Fit In The Hole general tips - How to squeeze through the early stages

UK readers will no doubt remember the cheesy BBC One gameshow of a few years ago, Hole in the Wall. How could we forget?

It featured a series of hapless contestants standing on a conveyor belt and contorting their bodies so as to fit through an oncoming wall with a very specifically shaped hole. It was ridiculous, but strangely memorable.

There was clearly a compelling concept at the heart of Hole in the Wall, and it's one Fit In The Hole picks up on. KetchApp's game has you quickly rearranging a cluster of blocks so that they fit through an onrushing wall with - you guessed it - a very specifically shaped hole in it.

Currently sitting atop the free games chart in the US, it's clearly caught the imagination of mobile gamers. It's also pretty darned difficult. You'll struggle to get beyond a handful of levels for a fair few runs.

With that in mind, here are a few sound tips to get you started.

Hone your glancing technique

Fit In The Hole might initially strike you as a reactions test, but it's really not - it's all about pattern recognition. You need to be able to absorb and decode the pattern on the horizon quickly and efficiently, because you don't have time to 'check your work' a second time.

As such, it helps to work on honing your glancing skills. Do the same thing for each turn: glance at the next pattern, note its shape, then divert all your attention to your blocks in the foreground. Don't look back!

It can seem counterintuitive at first, and you'll doubtless suck to start with as you get the patterns wrong. But once you get used to it and your brain embeds those patterns more accurately, you'll find your score skyrocketing.

Tap, don't hold

While the tutorial will show you how holding screen will maximise the speed of your coloured block in covering large distances, our advice would be to ignore it.

There's no room, really, for overshoots in Fit In The Hole. Each move requires digital precision, which means that a disciplined tapping approach pays off.

You might even find that your brain starts translating those patterns into numbered taps - right three, or left five. However you work it, your aim should be to make the movement process as efficient and reliable as possible. So tap, don't hold - at least until you start getting good.

Don't get distracted by the pips

There's an unwritten code to playing video games, and one of the rules is that when there's a shiny trinket to collect, you must do your best to collect it.

In Fit In The Hole, that's a sure fire way to end your already precarious run. The collectible currency in the game doesn't signpost where you should be positioning your cube. It's there to help unlock different coloured cubes.

If you really want to unlock such cosmetic options, you're much better served simply watching the optional video that pops up frequently after a couple of runs. This will snag you 20 pips, and won't put your latest run at risk.