KUZUSHI (Afterglow Breaker)
KUZUSHI is MIKIRI's story game. White stones, the hardened Missing Beat, block the path through the forest. You move KIRI, the ninja owl, left and right and bounce the afterglow orb off his wings to break every stone. Where the orb hits the wings changes the bounce angle: the center sends it straight up, the edges up to 60 degrees.
There are 10 stages, each opening with a short conversation that you can skip. Every stage brings a companion and a new twist: faster wind bands, MAME's tools, darkness lit only by a lantern, color cards that decide which stones break, shadow bands where the orb disappears and shards falling from the sky. Stage 5 is a boss fight against GARA and stage 10 against UTSURO.
▶ KUZUSHI — Play free nowHow to play
- Enter a username and choose KUZUSHI
- Read the conversation, or tap Skip
- Drag left and right to move KIRI (arrow keys on a computer). Tap to launch the orb, or wait a second
- Break all the white stones to clear the stage. Bosses are beaten by hitting them until their bar is empty
- Dropping the orb uses your one continue. Dropping it again ends the run
Difficulty
Each stage adds one main twist and the orb gets a little faster from stage to stage, from about 150 to 180 dots per second, plus a small speed-up within each stage. Shadow bands only appear in the upper part of the screen and wind bands stop well above KIRI, so the orb is always visible on its final approach. If no stone breaks for 10 seconds, KUNOICHI's thread aims your next return at a remaining stone.
Tips
- Aim with the edges of the wings: hitting off-center is how you steer the orb into gaps
- Get the orb above the stones; it breaks several in a row and chains score more
- In the dark stage, memorize the layout when the lamp flowers bloom
- In shadow bands, watch where the orb went in and wait under where it should come out
- In the color stage, check the card before you aim. A wrong color only turns white and costs accuracy
What KUZUSHI asks of you
In KUZUSHI you read where the orb will come down, get your wings there first, and choose the next direction by where it hits. The orb bounces off walls and stones, so you think about where it will be after a few bounces, not where it is now.
Each stage changes the twist and adds things to watch: aiming by the color of a card, reading where an invisible orb will leave a shadow band, returning the orb while dodging falling shards. The game asks you to keep watching only what matters without locking onto one thing.
Every stage is built so that the orb is always visible on its final approach. Shadow bands stay in the upper part of the screen and wind bands stop well above KIRI. Speeds are kept to a level you can still reach after a late reaction, and a bot was run many times to check that no unreachable orb appears.
Common mistakes
Always catching with the center of the wings. The orb then goes straight back up and breaks the same spot. Catching with an edge sends it diagonally, toward the stones that are left.
The last few stones won't break. If nothing breaks for 10 seconds, KUNOICHI's thread aims your next return at a remaining stone. Focus on a safe catch rather than big moves.
Getting lost in the dark stage. When the lamp flowers bloom and you can see everything for a moment, take in the layout so you can still aim in the dark.
Rushing the color stage. Hitting the wrong color does not remove the stone; it only turns white. The card blinks just before it changes, so waiting for the new color is fine.
Before you play
The whole screen never flashes. Hitting a boss shows only a short, soft light.
A full run of 10 stages can take 15 to 20 minutes. If your eyes feel tired, take a break on a stage clear screen.
Your score is a score in this game. It is not a medical assessment and does not measure focus or reflexes themselves.
FAQ
- Q. Is KUZUSHI free?
- A. Yes. It is free, needs no signup and runs in your phone or desktop browser.
- Q. Can I skip the story?
- A. Yes. Every conversation has a Skip button, and the stage starts right away.
- Q. How is the score made?
- A. Stones broken (chains score more), 1000 per stage reached, a speed bonus against each stage's target time, an accuracy bonus, and a bonus for clearing all 10 stages.
- Q. Does the screen flash?
- A. No. The whole screen never flashes; only a short, soft light shows when you hit a boss.
- Q. What does the score mean?
- A. It is a game score, not a medical or ability measurement.