Arcade guide
Road Hopping Tips: How Far Blind Hops Get a Chicken in Clucklane
Key takeaways
- A chicken left standing after its first hop was left behind by the view in about 5 seconds, in all five runs (4.8 to 5.9 s).
- Hopping forward on a timer scored 3 to 6 rows in all 18 runs; none passed row 6.
- Half of those runs, 9 of 18, ended at exactly row 3, so the first lanes are the hardest part.
- Hop spacing of 350, 700 or 1300 ms made no clear difference in a blind run.
The first road hopping tip is to keep moving, but moving blindly is not enough: in Clucklane a chicken left standing was left behind by the view in about five seconds, and all 18 runs of timed forward hops ended by row 6.
How the game works
Clucklane is a road hopping game with a cube-shaped chicken. Up, W or Space hops one row forward, Down steps back, and Left and Right move sideways; on a touch screen a tap hops forward. The number in the top left counts the rows you have crossed. The view moves on by itself, so a chicken that stays put drifts to the bottom edge and the run ends. Cars cross the lanes, and coins on the road add to a counter in the top right that pays for other cube animals in the shop.
What we measured
We played in a test browser with software rendering, so the timing is only a rough guide. In every run we pressed Up once to start, then followed one of four plans. Standing still: no more keys. Hop every 350, 700 or 1300 ms: Up on a fixed timer with no look at the road. Each run ended when the game said it was over, and we read the row counter from the game. Standing still was tried 5 times and each timer 6 times.
| Plan | Runs | Rows reached | Run length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing still | 5 | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 | 4.8 to 5.9 s |
| Hop every 350 ms | 6 | 6, 3, 4, 3, 5, 6 | 1.2 to 2.4 s |
| Hop every 700 ms | 6 | 3, 3, 3, 3, 6, 4 | 1.9 to 4.0 s |
| Hop every 1300 ms | 6 | 3, 6, 4, 5, 3, 3 | 3.1 to 7.1 s |
Small samples from one test browser with a script that never looked at the road, so a human player will do very differently. Run length is wall-clock time from the first hop.
What the numbers say
None of the 18 timed runs passed row 6, and 9 of them ended at exactly row 3. The three timers gave similar spreads, so we cannot say that hopping faster or slower helps when the road is ignored. What the runs do show is that the first lanes are where a blind chicken ends, and that waiting is not an option, because the standing chicken was gone in under six seconds each time.
3 tips that follow from the numbers
- Do not wait. The view leaves a standing chicken behind in about five seconds.
- Look before the third row. Half of our blind runs ended there.
- Do not hop on a rhythm. Three different timers all ended between row 3 and row 6.
Where to try it
Try it yourself in Clucklane. For another game about timing, Laneweave is a traffic racing game.
Frequently asked questions
How long can I stand still?
In our five runs the view left the chicken behind after 4.8 to 5.9 seconds.
How far does blind hopping get?
Up to row 6 in our 18 runs, and 9 of them ended at row 3.
Does the hop spacing matter?
Not in a blind run: 350, 700 and 1300 ms all ended between row 3 and row 6.
Which keys hop forward?
Up, W and Space each moved the chicken forward one row in our test; Down moved it back.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes: a tap hopped forward and swipes up and down moved the chicken in our touch test.
What do coins buy?
Four more cube animals in the shop, priced 100, 200, 300 and 400 coins.