tricky patterns can still catch it out.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyEvery echo is judged on split-second timing against the leader's beat, so Beat Duel stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it uses the default options: first to 5, first beat count 3, Medium tempo, Ghost notes, Tempo up and Perfect stamp on.
- Hints
- No hints here: it's all about your own reactions.
How it feels
- A low thump on every drum hit (higher on the high drum) and a tick on each count-in beat.
- The drum skin squashes and ripples; a ring lights round each spot-on hit.
- A two-note chime for an echo, a dull clack for off beat.
- Haptics follow your phone's settings and the in-app vibration switch.
Accessibility
- Fully playable with the sound off; sound and vibration are only aids.
- Colour is never the only cue: the ring turns to face whoever is drumming, the other drum dims, and Blue's drum rim is dotted.
- Low and high drums are marked by a disc and a ring.
- With reduce flashing or reduced motion on, flashes become steady dots and ripples are dropped.
- Slow tempo and a first beat count of 2 make it easier for beginners.
Beat Duel questions
One player drums a short beat in one bar, then the other copies it back in time. Copy it and the follower scores; miss a beat or tap off beat and the leader scores. Roles swap every point and the beat grows by one each time.
Yes. The phone lies flat between you with a drum at each end, and the ring in the middle turns to face whoever is drumming.
Yes. Every beat flashes and ripples on the ring, so you can play it completely silent.
Yes, against a bot on Easy, Normal or Hard, which leads and copies beats just like a person.
Lead with beats that fall between the main counts, which are hardest to copy, and when following, tap only the beats you heard, because a single extra tap gives the point away.
No. Every echo is judged on split-second timing against the leader's beat, so Beat Duel stays on one phone.
Play Beat Duel on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
