hypertapping

English

Etymology 1

From hyper- +‎ tapping.

Noun

hypertapping (uncountable)

  1. (video games, NES Tetris) A technique in which the player flexes their biceps until it vibrates, and taps the D-pad at a speed of over 10 taps per second, allowing them to move falling blocks to the side faster than would be possible by holding down the button.
    • 2021 April 26, Zack Zwiezen, “NES Tetris Players Call It 'Rolling,' And They're Setting New World Records”, in Kotaku‎[1]:
      It wasn’t until 2018, after a young player won a prestigious competition using hypertapping, that more players starting using it.
    • 2021 April 28, Adam Bankhurst, “NES Tetris Players Are Using a Special Technique Called Rolling to Set New World Records”, in IGN‎[2]:
      Prior to this, DAS and Hypertapping were the two standards for Tetris pros, but Rolling allows for a high amount of button presses per second without the "superhuman finger speeds" needed for Hypertapping, modified controllers, or any gloves - which also makes it is perfectly legal for tournament play.
    • 2021 June 16, Tzvi Kalb, “What is Old is New Again: NES Tetris”, in The Science Survey‎[3]:
      The strategy that has dominated recently for the last couple of years is to tap the d-pad as fast as humanly possible with one finger, known as hypertapping in the gaming community. In NES Tetris, this skill is crucial, since the speed increases when moving up levels, culminating in level 29, where the pieces usually drop to the bottom of the board in less than ⅓ of a second. However, hypertapping has several limitations.
    • 2023 December 1, Evelynn Kersting, “GAMES AND TIME”, in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee‎[4], page 251‎[5], archived from the original on 6 June 2025:
      Like the name implies, a hypertapping player simply presses left or right on the NES d-pad their desired number of times.
    • 2024 January 2, Kyle Orland, “34 years later, a 13-year-old hits the NES Tetris “kill screen””, in Ars Technica‎[6]:
      The first known way past the brick wall of Level 29 was a technique that became known as hypertapping. By using a special grip that lets you vibrate a finger over the D-pad directions at least 10 times a second, you can effectively skip the "delayed autoshift" (DAS) that limits how fast pieces can move laterally when the D-pad is held down.
See also

Etymology 2

From hypertap +‎ -ing.

Verb

hypertapping

  1. present participle and gerund of hypertap

Further reading

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