Timber Test

Overview

Chop the trunk, switch sides, dodge the branch. Timber Test is a one-tap arcade chopper in the Timberman tradition: a tree stands in the middle of the screen, you tap the left or right side to chop a segment off the trunk, and the moment you chop, you have to decide whether the next branch is coming down on the side you are now standing on. Branches alternate with no warning, so the rhythm is chop, step, chop, step — and the moment you forget to step, you take a branch to the head and the run ends. Speed climbs steadily as your combo grows, which is the entire difficulty curve: the inputs do not get more complex, they get faster, and the chain you are building is the only score that matters. Rounds are short, restarts are instant, and the loop is built for one-more-try pressure.

How to Play

Press the left or right arrow key to chop on that side of the trunk. The mouse equivalent is clicking the left or right side of the screen, and on touch you tap the side you want to chop. Each chop removes one segment of the trunk and leaves you standing on the side you tapped, so your next input has to account for any branch hanging on that side. A branch on your side means chop the other side first. Hit a branch and the run ends. Chaining consecutive chops without a misstep builds your combo, which is where the score comes from.

Tips & Strategy

Watch the next branch, not the current one. By the time you are chopping a segment, the branch above it is already the threat, so your eyes should be one level up the trunk — that is the input you are about to make. Build a rhythm rather than reacting. The tree does not randomize within a single beat, so once you find a cadence of left-right-left-right you can hold it until the pattern breaks, which is faster and more reliable than reading each branch in isolation. Speed ramps with your combo, so the rhythm that worked at ten chops will not work at thirty; expect to compress your timing rather than maintain it. When the tempo gets away from you, slow one beat deliberately — a single clean chop resets your timing better than rushing into a branch.