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Lab · Family reaction · 2026

Flinch

Ten stories. One wait. Tap the instant the painting says NOW — or you flinch.

Role
Designer & builder
Stack
React · PWA · local only · Web Speech · one phone
Flinch title painting: two figures in a courtyard at dusk, hands on sheathed swords, a lantern between them
The painting is the clock.

10

Stories

1

Phone

First to 3

Match

Local

No account

The wait

The wait is the whole game. Family on a couch. One phone. Ten different casts — not the same two faces in a new hat.

How it plays

  1. 01The game says Ready. Then Steady. Then it waits. Sometimes NOW arrives immediately. Sometimes it hangs until your hands start to lie to you. Tap the instant you see NOW — the painting jumps. Tap early and you flinch — you lose.
  2. 02Each story looks at the painting first. Skip if you have seen it. Then Hold still, Ready, Steady. The flash on screen is the clock — not the voice.
  3. 03Story is ten casts, then a bonus meadow. First to three. Easy lets the scene move a little slower. Hard is the original draw.

Ten stories

  • 01 · Two samurai

    Two Blades

    Cherry petals. Hands on still-sheathed swords.

  • 02 · Two pilots

    Airlock Draw

    Visors down. A planet in the glass.

  • 03 · Dad and kid

    The Good Lawn

    Saturday. Foam darts. The grill is going.

  • 04 · Two grandmas

    Last Number

    Daubers hovering. One ball left in the cage.

  • 05 · Two violinists

    First Chair

    The baton hangs at the top of its arc.

  • 06 · Two surfers

    The Set

    The wave stacks. Don't paddle first.

  • 07 · Two librarians

    Midnight Stack

    One returned book. The cat is asleep.

  • 08 · Kicker and keeper

    The Whistle

    Rec league. Whistle at the lips. Not yet.

  • 09 · Two keepers

    The Lamp

    Storm on the glass. One switch.

  • 10 · Two on a roof

    The Comet

    Homemade visors. The sky is about to streak.

A bonus meadow unlocks after The Comet. Same wait. A different cast.

Two players

One phone. Portrait. Hold it like a hot dog. Bottom is player one, right-side up. Top is rotated so they also read right-side up. First valid tap after NOW takes the point. A tap before NOW is a flinch. First to three. This is not online. It is two people on a couch with one device.

Outcome

Live at flinch.leespringer.co. The painted world is flavor. The flash is the clock.

Play Flinch