How to play
Maze Chase is an original tribute to the maze chase games of the early-1980s arcade era. You steer Bolt, a small maintenance robot, through a maze filled with energy dots. Collect every dot to clear the maze and move on to the next one. Four chaser drones patrol the corridors, and touching one costs a life.
Each maze holds four power cells, shown as glowing hexagons. Grab one and the drones short-circuit for a few seconds: they turn dark, slow down and wander at random, and Bolt can catch them for bonus points. A caught drone flies back to the pen in the middle as a small glowing core, restarts there and rejoins the hunt. The drones flash white shortly before the effect ends.
Every drone hunts in its own way:
- Vex (red diamond) heads straight for the tile Bolt is on.
- Zip (green triangle) aims four tiles ahead of Bolt to cut it off.
- Hex (violet hexagon) takes the point two tiles ahead of Bolt and mirrors Vex's position through it, so the two close in from opposite sides.
- Boxer (blue square) chases from far away but retreats to its corner once it is within eight tiles.
Rules
- An energy dot scores 10 points and a power cell 50.
- Drones caught during one power cell score 200, 400, 800 and 1,600 points in a row.
- A bonus item appears below the pen twice per level, after about 30% and 70% of the dots, and stays for 9.5 seconds. Its value grows with the level: gem 100, battery 300, gear 500, chip 800, magnet 1,200, star 2,000.
- You start with three lives and earn one extra life at 10,000 points.
- The side tunnels wrap to the opposite edge. Drones travel through them at half speed; Bolt does not slow down.
- Drones switch between scatter mode, when each heads for its own corner, and chase mode. They never turn back on their own, but every mode switch makes all of them reverse at once.
- Four mazes rotate: level 5 brings back the first one with faster drones.
- With 20 or fewer dots left, Vex speeds up by 5 percentage points.
Speeds are a percentage of full speed (9 tiles per second). Bolt pauses for an instant on each dot, so drones gain ground while it collects.
| Level | Bolt | Drones | Short-circuited | Power time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80% | 74% | 50% | 7.0 s |
| 2 | 84% | 78% | 52% | 6.5 s |
| 3 | 88% | 82% | 54% | 6.0 s |
| 4 | 92% | 86% | 56% | 5.5 s |
| 5 | 96% | 90% | 58% | 5.0 s |
| 6 | 100% | 94% | 60% | 4.5 s |
| 7 and up | 100% | 95% | 60% | 4.0 s, then 0.5 s less per level down to 1 s |
Controls
- Keyboard: arrow keys or W, A, S, D steer Bolt. Enter or Space starts and resumes, P or Esc pauses, M toggles sound.
- Touch: swipe anywhere on the maze, or use the on-screen D-pad below it. You can slide your thumb around the pad without lifting it.
- Mouse: click the buttons or drag across the maze to steer.
Turns are buffered: press a direction early and Bolt takes it at the next opening, a few pixels before the centre of the junction. The game pauses by itself when you switch tabs. Sound is off until you turn it on.
Tips and strategy
- Ask for every turn before you reach the corner. Buffered turns cut corners slightly, which is how Bolt pulls away from a drone on its tail.
- Save the power cells. Clear the quiet parts first and take a cell when two or three drones are close enough to catch.
- A sudden reversal means the drones have just switched between scattering and chasing.
- Duck into a side tunnel when a drone is right behind you; it loses half its speed there.
- Boxer backs off when it gets close, so you can often walk straight at it. Vex never backs off.
Frequently asked questions
Is Maze Chase free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download and no account, and keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Swipe on the maze or use the D-pad under it. The playfield scales to fit the screen and the page does not scroll while you steer.
Why do the drones suddenly turn around?
They reverse whenever they switch between scatter and chase mode, and when Bolt picks up a power cell. Otherwise a drone never turns back in a corridor.
Is my progress saved?
Your level, score and lives are stored at the start of each level, so you can close the page and continue from the beginning of the level you reached. The five best scores are kept with your initials. Everything stays in your browser.
How many mazes are there?
Four, repeating in the same order. The drones get faster until level 7 and the power time keeps shrinking until level 13, so later rounds play very differently.
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