Trap Digger is a free gold digger game online in the style of the classic 1980s dig-and-trap arcade puzzle. Each level is a maze of brick, stone, ladders and hand-over-hand bars with gold bars hidden through it. Your runner cannot jump and cannot fight; what he can do is dig out the brick down and to one side of him. A hole is a way down through a floor, and a trap: a guard who walks into it is stuck, you can walk across on his head, and if the brick grows back before he climbs out he is buried. A guard who picks up a bar drops it when he falls in. Take the last bar and a ladder appears — climb it off the top to escape. Eight hand-made levels, stars for your time, no download and no sign-up; play with the keyboard, or with the on-screen pads on a phone.
How to play Trap Digger
- Pick a level and press Start, or just press an arrow key. The guards set off a moment after you do.
- Run left and right with ← and → (or A and D), and climb ladders with ↑ and ↓. Walk onto a bar to go hand over hand along it, and press ↓ to let go. Walk off an edge and you fall — there is no jump.
- Press Z (or Q) to dig out the brick down and to your left, and X (or E) to dig down and to your right. You can only dig brick, not grey stone, and only with open air above it. On a phone, use the Dig pads.
- A hole stays open for six seconds and then the brick grows back. Walk into a hole over empty space and you drop through the floor — that is how you reach gold sealed under the bricks.
- A guard who walks into a hole is stuck in it for three seconds. You can walk across on his head, and if the brick grows back before he climbs out he is buried and comes back later at his door. A guard carrying a gold bar drops it on top of the hole he falls in — unless a bar is already lying there, in which case he keeps his and puts it down on his own a few seconds later.
- Take every gold bar and a ladder appears. Climb it off the top of the maze to escape. A guard who touches you, or a brick growing back with you inside it, ends the run. Stars are for how fast you escape.
Tips
- Dig in front of a guard, not beside yourself: he walks straight into it. Dig when he is two or three steps away — a guard already standing over the brick stops the dig.
- Never walk into your own hole unless there is empty space under it. A hole with brick either side and stone below is a hole you cannot climb out of.
- A guard stuck in a hole is a bridge. Walk across on his head to get past him, and be gone before he climbs out three seconds later.
- To bury a guard, let him fall into a hole that is already old. One that has been open for more than three of its six seconds closes before he can climb out.
- A guard never looks further than his own row. When you are below him he walks to the nearest way down on it, and when you are above him to the nearest ladder up — so you can lead him to the wrong one.
- If a guard has taken the last gold bar the way out stays shut. Trap him and he drops it right on top of the hole, where you can take it — or, if that spot already holds a bar, he puts his down on his own a little later.
- Guards are a little slower than you — two steps to your three — so on a long run you always gain on them. What catches you is a dead end.
FAQ
Is Trap Digger free to play?
Yes. It runs free in your browser with no download, no install and no account, on a computer, a tablet or a phone.
How do you dig, and why can I not dig here?
Z digs the brick down and to your left and X digs down and to your right — never straight down and never sideways. You can only dig red brick, not grey stone, and only when the space beside you above that brick is empty: not a ladder, not a wall, not a gold bar and not a guard. You cannot dig while on a ladder or hanging from a bar.
How do I get past a guard?
Dig a hole in his path. He walks into it and is stuck for three seconds, and while he is in it you can walk across the hole on his head. If you would rather be rid of him, let him fall into a hole that has been open a while: when the brick grows back with him inside he is buried, and he comes back in at his door a few seconds later.
Why has the ladder out not appeared?
It appears only once every gold bar is yours. A bar a guard is carrying does not count: trap him and he drops it on top of the hole he falls in (unless a bar already lies there), or wait and he puts it down on his own after a few seconds. A bar is never lost — a guard buried with one puts it back on the board.
Is every level possible, and are some bars sealed in?
Every level has a recorded solution that the tests replay to a win. Four of the eight levels hide gold that no route of ladders, bars and drops can reach at all — you have to dig down through a floor to get to it, and the tests check that too.
How are the stars decided?
Escaping is one star; two and three stars are escape times shown on screen. They were measured with test players who plan every move but stop to think before each change of direction — for about a fifth, two fifths or four fifths of a second. Three stars sits between the first two players and two stars between the last two; the slowest never escaped the last two levels at all.
Do the guards move the same way every time?
Yes, for the same run. Their rule is fixed — walk straight at you on your row, otherwise head for the nearest ladder or way down towards you — so the same moves get the same chase. Try again replays the same run; New run changes when each guard sets off and how long they hang on to a bar.
Is this like Lode Runner?
It plays the same idea as the 1983 classic Lode Runner — a runner who cannot jump, digging holes to trap guards while collecting gold — with its own eight levels and star times. It is an independent game, not affiliated with the makers or owners of Lode Runner.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. The arrow pads under the maze run and climb, and hold a pad to keep going; the two Dig pads dig down-left and down-right. The game plays upright, so there is no need to turn the phone.