The Dash Ability: Spintap
The dash is the second movement ability most players unlock in IGTAP. Its achievement is called Spintap - "Unlock the dash ability." - and 94.7% of Steam players have earned it, placing it just behind the wall jump in the unlock order. Like every ability in the game, it is tied to progression through the upgrade system; exact unlock costs are unconfirmed because the developer has not published them.
The dash launches you horizontally with a burst of speed that clears gaps a plain jump cannot. It became essential almost immediately after unlock, because IGTAP courses are built around hazards - spikes, thorn vines, and giant fans - that punish slow, arcing movement. An official screenshot shows a late-game area packed with exactly those hazards alongside blue zip mover rails.
Dash also feeds the incremental half of the game. Faster movement means faster course recordings, and your clones replay whatever route you record. A dash-assisted line is not just easier for you; it permanently raises the income of every clone running that path.
What Dash Changes in Your Movement
Community players describe the unlock ladder as a steady widening of options: first you can only jump, then you unlock dash, then double jump, then polarity swapping, then zip movers. Each addition recontextualizes older courses - sections that once required a precise jump can be blown through with a dash, and previously unreachable secrets come into range.
Two interactions matter most in practice:
- Dash plus wall jump - players report chaining dash into a wall jump to cross wide spiked gaps, including a shortcut route in the Vman courses that lets dash-wall-jump-dash sequences skip intended platforming
- Dash plus double jump - the double jump sets up your height and the dash converts it into distance; losing either one changes routes significantly, which matters late in the game
There is also a defensive use. Community discussion of a tricky late section notes that hitting a bumper resets your double jump and dash, and that dashing can cancel the bumper's recoil - a small technique gap that separates players who clear a section in a few tries from players who rage-quit it.
Unlocking and Using Dash Well
Dash is unlocked early enough that most of your course recordings will include it. That has a practical consequence: routes you recorded before unlocking dash are worth re-recording. The settlement screen tracks your Best time, and a dash-optimized line will almost always beat a jump-only line.
The default dash binding on the Steam version is discussed in community threads, with one player noting that the web build's use of Shift for dash can clash with browser behavior. Key bindings and platform differences are outside this guide's verified scope; check the controls page for details.
Because 94.7% of players unlock Spintap, dash is effectively part of the base experience rather than an optional build choice. The real decision point comes much later, with omni-dash.
Omni-Dash: All Angle IGTAP
The omni-dash is the final movement ability in the unlock chain. Its achievement, All angle igtap - "Unlock the omni-dash." - has been earned by only 28.5% of players, making it a genuine late-game milestone. It replaces the standard horizontal dash with a dash that works in multiple directions; player reports describe it as an eight-directional dash.
Omni-dash arrives with a catch, and the community has been vocal about it. Player reviews report that unlocking omni-dash removes your double jump, trading a forgiving, versatile tool for a precise, all-angle one. One widely upvoted negative review complains that "the movement you've adapted to for hours suddenly is something entirely different."
The achievement list confirms the trade is recoverable: Jump, but again, again. - "Regain the double jump ability." - exists at a 5.8% unlock rate, well below omni-dash's 28.5%. In other words, a meaningful share of players who unlock omni-dash never get their double jump back, whether by choice or because regaining it requires further progression that is not confirmed.
The Jump Trade-Off and Hotfix #2
Developer patch notes on Steam show the omni-dash controversy changed the game quickly. Hotfix #1, posted September 21, fixed a softlock when returning to the "unlock orbs" area with omni-dash. Hotfix #2, posted September 22 and titled "Omni-dash is now optional!", went further:
- The "omni-dash" box became a toggle: you can choose -1 jump and omni-dash, or your previous moveset
- The +1 double jump upgrade moved from the end of the upgrade tree to the middle
- A batch of late-game upgrades had costs or scaling factors reduced
The toggle is the important part. Modern players facing the omni-dash decision can opt out and keep their double jump, which means the ability is no longer a one-way door. Whether the toggle choice can be reversed later, and how it interacts with regaining the double jump, is not documented.
Community guides reflect the confusion this era caused. A Steam community guide titled "IGTAP omni-dash survival guide" covers pushing past late-game walls, omnidash, and unlocking orbs and zips - evidence that even after the hotfix, players treat omni-dash as the game's difficulty spike.
Where Dash Matters Most
Dash and omni-dash pull their weight in three contexts:
- Course recordings - shorter Best times mean more clone completions per minute; dash lines are the standard
- Vman courses 1-5 - the achievement-gated speedrun challenges where community players report dash-wall-jump chains opening shortcuts and precise dash timing defining records
- Late-game areas and secrets - polarity blocks, zip movers, and the content behind the "Escape the facility" achievement all assume a full movement kit
Speedrunners feel this most directly. Community speedrun videos on speedrun.com/IGTAP categories, such as Any% runs in the 18-19 minute range shown in video titles, are built on dash-canceled movement; those times are as shown in community video titles, not officially certified.
If Your Dash Is Not Working
If your dash seems broken, the most common community-reported explanations are situational rather than bugs: bumpers and certain obstacles reset your dash and double jump, and after unlocking omni-dash your dash behavior changes entirely if you took the toggle. On the web build, browser key handling around Shift has also been raised by players.
Before assuming a bug, check three things: whether you just touched a resetting obstacle, whether your moveset changed via the omni-dash toggle, and whether you are playing the web version or the Steam version. Full troubleshooting steps are on the dash not working page.