Rope Drop is a free online rope-cutting physics puzzle. A bead hangs from two or three ropes above a bowl, and you have a fixed number of cuts. Ropes here are strings, not springs: they pull the bead in when it would stretch past their length and do nothing at all when it is closer, so two taut ropes pin the bead perfectly still and cutting one of them is what starts the swing. Cut the last one at the top of the arc and the bead drops straight down; cut it at the bottom and it flies. That is the whole game — not which rope, but when. A rope drawn with a sag is a rope holding nothing, and on the three-rope level spending one of your two cuts on it is the level. Later on a slack rope becomes useful instead: it catches the falling bead partway down and turns a short swing into a long one, which is the only way across the pit. Four levels, two rings to collect on each, and a release window measured in milliseconds rather than guessed at. No download, no account.
How to play Rope Drop
- A bead hangs from ropes fixed to pegs along the top of the field, above a bowl.
- Tap or click a rope to cut it. On a keyboard, press 1, 2 or 3 for the first, second or third rope.
- Each level allows a fixed number of cuts, shown as "cuts" in the readout. Spend them all without landing the bead and the level is over.
- Two taut ropes hold the bead completely still. Cutting one of them is what starts it swinging.
- While one rope is left the bead swings on it. Cut that rope and the bead keeps whatever speed the swing had built up.
- Cut at the top of the arc and the bead drops almost straight down. Cut at the bottom and it flies sideways instead.
- A rope drawn with a visible sag is longer than the distance it spans, so it is holding nothing. Cutting it costs a cut and changes nothing.
- A sagging rope can still matter later: if the bead falls far enough the slack runs out and that rope catches it, swinging it on further.
- Two rings float on each level. Passing through a ring is worth a star and fifty points.
- Land in the bowl to clear the level. Touch the red spikes and the run ends.
Tips
- Watch a full swing before you cut anything. There is no clock until your first cut and the swing never decays, so the arc a minute from now is the arc you are looking at.
- The bead leaves along the tangent of its arc, which is at right angles to the rope. Cut when the rope points at the bowl, not when the bead does.
- Cut early and the bead lands short; cut late and it has already started climbing again, so it lands short in the other direction. The far throw is the bottom of the arc. On One Rope there are two separate windows, because a missed swing simply comes back round.
- Count the sags. Three ropes and two cuts means one rope is not part of the answer, and the drooping one is telling you which.
- On Across the Pit the second rope is meant to be slack. Cut the taut one and let the bead fall into it — that catch is what gets you across.
- The rings sit on the trajectory of the right cut, so they double as a sight line. If your bead is not passing near them, your timing is off, not your aim.
- Missing by a little is more useful information than missing by a lot. Note which side of the bowl the bead landed on and move your cut the other way.
- The tightest release in the game is Hand Over Hand at 167 milliseconds — a deliberate tap, not a reflex. Every other level gives you at least twice that.
FAQ
Is Rope Drop free to play?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All four levels are included and unlock as you clear them.
Why does cutting a rope sometimes do nothing?
Because that rope was not holding the bead up. Ropes are strings, not sticks: one that is longer than the gap it spans has slack to give and exerts no force at all. The game draws that slack as a sag, so a drooping rope is a rope you can ignore — and on the three-rope level, one you must ignore, because you only have two cuts.
How do I make the bead travel further?
Cut the last rope at the bottom of the arc, where the bead is moving fastest and horizontally. The bead keeps exactly the velocity the swing gave it, so a release at the bottom throws it sideways and a release at the top drops it. There is no power to charge and no aim to set — the swing is the aim.
Is every level actually solvable?
Yes, and it is proved rather than assumed. A search runs every cut plan the level’s budget allows against the same physics you play, and a level only ships if that search finds a win. It has caught real mistakes: one level had its bowl placed 20 units past anything the simulation can reach, and another hung two 26-unit ropes from pegs 58 units apart — circles that never meet, so the bead could not hang there at all.
How tight is the timing?
Measured, not guessed. For each level the solution is refined frame by frame to find the widest run of release moments that still wins: 333ms on One Rope, 867ms on The Slack One, 292ms on Across the Pit and 167ms on Hand Over Hand. The tests fail if any window drops below 150ms — roughly the span of a deliberate tap. Levels are ordered by the mechanic they introduce rather than by that number, because the concepts ramp and the windows do not.
What are the rings for?
Stars. Landing in the bowl is one star and each ring you pass through is another, so three stars means the bowl plus both rings. They are placed on the trajectory the intended cut produces, which makes them a hint as well as a target.
Can I play it without a mouse?
Yes. The number keys 1, 2 and 3 cut the first, second and third rope, so the whole game is playable from the keyboard. That is keyed to the rope rather than to whatever the pointer is nearest, so it does not need a pointer to exist.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, and tapping suits it. Ropes are cut by a tap anywhere along their length rather than on a small handle, the field scales to the frame, and there is nothing to drag — so the only thing the input has to get right is the moment.