Speedrunning in precision platformers usually tests pure muscle memory, but in this genre-bending indie title, every fraction of a second directly impacts your automated resource economy. Setting competitive IGTAP best times is not just about personal bragging rights; it dictates the speed and efficiency of the automated clone army running behind you. If you want to accelerate your Watt accumulation and progress through the game's tiered skill trees, hunting down the lowest possible IGTAP best times across each course is the single most effective strategy you can adopt.
Whether you are pushing for leaderboard dominance or trying to speed up passive generation, understanding the community records and optimal movement techniques will elevate your gameplay instantly.
How Clones Turn Your Best Times into Raw Power
The core progression loop in IGTAP: an Incremental Game That's Also a Platformer (developed by Pepper Tango Games and published by Gamersky Games) revolves around generating Watts to purchase performance upgrades. Unlike standard idle games where numerical scaling happens passively through menu clicks, your generation rate depends entirely on personal precision.
Whenever you clear a stage, the system records your exact path and completion duration as your personal record. Players begin with zero clones and earn base Watts by finishing courses manually. Spending accumulated Watts allows you to increase the base clear payout and purchase your first clone once you accumulate 8 Watts. When you purchase clones, they do not follow a generic pre-baked developer route; instead, they simulate the exact physical inputs and pathing of your active run.
This creates a direct connection between speedrunning and idle production:
- Clones recreate your latest personal record precisely, jumping, dashing, and sliding where you did.
- Clones that overlap with the player character become transparent, ensuring you never lose track of your own position during busy runs.
- Updating your course record forces all active clones to pop and respawn immediately, running the newly optimized route.
- Reducing a run cuts the clone completion cycle proportionally, accelerating your automated Watt income before even factoring in standard reward multipliers.
- Unlocking automated clone reward upgrades (starting at a 0.1x multiplier and scaling beyond 1.5x) compounds drastically when applied to a lightning-fast cycle.
- Upgrades to Clone Speed tiers and speed boost chances (scaling across perks like 10%, 20%, 30%, and 45%) cause clones to spawn as sparkling units that move roughly 1.5x to 2x faster than your recorded run.
- Additional enhancements like clone size upgrades increase clone scale, providing larger payout bonuses when the clones hit the goal.
Because of this unique feedback loop, players who actively grind for optimized IGTAP best times reach massive Watt thresholds—scaling from Watts (W) into kilowatts (KW), megawatts (MW), gigawatts (GW), and petawatts (PW)—exponentially faster than those who rely on passive waiting.
Community Benchmarks: Top IGTAP Best Times Across Courses
To gauge whether your platforming splits are competitive, comparing your records against verified community submissions provides a clear reference point. Data pulled from competitive player leaderboards on Speedrun.com alongside shared speedrun discussions on the official Steam community forums highlights the current benchmarks.
The table below outlines verified leaderboard records and community discussion personal bests across standard courses:
| Course | Elite Record / Verified Low | Community Discussion PB Range | Key Unlocks & Routing Strategies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course 1 | 0 m 01 s 700 ms | 7.84 – 9.68 | Wall jump routing; early high jumps skip right-side path entirely |
| Course 3 | 6.64 | 14.02 – 17.30 | Double jump skip across high ceiling |
| Course 4 | 17.08 | 17.86 – 24.58 | Controlled dash timings around mid-course hazards |
| Course 5 | 16.60 | 16.70 – 19.58 | Floor bouncing and wave dashing; bypasses zipper sections |
| Course 6 | 1.98 | 2.00 – 2.22 | Micro-course; instant low jump directly into target zone |
| Course 10 | 0 m 13 s 300 ms | 13.36 – 15.72 | Diagonal dash execution combined with midair jump extensions |
Community reports highlight that short courses like Course 1 and Course 6 see rapid optimization near the theoretical minimum. For Course 1, Speedrun.com records show RussiaMuposlave holding a 0 m 01 s 700 ms mark in both Any% and Glitchless categories using the wall jump. On Level 10, Speedrun.com records show CanadaMusiCaleb holding first place in Any% Release (Diagonal Dash + 1 Jump, A-Side) with a time of 0 m 13 s 300 ms. In community forum discussions, players share personal records across other stages as well, comparing splits on Course 8 (with reported times including 12.58, 13.40, 14.22, 15 seconds, and 16:08) and Course 9 (with times including 24.84, 25.82, 26.06, 27.46, and 31.74).
Advanced Movement Tech to Shave Seconds Off Your Personal Records
Achieving elite IGTAP best times requires mastering specific movement techniques that allow your stick character to cut corners, carry speed, and bypass intended level obstacles.
The Dash Wall Jump
Standard wall jumps push you outward at an angle. However, community speedrunners discovered that performing a dash wall jump—activating a wall jump the exact instant your horizontal dash connects with a vertical surface—cancels your outward trajectory and launches you straight upward with extreme vertical momentum. This trick allows players to reach ledges and secret power bonuses earlier than intended, skipping lengthy zig-zag routing entirely.
Momentum-Preserving Low Jumps
Jump height in IGTAP scales with how long you hold the jump input. Holding the button yields high floaty leaps, which waste valuable airtime on flat surfaces. For flat stretches, tap the jump button lightly to execute short hops. The game registers jumps the instant you touch the floor, allowing you to chain consecutive low hops without losing forward speed. Players can also combine jumping and dashing simultaneously to achieve a forward boost combined with upward height.
Wave Dashing and Floor Bounces
Players discussing high-level routing on Course 5 noted that wave dashing off the opening platform into an immediate floor bounce shaves up to two full seconds off standard zipper routes. Another player testing this start reported clocking 17.68 seconds, noting differing results on whether it proved faster or slower than using the zipper.
Wall-Slide Detachment Control
When sliding down walls near ceiling spikes, pressing dash while attached to the wall pulls you away in the opposite direction. To maintain optimal speed through narrow spike corridors, intentionally release your wall grip a split-second before dashing so your momentum travels in your intended direction rather than outward into hazard hitboxes.
Progression Milestones: Unlocking Movement Abilities to Rewrite Times
As you progress through the campaign, you unlock crucial traversal upgrades that completely invalidate earlier course routing. Revisiting older courses with new toolkits is required if you want to push for the fastest possible IGTAP best times.
- Wall Jump (700 Watts): The earliest major mobility unlock. Unlocking the wall jump cuts Course 1 times down to 2.3 seconds (and under 2 seconds with practice) by allowing you to bypass the entire rightward path.
- Horizontal Dash (3,000,000 Watts): Adds a quick burst of speed mapped to Shift or controller triggers. It allows you to cross massive gaps in Course 2 and Course 3, opening direct horizontal trajectories. Players using keyboards should note that rapid Shift inputs can activate Windows Sticky Keys unless disabled.
- Midair Double Jump (Stone Statue Progression): Purchased after awakening ancient power monuments, the double jump opens vertical shortcuts in Course 3 and provides recovery options during tricky spike drops.
- Polarity Swapping: Allows players to toggle active orange and blue blocks or hazards. Activating orange blocks deactivates blue blocks, turning solid death barriers into usable platforms and opening brand new time trial paths. Later upgrades allow players to swap block polarities automatically whenever they dash.
- Omni-Dash: Unlocked late in progression, giving directional freedom. Following community feedback, Hotfix #2 introduced an in-game toggle for this mechanic so speedrunners can switch between standard horizontal dashes and omni-directional dashes to suit specific course layouts.
To follow ongoing patch updates, balance tweaks, and official speedrunning announcements, players can visit the official IGTAP Steam store page for full release notes and community threads.
Vman Time Trials and Endgame Optimization
Once you reach the deeper sections of the facility, you unlock the dedicated Vman challenge courses. Many casual players make the mistake of ignoring this mode, assuming it is purely an optional side attraction. However, player reports on community discussion boards reveal that clearing Vman stages acts as a massive progression multiplier for late-game red and green resources.
The Vman gauntlet introduces distinct milestone achievements:
- Deja vu: Finish Vman course 1 (benchmarked around 15 seconds).
- Getting Faster: Finish Vman course 2 (standard clear around 50 seconds).
- Half done!: Finish Vman course 3 (standard clear around 95 seconds).
- igtapithon & Waow... so fast: Finish Vman courses 4 and 5.
- Reverse Current: Complete every single course in reverse order from Course 10 down to Course 1.
- Quam Formidolosum: View an ominous message within the Vman speedrun.
Speedrunners completing Vman route paths emphasize doing courses in an optimized sequence—such as running 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10—to stack multipliers rapidly without wasting time on redundant intermediate layouts. In this endgame phase, running fast personal bests ensures that the massive power demands (scaling into gigawatts and petawatts) accumulate smoothly without excessive idling.
Frequently Asked Questions About IGTAP
What are the top IGTAP best times on the earliest stages?
On Course 1, the top verified Speedrun.com record is 0 m 01 s 700 ms using wall-jump shortcuts, while un-upgraded runs hover around 0 m 02 s 300 ms to 0 m 04 s 430 ms.
How do I update my clones to run my fastest personal records?
Clones automatically follow your fastest recorded time on any given course. As soon as you complete a run that beats your previous personal record, all active clones immediately pop, reset their positions, and begin looping your newly established route.
What should I do if my clones feel too slow even with a fast time?
Aside from lowering your personal clear time, invest in clone-specific speed upgrades. Raising your Clone Speed Tier and unlocking speed boost probability perks causes clones to spawn as sparkling, high-speed units that move up to 1.5 to 2 times faster than your recorded run.
Can you toggle the Omni-dash if it disrupts your routing?
Yes. Following developer hotfixes responding to community input, Omni-dash can now be toggled on or off via an in-game switch. This allows speedrunners to use standard horizontal dashes on courses where diagonal inputs might cause accidental collisions with spikes.