Guides

How to play Tube Dude: a beginner's guide

Everything a new player needs for the first shifts: what the rings mean, how to hold and lean, and how a level is won.

Tube Dude puts you in charge of the inflatable flailing man that stands outside a business and tries to wave people in. You don't steer him directly. You control the fan at his feet, and he does the rest, with all the floppy, unpredictable energy you would expect from a nylon tube full of air. This guide walks through your first few shifts so you know what you're looking at and what the game wants from you.

The goal of every shift

Each level is a shift at one business. Before it starts, the boss tells you how many sales they need, and the goal card shows something like "Get 4 of 7". Customers arrive one after another along the street, and each one shows a colored ring in the air above the fan. Get Tube Dude's head into a customer's ring and keep it there for a moment, and that customer pulls in. That's a sale. Reach the boss's number before the last customer has gone by and you've won the shift.

The counter in the top right of the screen tracks your sales against the goal. The word changes with the job: SOLD at the car lot, ORDERS at the pizza place, FIXES at the phone kiosk, and so on.

The two basic moves

There are only two inputs, and the first level teaches both with a short warm-up.

• Hold anywhere on the screen to blow air. The fan speeds up and he stands tall.
• Drag left or right to lean. The fan tilts toward your finger, and he bends that way.

Letting go doesn't switch the fan off completely. It drops to a trickle, so he slumps and sags but never collapses flat. To bend really low, either drag far out to the side, which eases the air off as you go, or simply let go for a moment. Both work, and you'll use both.

On a computer you can also use the keyboard: Space or the Up arrow pumps air, Left and Right swing the fan (it stays where you leave it), and Down lets the air out. P or Escape pauses, and M mutes the sound.

Reading a customer

Every customer gets a speech bubble with a tiny map and a word that tells you roughly where the ring sits:

• SKY! means straight up, so full air and no lean.
• WAVE! means a little to one side.
• LEAN! means well over to one side and lower down.
• BOW! means almost sideways and low, a deep bend.

A dotted line connects the bubble to the ring itself. Around the ring, a colored arc counts down how long the customer will wait. When it turns red, they're about to give up. Cars that go unserved honk and speed off. People on foot say "MEH." and walk away.

When his head is in the ring, the ring lights up and fills in like a pie. You don't need a perfect hold. If he wobbles out briefly, the progress drains slowly instead of resetting, so you can drift back in and finish the sale.

Who walks by

Early shifts bring cars, people on foot, cyclists, scooter riders, joggers and dog walkers. People on foot move slowly but get bored fast, so don't make them wait. From the tax office level onward you'll also see two special cases. A tour bus has a bigger ring and counts as three sales at once. A gold ring with a little crown is a VIP, who counts double. Both are worth chasing when they appear.

Stars, commission and moving on

Winning a shift earns one to three stars. One star means you hit the goal. More stars come from selling to a bigger share of the crowd and from fast, unbroken streaks, which the guide on earning three stars covers in detail.

Every sale also earns Commission, the game's money, shown as little paper slips that fly up to your wallet. You get a paycheck on top when you finish a shift. Commission buys boosts, power-ups and cosmetic gear in the Store; see the store guide for what's worth buying first.

If you fall short, the boss sends you home and you can retry right away. There's no penalty for failing beyond replaying the level, and no lives or timers outside the shift itself.

Tips for the first ten levels

• Watch the bubble word before the ring appears high or low. It tells you which move is coming.
• Don't hold the whole time. The best players let him dip and rise to reach low rings.
• Serve whoever is about to leave first once two customers show up together.
• Replay early levels from "All levels" for three stars once you get the feel. It's good practice and it pays.

The first six shifts are handmade and gentle: one customer at a time, no weather and no wind. After that the game introduces one new wrinkle at a time, each with the boss explaining it. You can read about all of them in businesses, hazards and bonus rounds.

When you're ready, start your first shift and see whether Gary at the car lot keeps you on.