Dancing Line is a 2016 action-rhythm mobile game developed by Cheetah Mobile and Boombit Games. Originally a follow-up to Boombit's previous game Through the Fog, the game differs in many way such as being more focused in rhythm-based inputs and limiting the number of collectibles and checkpoints per levels (in Dancing Line, these will be further named as "gems" and "crowns"). Dancing Line is notable for its variety of levels and catchy soundtrack, making it one of the most popular music-based mobile games. The game was initially taken down from the Play Store in 2020 along with all other CM games, although it later returned in 2022, published by a different development team.
The main gameplay is that your character is a line, and it has to avoid obstacles by "dancing", that is, tapping on the screen to make it turn to the other direction, most of which are timed to the music. Each level features 10 gems and 3 crowns, and dying will take you back to the previous crown.
Dancing Line is notable for having a huge following and many fanmade levels that a Dancing Line Community Version exists that combines both official content and fanmade content. In fact, one of the fanmade levels ("The End" by theo5970) was later crossed over to the main game, albeit receiving various changes.
Troping Line - The Examples:
- Alice Allusion: "The Easter" features various references to the Alice series - part of the level is set in the mad tea party with playing cards, an entire section with various mushrooms in the backdrop, and a chess section that references Through the Looking-Glass. The line is also colored blue, just like the dress Alice is most often seen wearing in media.
- Allegedly Free Game: Some levels are initially only accessible with real money, such as "The Faded", although they were later be made available to be purchased with gems.
- Christmas Songs: "The Christmas Eve" uses the melody from "Silent Night" at the beginning and "Jingle Bells" at the end.
- Company Cross-References: The music for "The Alley" is based off "Bluestone Alley", an original piece created for another Cheetah Mobile game, Piano Tiles 2.
- Crossover:
- The game includes two levels set to songs by the Polish country singer Marta, those being "All About Us" and "The Valentines" (which uses "I Need a Love Story").
- Like other CM games, the game features several levels with Alan Walker's music, such as "The Faded" (which uses a cover) and "Alone" (which uses the original version).
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The levels in the earlier updates ("The Desert", "The Winter", "The Storm", and "The Chaos") use existing songs from an audio library instead of being original songs composed for the game.
- Easter Egg:
- In the end of "The Maze", as soon as you enter the pyramid, tap once more. Then the level will lead you to a picture of the developers.
- In the end of "The Christmas Party", as soon as you enter the pyramid, tap once more. The level will lead you to a message commemorating the game's second anniversary, and you will be greeted with flossing elves.
- "The Wizard of Oz"'s secret ending may be hard to get because of it being a maze-based path, but if you manage to find the correct path, you will be greeted with balloons and a message commemorating the game's seventh anniversary.
- "The Amusement Park" contains a less serious one - don't tap at all in the beginning and your character ends up entering a bus, while other skins chase it as it takes off.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: At the end of "The Indian Journey", your line enters the Taj Mahal.
- Gangplank Galleon: "The Sailor's Tale". Your character starts off in a pirate ship that gets attacked by a rival pirate crew that ends up in the sinking of your ship, although you eventually manage to find the treasure in the end.
- Green Aesop: "The Earth" starts off as green and peaceful, before transitioning into an industrial section with a darker turn on the song, though the level ends up as green again with the same melody as the intro. The level brings the message that we should save the Earth, else it wouldn't be the "green" place that it used to be.
- Green Hill Zone: "The Spring" and its remake "The Spring Lullaby" are the game's easiest levels and they both have a lot of grass and trees. "The Spring Lullaby" is the first ever level in the game, followed by the original "The Spring".
- Holiday Episode: "The Christmas Eve" and "The Christmas Party" for Christmas, "The Halloween" and "The Halloween Puzzle" for Halloween, "The Valentines" for Valentine's Day, "The Easter" for Easter, and "The Spring Festival" for Lunar New Year.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every level starts with the word "The", with the only exceptions being "All About Us", "Dream of Sky", and "Alone - Alan Walker". Two of those levels use licensed soundtracks.
- Lyric Video: "All About Us" contains the song's entire lyrics in it.
- Mayincatec: "The Maze" seems to invoke this kind of scenery. It is set in a jungle temple with various gold statues and carvings.
- Multiple Endings: "The War" has a good and bad ending that can be triggered by going different routes in the tent.
- If you go through the right path, one of the crates turn into a nuclear bomb, indicating you're going to get the bad ending. When the war starts, a missile can be seen launching. When the buildings are being bombed, you can see different toys before they destroy. In the end of the level, a mushroom cloud emerges and its impact destroys the whole village in the end, including the house you end up entering.
- If you go through the left path, the two doves perching on top of the barrel will fly away, indicating you're going to get the good ending. At 60% during the flashback scene, you will see a dove following the line, and many more will appear near the end at 80%. The ruined village at the end becomes reconstructed, trees start emerging, and the sun rises behind the house, suggesting life is peaceful again.
- Nerf: One update widened the path used in "The Time" and "The Piano" so that there's more space to roam around, allowing the levels to be more accessible to beginners.
- Nostalgia Level: "The Third Anniversary" contains sections inspired by previous levels, such as "The Piano", "The Earth", "The Beginning", "The Mountains", "Dream of Sky", and even Through the Fog's "Peaceful Stagnation" (referencing the game's original roots).
- Ominous Latin Chanting: "The Cathedral"'s music features Ominous English Chanting, fitting for a ruined cathedral level.
- Remixed Level: Some levels use remixed versions of already existing level's songs. There are two flavors:
- Levels that play almost the exact same as the original, with the only changes being the visuals (and sometimes the tempo of the song). Examples include "The Plains (Reggae Remix)" and "The Winter (House Remix)".
- Levels that use an entirely new scenery to match the song's style, such as "The Cathedral (Rock Remix)", "The Storm (Blues Remix)", and "The Beach (Dance Remix)", which is a remix of "The Piano".
- Samurai in Ninja Town: "The Samurai" sets your character as the titular samurai, who is likely being targeted by the various ninjas in the area who throw shurikens at you. Physical ninjas even appear in a section of the level.
- Seasonal Baggage: The games features levels inspired by three of the four seasons: "The Winter", "The Spring", and "The Autumn". Although "The Summer" has not been released yet, levels such as "The Beach" and "The Plains" may pass off as such.
- Sexophone: "The Romance" features various saxophone segments in the song and in the level itself.
- Shout-Out:
- The end of "The Savannah", where groups of animals bow down to lions on a rock is an obvious Lion King shout-out.
- As seen above, "The Easter" references Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
- There are entire levels that retell The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Ugly Duckling, and the Book of Exodus.
- "The Video Game" has a character resembling Pac Man.
- Speedy Techno Remake: "The Winter (House Remix)" is a lot faster than the original version of the song.
- Title Drop: The game's title appears in numerous of the game's levels, such as in "The Time" (featured in the end of the level), "The Amusement Park" (in the name of the park and also the carousel section), and "The Hip-Hop Evolution" (where the phrase appears as recurring graffiti as well as being the song's lyrics).
- Video Game Tutorial: The original version of "The Beginning" is a short and simple level with a guideline and where the only taps are 4th note taps. This level is no longer available and has been replaced with an updated level now named "The Time".
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: "The West" has a wild vocalist appearing near the end in an otherwise instrumental track.