Tilt Maze
Tilt the wooden board and roll the steel ball past the holes, dot by dot, to the brass cup.
The classic wooden tilt labyrinth on your phone. A steel ball rolls on a birch board between walnut walls, and you tilt the board to steer it along a line of numbered dots to the goal without dropping it into a hole. The ball has real weight: it gathers speed downhill, keeps rolling when you level the board and bounces lightly off the walls. Drag a finger to tilt, use the arrow keys, or switch on your phone's motion sensor and tilt the phone itself. Thirty original levels, ten easy, ten medium and ten hard, from wide lanes to narrow passages lined with holes. A drop sends the ball back to the last numbered dot it passed and adds five seconds. The Daily board is one level for everyone, sometimes turned around. Your score comes from your time against the level's par, with a bonus for a run without a drop.
- Category
- Arcade
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Touch · Mouse · Keyboard
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How to play
Pick a level with the arrows on the card and tap Start. Then drag anywhere on the board: it tilts toward where your finger moves from the spot you touched, further the further you drag, and levels again when you let go. On a keyboard, hold the arrow keys or W, A, S and D; before the start, the left and right arrows change the level and Enter starts. On a phone you can also tap Phone tilt on the card and tilt the phone itself: the way you hold it when the run starts counts as level, and a drag still works. Follow the line of numbered dots from the green start ring to the brass cup. Each dot you pass becomes your checkpoint: if the ball drops into a hole it comes back there, at rest, and five seconds are added to your time. A hole set in a gap in a wall cannot be slipped past. Roll gently into the turns, because the ball keeps its speed and a hard knock bounces it back out. Your score: 1,000 points for reaching the goal, 2,500 more at the level's par time (up to 4,000 if faster, none at twice the par) and 500 for a run without a drop. A run still going after four minutes ends with no score.
What is Tilt Maze?
Tilt Maze is the wooden tilt labyrinth you may remember from a toy shelf: a light birch board with dark walnut walls, a polished steel ball and a scatter of round holes. You tilt the board, the ball rolls downhill, and the job is to steer it along a printed line of numbered dots to the brass cup at the end without letting it drop through a hole.
The ball behaves like a real one. It gathers speed while the board leans, keeps rolling when you level it, slows a little as it goes and bounces lightly off the walls. Fast over the edge of a hole it may skim across the rim; slow over it, it drops.
How to play Tilt Maze
- Pick a level. Use the arrows on the card to choose one of the ten levels of your lane, then tap Start.
- Drag to tilt. Put a finger anywhere on the board and move it: the board tilts toward the way your finger moves from where it touched, further the further you drag. Let go and the board levels again.
- Tilt the phone. On a phone, tap Phone tilt on the card to steer by tilting the phone itself. The way you hold it when the run starts counts as level. Dragging still works on top of it.
- Keyboard. Hold the arrow keys or W, A, S and D to tilt. Before the start, the left and right arrows change the level and Enter starts.
- Follow the dots. The line runs from the green start ring through numbered dots to the goal. Each dot you pass is your new checkpoint.
- Mind the holes. If the ball drops, it comes back to your last checkpoint at rest and five seconds are added to your time. A hole set in a gap in a wall blocks that gap: there is no slipping past it.
Scoring
- Reaching the goal: 1,000 points.
- Time: every level has a par time. Reaching the goal at par earns 2,500 more points, faster earns more up to 4,000, and twice the par earns none. Each drop's five seconds count in your time.
- Clean run: 500 more points if the ball never dropped.
- Out of time: a run still going after four minutes ends with no score.
Tips and strategy
- Small tilts win. A gentle lean is enough to get the ball moving, and it is far easier to stop.
- Brake before the turns. Tilt the other way a moment before a corner so the ball arrives slowly, then turn it.
- Use the walls. A wall on the far side of a turn is a cushion: let the ball touch it softly rather than hit it hard.
- Watch the gaps. Holes sit right where an overshoot would carry the ball. Slow down most where a gap opens beside the line.
- Level the board on time. The ball keeps rolling after you let go, so let go a little before it reaches the spot you want.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tilt Maze free?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.
What changes between the levels?
The easy levels have wide lanes, few holes and a checkpoint every two or three cells. The medium levels have narrower lanes and more holes along the way. The hard levels have the narrowest passages, holes set into many of the walls and checkpoints further apart.
What is the Daily board?
Every day everyone plays the same level from the middle of the set, sometimes turned around, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
Do I need the motion sensor?
No. Dragging a finger always works, and so do the arrow keys. The motion sensor is an extra for phones that have one; on an iPhone the browser asks for permission the first time.
Can I play with a keyboard?
Yes. The arrow keys or W, A, S and D tilt the board; before the start, the left and right arrows change the level and Enter starts.
