Spin&Mow

The pitch

You pilot a saw-chain robot — two spinning gears tethered by a serrated chain — across scalloped grass islands floating over deep water. Anchor one gear, watch the other orbit at chain length, then tap-swap to fling yourself across treacherous gaps. Cut grass to meet each stage's quota, dodge stumps, boulders and crystals, time landings on moving platforms, then touch the flag to escape. Upgrade Sharper Saws, Longer Chain, Reinforced Frame, Coin Magnet and Tuned Gearbox. Finish 20 stages to enter the Hall of Fame as a MOW-A-HERO.

Controls & how it runs

click/space/tap to swap the anchor and launch the chain, mouse wheel or HUD buttons to adjust chain length. Go from island to island to reach the exiting pole.

Getting a run going takes exactly one press: Press start, up top, and the game boots inside this page — nothing downloads in the background and no form wants your details before the first jump. The cabinet is drawn for a flexible screen and listens to mouse, keyboard or touch, whichever the game prefers. It reshapes itself for tall and wide screens alike, so phone, tablet and desktop all get the full picture. Given a fullscreen button, use it — scores look better at full size, that's just science.

Pro tips for arcade cabinets

• Treat your first run as a scouting mission. Arcade cabinets hide their cruelty in the second minute, not the first — learn where the difficulty spikes before you start chasing numbers.
• Small scores compound. Grab the easy pickups on every pass instead of gambling the whole run on one heroic line; heroes respawn, banked points don't evaporate.
• Watch the edges of the screen. In classic arcade design the next problem almost always enters from somewhere you weren't looking — build the habit of scanning the borders.

Spin&Mow — quick-fire questions

Does Spin&Mow cost anything to play?

Not a token. The cabinet is free from the first run to the five-hundredth — no wallet, no sign-up, no toll booth hiding three levels in. The adverts around the page are what keep the floor's lights on.

What sort of game is Spin&Mow?

It stands on our Arcade row — that's the family it plays most like. The pitch above is the publisher's own rundown of what it throws at you and what it hands back.

Can I play Spin&Mow on my phone?

Happily, yes. It runs inside the browser on phones and tablets the same way it does on a computer. It reshapes itself for tall and wide screens alike, so phone, tablet and desktop all get the full picture.

Do I need to install anything first?

Nothing whatsoever. Spin&Mow is an HTML5 game: hit the start button and it boots on this page, and shutting the tab sweeps the cabinet clean behind you.

Before you wander off

Personal best banked, or still chasing it? Either way the full Arcade row is powered on and waiting — The main floor: 415 cabinets of pure arcade stock — the quick, the loud and the gloriously unfair. If it beeps, flashes and dares you to beat a number, it lives on this row.