How We Designed the Perfect-Tap System
Developer Journal · rating radii and multipliers
A tap is not binary. The game measures distance from drop center and maps it to Perfect (≤5px), Excellent (≤15px), Good (≤30px), or Okay (≤50px). Base points are 50 / 35 / 20 / 10, then a rating multiplier of 2.0 / 1.5 / 1.2 / 1.0 applies before streak and height.
Why Perfect is expensive
If Perfect were only slightly better than Okay, players would mash. We made Perfect both higher base points and a 2× rating multiplier so center aim compounds with streak and height. A late Okay can keep a life; it should not compete with a high Perfect for score leadership.
Example comparison
| Scenario | Rough hit value* |
|---|---|
| Perfect, streak 1, mid screen | 100 |
| Okay, streak 1, mid screen | 10 |
| Perfect, streak 20 (2.0×), top zone (1.8×) | 360 |
| Excellent, streak 20, top zone | 189 |
*Normal difficulty, no special-drop bonuses, level multiplier 1.0. Exact values come from (base)×rating×streak×height.
Deep dive: The Mathematics of Focus Drop Scoring.