How the Liquid Stream and Deflection Work

Ink Currents - fluid streamline flow routing and deflection ramp schematic
Fig 1. Microfluidic sorting schematic: droplet spout emitter, smooth deflection guide ramps, color-coded collection basins, and obstacle barriers.

In Ink Currents, a steady stream of colored ink droplets pours from an overhead spout and falls under gravity. Your mission is to route every drop into its matching colored basin below: Cyan into Cyan, Amber into Amber, and Magenta into Magenta.

You control the flow by drawing barrier walls with your cursor. Droplets collide with these drawn lines and slide along their slope. Rather than trying to catch falling drops with flat shelves, think like a water slide designer: smooth, shallow slopes preserve momentum and guide droplets gently toward their destination.

Your drawing ink is strictly rationed on every stage. A budget bar at the top shows how much wall length you have left. Long, sprawling barriers burn your budget quickly, so efficient routes require short, strategic deflection ramps.

Drawing Controls and Ink Budget

Draw guide walls, adjust ramp angles, and correct mistakes with simple mouse and keyboard commands:

Key / Click Action What Happens
Left Click + Drag Draw Guide Wall Paints a smooth deflector wall across the canvas, consuming ink from your budget meter.
Right Click / Z Undo Last Stroke Erases the most recent line you drew and restores its ink cost to your budget.
C Clear All Walls Wipes the board of all player strokes, refunding your full level ink allowance.
Spacebar Start Flow / Next Opens the spout valve to begin droplet flow, or advances upon meeting the quota.
R Restart Level Resets droplet counters and clears the stage for a fresh attempt.

How to Beat Level 4 (Avoiding the Multi-Color Spill Trap)

Level 4 introduces two alternating droplet colors (Cyan and Amber) and places their basins on opposite sides of the room.

Beginners often try to draw a single giant funnel above the basins, causing droplets to collide and splash into the wrong cups.

  • The Center Collision: A flat funnel creates a traffic jam where falling drops slam into each other and bounce out of bounds.
  • The Staggered Ramp Solution: Draw two separate, overlapping ramps at different heights. Place the top ramp directly beneath the spout angled toward the left basin, but leave a small gap.
  • Timing the Flow: Alternate droplets naturally separate as they slide down staggered ramps, landing cleanly in their matching basins without a single drop lost.

Tips and Strategies for Harder Levels

Conquering advanced stages requires working around immovable stone barriers and tight budgets:

  • Level 6 (The Narrow Gate): Two stone pillars create a tight choke point. Do not fight the stones—use them as free walls! Draw a short diagonal ramp that catches drops after they pass between the rocks.
  • Level 10 (Three-Way Split): Cyan, Amber, and Magenta basins are spread across the floor. Build a cascading staircase: let the stream fall from step to step, peeling off one color corridor at each terrace.
  • Level 12 (Budget Conservation): Draw minimal 2-inch ramps at critical turning points instead of continuous lines from ceiling to floor. Let gravity do the heavy lifting in free fall.

Scoring and Par Goal Tips

Each level features a target par count of droplets needed to win, along with a strict wall-ink budget:

  • Preserve Your Budget: Leftover ink converts directly into bonus score when the stage clears. Never draw longer walls than necessary.
  • Use Rock Edges: Stone obstacles are pre-placed and permanent. Angle your deflector ramps to bounce droplets off stone faces to save drawing ink.
  • Quick Undo for Perfect Runs: Right-clicking or tapping Z immediately refunds your ink. If an angle looks slightly off as the stream begins, undo it and tweak the slope before drops spill out of bounds.
  • Par Mastery: Mastering par efficiency on early levels teaches you the exact deflection angles needed to clear the multi-color gauntlets later on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Drawing steep perpendicular walls causes droplets to bounce wildly sideways. Draw gentle, downward-sloping ramps so ink glides smoothly along the surface without scattering.

Basins only accept matching colored droplets (Cyan, Amber, or Magenta). Mismatched drops splash away without counting toward your quota, wasting valuable ink from the spout.

Right-click anywhere or press Z to erase your last wall stroke and refund its ink budget. Press C to clear all player-drawn walls instantly.

Built with pure vanilla HTML5 canvas and standard Web Audio (no external engines or heavy libraries).