12 MiniBattles — Play Free Online

12 MiniBattles is a party-style duel for two people sharing one keyboard. Instead of a single long match, it cuts the contest into twelve tiny games that come up at random, and each one is over in a few seconds. Both players get very little to remember, usually a single key each, so nobody needs a tutorial before the first round starts.

On a site built around Fireboy and Watergirl, it fills a different slot from the temples. Those games ask two players to cooperate and solve puzzles together. This one turns the same shared keyboard into a rivalry, which makes it a good palate cleanser between temple runs, or a way to settle who gets to be Fireboy next time.

The game is by Mad Puffers and runs in the browser with nothing to install. There is no account, and you can be in a match a few seconds after opening the page.

How to play

Two players sit at the same keyboard, and each is assigned one key or a small handful of keys. The game shows which controls belong to whom at the start of a round, so check that screen instead of guessing. Each round drops you into one of the twelve minigames, and the winner of that mini-duel scores a point. The first player to reach the target score, five in the standard setup, takes the match.

Because the minigames are chosen at random, you cannot memorise one strategy. A round may reward fast reflexes and the next may reward timing or restraint, so a player who is great at button-mashing can still lose to someone who waits for the right moment.

Tips

• Keep your fingers resting on your own keys before every round. The gap between "go" and your first press often decides the whole point.
• Do not mash by default. If a round seems to punish early presses, slow down and time it.
• Sit so your hands are not crowded. Two people on one keyboard bump elbows, and it helps to agree on sides in advance.
• Play longer matches with a friend if you want the skill gap to show. Short first-to-five sets let luck through.

Similar games on Fireboy and Watergirl

If you want to keep the shared-keyboard format but go back to cooperating, Duo Vikings and Up Together have both players working toward one goal. Bad Ice Cream is another two-player option, built around moving through mazes and collecting fruit while avoiding enemies. For the puzzle-solving side of the site, the Fireboy and Watergirl temples, from Light Temple to Elements, are the main series.

12 MiniBattles suits short sessions best. It is a fine choice when you have five minutes, one keyboard and a second player who has never touched the temple games. A phone is not ideal, since the format depends on two people reaching separate keys.