Monster Steps

About the game

Monster Steps is a puzzle played on a small isometric board. You are a green figure, the goal is a black star on a yellow tile, and between you and it are walls, gaps and monsters. The rule that gives the game its edge is in the title: every thirteen steps a new monster appears. Walking in circles is not an option, because the clock is your own footsteps.

There are thirteen hand-built levels, and they teach as they go. Early ones need only a short, careful path. Later ones bring in bonuses that change the rules for a while: slide across the board, push blocks like in a sokoban puzzle, climb over obstacles, or survive a tsunami. Combining two bonuses is where the best moves are found, and so are the best ways of trapping yourself.

Grzegorz Tanczyk made Monster Steps for js13kGames 2024, where the whole game had to fit in 13 KB and the theme was Triskaidekaphobia. The README says the game was partly generated with an AI coding tool, genaicode.

Playing it here

Click Play, then Start Game or press the right arrow. Move with the arrow keys, or click on the board or use the touch controls. Instructions on the title screen lists the rules, and Escape takes you back to the menu. The game does not save your progress between visits.

Controls

A few things worth knowing

Count your steps. The monster counter is the real timer. A route that is one step shorter can be the difference between a clear lane and a trapped corner.

Bonuses can hurt. Slide and sokoban are strong, but both can leave you stuck against a wall or a block.

Read the whole board. Obstacles can be used against monsters too, since monsters follow set paths.

Credits and licence

Monster Steps was created by Grzegorz Tanczyk. It is released under the Apache License 2.0, whose text is linked from this page. The two credit links on the title screen open in a new tab.