Tagroo Beginner's Guide: Rules and Controls for Floor Is Lava Tag

What Tagroo is

Tagroo is a free floor is lava tag game for two players. One of you runs, the other chases, and the arena floats above bubbling lava. The runner wants to stay free for as long as possible. Then you swap, and whoever survived longer wins the round. It's played in 3D on a toy-like volcano island, with both players on one keyboard or online with a friend.

Play it at hqbg.ai/tagroo on a computer. It's a two player game on one keyboard with only three actions: move, jump and dive. When you know the rules, the Tagroo maps and tips guide walks through every map.

How a chase and a round work

1. 1

   Chase one

   Player A chases and Player B runs. After the 3-2-1 and CHASE!, the chaser stands still for a moment while the runner gets a head start.

2. 2

   The chase ends

   It ends when the chaser tags the runner, when the runner falls into lava, or when the timer runs out and the runner escapes. The runner's survival time is saved.

3. 3

   Chase two

   You swap. Player B chases, Player A runs, on the same map with the same time limit.

4. 4

   Compare times

   The player who survived longer as the runner wins a crown. Escaping until the timer ends counts as the full time.

A match is a set number of rounds, and the first player to win more than half of them takes it. With 3 rounds, for example, the first to 2 crowns wins. If the match ends level, Tagroo adds another round.

Tagroo controls

Jump lifts you off the floor and you move a little faster in the air. You can jump over low things like fans and crates. Tall blocks stop you. Dive is a fast lunge in the way you're facing. It only works from the ground, and after it you're slow for a moment while you get back up. Save it for the last bit of distance or for getting out of a corner.

The lava rules

The lava treats the two roles differently, and that difference is the heart of the game.

• The runner touching lava ends the chase. Their survival time stops at that moment, just as if they had been tagged.
• The chaser touching lava only costs a moment. The chaser falls in, then pops back up on a safe tile far from the runner about a second later.
• Lava only counts on the ground. While you're in the air, you can pass over a gap. A jump easily clears a single missing tile.
• The edges are lava too. Running off the side of the arena counts as touching lava.

For the last 5 seconds of every chase the timer beeps and the map panics: its hazards get worse, and a banner shows the map's panic name.

Setting up a match

Press Play and you get the setup screen. It has three settings and a start button.

• Time per chase: 20 to 90 seconds, in steps of 10. The default is 30.
• Number of rounds: 1 to 10. The screen shows how many crowns you need to win.
• Map: Skyline Scramble, Kitchen Chaos, The Chaos Factory or Random. Random picks a new map for every round.

Then each player picks a character: Rocco, Mimi, Zip or Bubs. Player A uses the arrows and , to lock in, Player B uses A / D and R. Both players can't pick the same one. The characters only change the look; everyone runs and jumps the same.

Sudden Chase and ties

If both runners survive the same time, which usually means both escaped the full chase, the round goes to Sudden Chase. You play the round again on the same map with a shorter timer, 60% of the last one and never under 5 seconds. Up to three Sudden Chases can happen in a row. If all three are dead heats too, a coin flip decides the crown.

Playing Tagroo online

Choose Play online from the main menu on hqbg.ai. The host gets a 6-digit code and plays as Player A; the friend who types in the code plays as Player B. Online, each of you can use either set of keys or a controller, since you each control only your own character. The controller setup guide covers pairing a pad.

Tagroo questions