Orbit Dodge vs Reflex Lab: animation or reaction timing?

Orbit Dodge and Reflex Lab template features
Feature	Orbit Dodge	Reflex Lab
Rendering	Canvas	HTML button
Update timing	Continuous animation with elapsed-time updates	Random 1.5–4 second wait, followed by a timestamped tap
Players	One player	One player
State to understand	Ship position, obstacle records, elapsed time, and spawn timer	Waiting/go/done phase, pending timeout, and cue timestamp
Round ends	Colliding with an asteroid ends the round	An early tap fails; a tap after the cue records a reaction time
First change	Tune obstacle speed and spawn interval separately; they affect reaction time and board density differently.	Change the waiting range, keeping timeout cancellation and early-tap handling intact.

Orbit Dodge and Reflex Lab template features

Feature

Orbit Dodge

Reflex Lab

Rendering

Canvas

HTML button

Update timing

Continuous animation with elapsed-time updates

Random 1.5–4 second wait, followed by a timestamped tap

Players

One player

State to understand

Ship position, obstacle records, elapsed time, and spawn timer

Waiting/go/done phase, pending timeout, and cue timestamp

Round ends

Colliding with an asteroid ends the round

An early tap fails; a tap after the cue records a reaction time

First change

Tune obstacle speed and spawn interval separately; they affect reaction time and board density differently.

Change the waiting range, keeping timeout cancellation and early-tap handling intact.

Choose Orbit Dodge for continuous updates

The ship and asteroids use board coordinates. Elapsed seconds control movement, while a spawn timer adds new obstacles. Survived time increases the challenge. The game needs a single animation loop and object cleanup so off-screen asteroids do not accumulate.

Choose Reflex Lab for event timing

Reflex Lab cycles through waiting, go, and done phases. A random wait lasts between 1.5 and 4 seconds; the measured interval begins when the cue is shown. An early tap cancels the round. The result includes the browser and device input path, so it is a playful measurement rather than a device-independent benchmark.

What to change first

For Orbit Dodge, adjust the spawn interval independently from asteroid speed. For Reflex Lab, adjust the waiting range without removing early-input handling. Both projects must cancel or reset old round state. A stale reaction timeout and a second animation loop are different bugs, but both can make a restart behave unpredictably.

What both downloads include

Each ZIP contains index.html, a README, and the MIT license. Both run without package dependencies and store no online player score. Read the license before redistributing the source.