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Cat & Mouse Maze is a free online turn-based maze puzzle. You move the mouse one square, then every cat moves: a tabby steps toward you across first, a Siamese up or down first, a black cat twice as fast, and a grey cat walks a set round. A cat cannot pass a wall, so the trick is to lead it into one and leave it stuck while you go round. Mouse holes let only you through. Twelve hand-picked boards from 5×5 to 8×8, each with a par worked out by computer search, plus hints and unlimited undo. Plays in the browser on a phone or a computer, no download.
How to play Cat & Mouse Maze
- Each level is a maze seen from above: a mouse, one or more pieces of cheese and one to three cats. Eat every piece of cheese to win.
- Move the mouse one square by tapping a square next to it, swiping on the board, or pressing an arrow key (or WASD). The squares you can step into are outlined.
- After every step of yours, every cat moves. Tap the mouse, press Wait or press Space to stay put for a turn — the cats still move.
- A tabby (badge ↔) steps toward you across first, then up or down. A Siamese (badge ↕) steps up or down first, then across. If the way a cat wants is walled off it tries the other, and if both are walled it sits still.
- A black cat (badge 2) chases like a tabby but takes two steps every turn. A grey cat (badge ↻) never chases: it walks the dotted round, one step a turn, over and over.
- Walls stop cats, and so do mouse holes — the dark doorways in some walls that only the mouse fits through.
- Step onto a cat, or let a cat land on you, and you are caught. Undo takes the step back; nothing else is lost. Eating the last piece of cheese wins at once, before the cats move.
- Every turn counts, waits included. Finish in par — the fewest turns possible — for three stars, within the two-star line for two, and any finish earns one. Hint shows the next step of a best route.
Tips
- Read the badge before you move. A tabby always tries the across step first, so standing in a different column on the far side of a wall leaves it pressed against that wall going nowhere.
- A Siamese is the opposite: put a wall above or below it, in a different row from you, and it stays stuck while you walk round.
- Walking straight at the cheese rarely works on purpose — the boards were picked so that the direct walk gets the mouse caught. Look for where you can park each cat first.
- Waiting is a move. Against a grey cat on its round, a wait or two lines your dash up with the moment its corridor is empty; against a chaser, a wait lets it walk deeper into a dead end.
- Two cats of the same kind that end up on the same square move as one from then on, which turns two problems into one.
- A black cat moves two squares a turn, so you cannot outrun it in the open. Get a wall between you, in the direction it wants to move, before you go for the cheese.
- If the cats keep catching you, ask for a Hint. When no way is left from where you stand it says how many steps to undo.
FAQ
Is Cat & Mouse Maze free to play?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All twelve levels are included and unlock one after another as you finish them.
Is it a real-time chase game?
No. Nothing moves until you do: you take one step, then every cat takes its steps. You can think as long as you like before each move, so it is a puzzle about where the cats will go, not a test of reflexes.
How do the cats decide where to move?
By a fixed rule you can see on each cat. A tabby steps toward the mouse across first and then up or down; a Siamese tries up or down first and then across. A cat only takes a step that brings it closer, skips a step that is walled off, and sits still if both are. A black cat follows the tabby rule twice a turn. A grey cat ignores you and walks its dotted round.
How do you beat a cat that is guarding the cheese?
Lure it away into a wall. Because a chasing cat always heads toward where the mouse is now, you can walk to a spot that makes it step into a corner or press against a wall it cannot pass, then go round to the cheese while it is stuck. Every board here was chosen so that this kind of detour is needed.
What are the dark doorways in some walls?
Mouse holes. The mouse can walk through them and the cats cannot — to a cat a mouse hole is just a wall. They first appear on level 5, and on every board that has them, walling them up would make the level longer.
How are par and the stars worked out?
A computer search tries every position a level can reach — the mouse, the cheese eaten, every cat and where the grey cats are on their rounds — and finds the fewest turns, so three stars are always possible. The two-star line is the median of 41 runs by a player who knows the way but strays on one turn in four. Any finish earns one star.
Is this like Theseus and the Minotaur mazes?
It uses the same idea as those classic logic mazes, where the monster takes two steps toward you for each of yours and can be trapped behind walls. Here only the black cat is that quick; the tabby and the Siamese take one step, with opposite habits, and the grey cat does not chase at all.
Does Cat & Mouse Maze work on a phone?
Yes. Tap the square you want to step into or swipe on the board, and tap the mouse to wait. On a phone held upright the maze sits above the buttons; on a wider screen the rules and buttons sit beside it.