Maze Muncher

About this game

Maze Muncher is a dot-maze arcade chase built from scratch: steer the muncher through a glowing symmetrical labyrinth, eat all 213 dots to clear the board, and stay one turn ahead of the four chasers stalking the corridors. Movement is grid-locked with a queued turn — press toward a corner early and the muncher banks into it the moment an opening arrives — so every near miss is a decision, not a fumble. The four chasers are not one enemy drawn in four colours. Each aims at a different tile, and you feel it. Ember comes straight for you and never lets the maze feel big. Nyx aims four tiles ahead of your nose, so running in a straight line is exactly how you get cut off. Vex flanks — it doubles the line from Ember through the space in front of you, harmless alone but a pincer the moment Ember is close. Tumble chases until it is nearly on you and then peels away to its corner, the one that gives you room and the one you can never quite read. Every so often the whole pack flips from hunting to scattering and turns on the spot, which is the maze's release valve: whatever pattern had you trapped breaks on the flip. The four big pellets in the corners are your counter-punch. Eat one and the chasers turn a flat, hatched blue and flee, and catching them scores 200, 400, 800 and 1600 in a single frightened window. The window is finite and shrinks every level, and a second pellet resets it rather than stacking it, so it can never be farmed into a permanent safe state — the pressure always comes back. Clear the board and the next level is faster with a shorter fright, on and on until your three lives run out. A bonus token drifts up below the den twice a level for whoever is brave enough to detour for it. Everything is one-handed: a direction pad and swipe-anywhere on a phone, arrow keys or WASD on a desktop, with a Calm / Normal / Fierce skill switch. The four chasers carry distinct shapes as well as colours, so they stay legible without relying on hue, and score, level and mode changes are announced for screen readers.

Controls

Turns are queued and take effect at the next opening.

Keyboard

• Arrow keys or WASD to steer.
• P pauses.

Touch

• Use the on-screen pad, or swipe anywhere on the board.

How to play

Steer the muncher around the maze and eat every dot to clear the level.

• Turns are buffered: press toward a corner before you reach it and the muncher banks into it at the next opening, so you can line up moves ahead of time.
• Four chasers hunt you, each with its own way of aiming — one comes straight at you, one cuts ahead of where you are going, one flanks with a partner, and one keeps its distance.
• Touching a chaser costs a life.

Power pellets

• Eat one of the four big power pellets in the corners and the chasers flee for a few seconds: catch them for 200, 400, 800 and then 1600 points before the window closes.
• The window is shorter on every level and a fresh pellet resets it rather than adding to it, so you cannot stall forever.
• Grab the bonus token that appears below the centre den for extra points.

Levels and lives

• Clear the board to advance a level, where everyone moves faster and the fright is briefer.
• Lose all three lives and the run ends.

Read the full Maze Muncher rules and strategy →