G-Switch — Flip Gravity, Keep Running

G-Switch: the runner that only asks one question

G-Switch started life in 2010 as a Flash game by Vasco Freitas of Serius Games, and it has outlived Flash because the idea is so small and so complete. A cyborg runner sprints along a rail and never slows down. You do not steer, you do not jump, and there is no attack button. Your one input flips gravity: press it and the runner falls upwards to the ceiling rail, press it again and they drop back to the floor. The level is a corridor of rails that break, step and fork, and it scrolls whether you are ready or not. Fall behind the left edge of the screen and the run is over.

The build on gswitch.org is the developer's own HTML5 port of the original, so it plays exactly as the Flash version did, with the same three modes. Play takes you through the story levels, each a fixed track with a start and a finish marker. Endless keeps generating rail until you slip, and your distance is the score. Multiplayer is the reason the game is still passed around: two to six people crowd one keyboard, each with a single key, and race the same track until only one runner is left on screen. It loads in this page, needs nothing installed, and a round is over in under a minute.

Controls & mechanics

Getting further in G-Switch

1. Flip at the edge, not before it: The runner moves in a straight line while airborne, so flipping too early puts them on the ceiling before the next gap and too late drops them into it. Wait until the rail under your feet is about to end, then press once.
2. Look at the far right of the screen: Your runner sits on the left; the track that matters is entering on the right. Read two obstacles ahead and decide the flip for each before the first one arrives.
3. In multiplayer, the front is a trap: A leading runner has to react to new track first and pays for every mistake. Sitting a step behind lets you copy the flips that worked and skip the ones that did not, then overtake near the finish.

Key features

• Story and Endless: Fixed levels with start and finish markers, plus an infinite mode that scores distance.
• Up to six on one keyboard: Local multiplayer for 2–6 runners, each with a single key, racing the same track.
• The original, ported by its author: Serius Games' own HTML5 build of the 2010 game, so nothing is missing or changed.

Game info

• Title: G-Switch
• Developer: Serius Games (Vasco Freitas)
• Category: Gravity Runners
• Platform: Web browser (HTML5)
• Players: 1, or 2–6 on one keyboard

Pro tip: Gravity in G-Switch is not a jump: there is no arc, and the runner keeps their horizontal speed while crossing. That means the crossing time is fixed by the gap between the rails, not by when you press. Learn how long a crossing takes at the default rail spacing and you can flip into a rail you cannot see yet, because you know exactly where the runner will land.

Frequently asked questions