Maze Chase
NEWWorks on both desktop and mobile. Tap or click to play.
About This Game
Play Maze Chase free online. Eat every dot in the maze while dodging the chasers. A fast arcade classic for mobile and desktop.
How to play Maze Chase
Objective: Eat all 62 dots without letting the red or pink ghost land on your square.
You steer the yellow dot that starts in the open room at the bottom-center of an 11-by-11 maze. Movement is continuous: pick a direction with the arrow keys, WASD, the on-screen D-pad, or a swipe, and your dot keeps gliding that way until it hits a blue wall. It never stops on its own, so plan each turn before you reach the corner.
Every open square holds a pellet except the three starting squares, and there are 62 to collect. Passing over a pellet eats it and adds one to your Dots score. Clearing the last pellet wins the round with 'All dots eaten!'. Your top run is kept in your browser and shown as Best, so on repeat plays the goal is simply beating your own dot count.
Two ghosts hunt you, both starting in your column: a red one up in the top pillar rows and a pink one only two squares above your start, in the top row of the open room. Each recomputes about three times a second, always stepping toward your current square by the shortest grid distance with a little random wobble. There are no power pellets, no lives, and no way to eat them. One touch ends the run instantly with 'Caught!'.
Turning is buffered: the direction you enter is held and applied the moment a gap opens, so tap your next turn a beat early and the dot swings cleanly into the corner. Use this to thread the single-block pillars in rows two, three, five, and six. Your dot also steps far more often than the ghosts, which is the edge that shakes them on open stretches.
Tips and strategy
Outrun on straight lines
Your dot moves nearly twice as often as the ghosts, so long corridors and the bottom room are your safe ground. You can pull a pellet from right in front of a chaser and slip away before it closes the gap.
Queue turns early
The game holds your last input and turns the instant a gap opens. Press your next direction just before the corner, not on it, so you keep full speed and never overshoot into a pillar or a waiting ghost.
Weave the pillars
Rows two, three, five, and six are studded with single-block pillars. Cut around them to break a ghost's straight approach. Their random wobble means ducking behind a pillar often sends a ghost the wrong way and costs it a step.
Mind the pink ghost at the start
The bottom three rows form one wide space with no pillars to hide behind, and the pink ghost begins two squares directly above you in it. Sweep the pellets nearest your start and keep moving, since there is nothing down here to break its line, then head up into the pillars where the wobble can send it the wrong way.
Frequently asked questions
How many dots do I need to win?
There are 62 pellets, one on every open square except the three starting squares. Your Dots counter rises by one for each you pass over, and the round is won the instant the last one is eaten. That number is also the highest score possible in a single run.
Can I eat the ghosts?
No. There are no power pellets or any state that turns the ghosts vulnerable, so contact always goes against you. If the red or pink ghost steps onto your square the run ends at once with 'Caught!', and your dot total for that run is shown.
How many lives do I have against the ghosts?
One. A single touch from either ghost ends the round, with no extra lives or continues. Guarding your position matters as much as eating pellets. When you are caught or clear the board, a button restarts the same fixed starting layout.
Are the ghosts faster than me?
No. Your dot takes a step markedly more often than the ghosts do, so you are the quicker piece. Ghosts only close in on straight approaches or when you corner yourself, which is why open corridors favor you and dead ends do not.
Do the ghosts follow a fixed path?
Not exactly. Each ghost checks its open neighbors every move and picks the one that shortens the grid distance to your current square, plus a small random amount. That randomness makes them sometimes pick a worse step, so their route shifts run to run.