Maze Chase: the arcade classic, rebuilt

Clear the dots, dodge four chasers with minds of their own, and turn the tables with a power pellet. Turns you press early still count, the game pauses itself when you look away, and it plays with a swipe on a phone. No sign-up, and nothing leaves your device.

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Play Maze Chase

Insert no coin

Ready when you are

Arrow keys or WASD, or swipe the maze. P pauses.

←↑↓→ or WASD to move · P or Esc to pause · a gamepad works too

Meet the chasers

Each one hunts differently, and each wears its own shape as well as its own colour, so you can tell them apart at a glance whatever colours you see. Learn how they think and you can steer them.

DashComes straight for you. Hurries when only a few dots are left.
SnareAims four tiles ahead of where you are facing, to cut you off.
FlankWorks with Dash, closing in from the other side.
DriftBold from a distance, but backs off to its corner when it gets close.

Every so often all four stop chasing and head for their own corners for a few seconds, which is your chance to breathe. Eat a power pellet and they turn blue and run: catch one for 200, the next for 400, then 800 and 1,600.

What's better than the arcade

Turns that forgivePress a turn just before a corner, or a fraction after, and it still happens. You steer the chase, not the timing.
Three mazesOrchard, Lanterns and Twin Tunnels take turns as the levels go up, and each one has been checked for dead ends.
A mode for everyoneRelaxed gives you five lives and slower chasers. Classic plays like an arcade. Frantic is for when Classic gets easy.
Plays on a phoneSwipe anywhere on the maze, or use the pad underneath. Keyboards and gamepads work too.
Pauses when you doSwitch tabs or answer a message and the game stops where it was. Press P or Esc whenever you like.
Kind to eyes and earsWith reduced motion on, nothing flashes or bobs. The sounds are made in your browser, and one tap turns them off.

Your best games

Kept in this browser only. There is no leaderboard and nothing is sent anywhere.

How scoring works

A dot is 10 points and a power pellet 50. While the chasers are blue, the first you catch is 200, then 400, 800 and 1,600. A bonus appears twice a level below the chasers' house, worth 100 on level 1 and up to 5,000 later. You get one extra life at 10,000 points.

Getting better at it

Keep moving and plan a turn or two ahead: the turn you press early is kept until the next opening. Save the power pellets until chasers are close, so there is something to catch. The tunnels slow the chasers but not you. And watch Drift: it only chases from far away.

Common questions

Is this Pac-Man?

No. Maze Chase is an original game in the maze-chase style that arcades made famous: its own mazes, characters, sounds and rules, written for this site. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the owners of any arcade game or trademark.

Is anything I do sent anywhere?

No. The game runs in your browser. Your best scores, your chosen mode and whether sound is on are kept in this browser's storage and nowhere else.

Why did it pause?

It pauses whenever the tab is hidden, because a game that keeps running while you read a message is a game you lose. Press Play, Space or P to carry on.

It's too hard or too easy

Try another mode. Relaxed gives five lives, slower chasers and longer power pellets. Frantic makes the chasers faster and the pellets shorter. Scores are kept separately for each.