The three cards, in the game's own words
| Card | Game text | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| EASY | RECOMMENDED, half coins | Shortest run, three rooms, best place to learn valves |
| NORMAL | The full facility. Counts for best times. | The mode your finish time is measured in |
| Locked | BEAT NORMAL 0/2 | Clear NORMAL twice to open it |
The lock counter is the only progress bar that matters early. It does not move on EASY, so a dozen EASY escapes leave it at 0/2.
DONT SPLASH - Normal Mode
Video by hi8
The difficulty cards and the BEAT NORMAL 0/2 lock as they appear in the lobby. Watch on YouTube
Why NORMAL is the mode to graduate into
NORMAL doubles the room and escape rewards: 200 and 100 instead of 100 and 50. It also counts for best times, which is why recorded clears run 14 minutes and solo no-death runs run about five.
The cost is length. A NORMAL attempt that goes wrong is a long walk back, so the honest advice is: do not enter NORMAL until you can open both valves without a death on EASY.
What the lock actually requires
BEAT NORMAL 0/2 means two NORMAL clears, not two attempts and not two EASY clears. The counter appears on the locked card, so you can check it without starting a run.
If the label stays at 0/2 after a clear, check which difficulty the run was on before assuming a bug. EASY clears are the usual cause.
NIGHTMARE: claimed, not confirmed
A player comment describes a NIGHTMARE mode. We have not found it in the lobby, in a video, or on the game page, and the locked card names only the Normal gate. Treat NIGHTMARE as unconfirmed until a clip shows the card, the entry and a run.
How it would be confirmed: a video that shows the lobby with a fourth card, or a run labelled NIGHTMARE with its own completion screen.
Grinding EASY for the unlock
EASY pays half coins and does not advance the counter. It is the right place to learn the valve order and the wrong place to farm progress toward the third difficulty.
If NORMAL feels impossible after two EASY clears
Drop back for one run and practise only the valve sequence: pebble, wait, valve, exit. Most NORMAL deaths happen at the second valve, not on the platforms.