Penpath

Drop anchors around the target shape, dragging from an anchor to pull out smooth Bezier handles. Close the path and you're graded on accuracy, economy of points, and tangency, across an eight-level run.

• Click empty space to place a corner anchor; drag from a new anchor to make it a smooth curve point.
• Stay under each level's anchor ceiling, fewer, well-placed points score better.
• Close and grade the path once you have at least three anchors.
• Clear levels in sequence; accuracy, economy, and tangency all factor into the score.

• Desktop: click to place anchors, drag to pull handles, right-click to remove the last; use Undo, Toggle Smooth, Clear, and Close & Grade. Mouse recommended.
• Phone & tablet: the pen tool is built for a mouse and precise dragging; a desktop or trackpad is recommended for best results.

• Daily run (shared eight-level seed) and Practice (fresh random levels).

• Place anchors at the extremes of curves and at sharp corners, that's where the path needs to pivot.
• Resist adding points; the economy score rewards capturing the shape with the bare minimum.

Penpath teaches the vector pen tool that underpins illustration and logo design.

• Skills: vector illustration, the pen tool, paths, digital design
• Best for: teens and up
• For parents & teachers: the pen tool behind illustration.

Dropping anchors and pulling handles to trace a shape, graded on accuracy, economy of points and tangency, is the Bézier curve as every vector tool implements it.

Scoring tangency alongside accuracy is the original rigour.

Tangency is what separates a smooth path from an accurate one. Handles aligned through an anchor produce continuous curvature; handles merely close produce a visible corner — which is why economy and smoothness are the same skill rather than competing ones.

Penpath teaches the vector pen tool that underpins illustration and logo design. It is an original, free browser game built in-house.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.