Twin Maze

About the game

Twin Maze is a puzzle game written by ivg1 for Sprig, the open-source game console made by Hack Club that you program in JavaScript. The trick is in the title: every level has two characters, one in the upper half of the maze and one in the lower half, and every key you press moves both of them in the same direction at the same time. When one of them is blocked by a wall, the other still moves, so you are always steering two bodies with one set of controls.

To finish a level you have to pick up every key in it and then get both characters onto their exits together. Keys open the matching doors, so a key in one half of the maze can clear the way in the other half. Some walls are loose and can be pushed around, which lets you jam one character in place while you walk the other one where you need it. Gems are optional and sit in awkward spots; the last screen tells you how many you collected. There is also a hidden question-mark portal in one of the mid-game mazes that skips a level if you find the key for its door.

The game opens with a controls screen and a tutorial level where all you have to do is grab a key and reach the exits, then moves on to six mazes that get longer and need more keys: one, two, and finally three per level. The mazes are bigger than the Sprig's usual grid, so the whole thing is drawn small, which suits the maze look.

Playing it here

Click Play and the game starts in the page, on the Sprig's own 160×128 screen scaled up so the pixels stay sharp. There are short sound effects for keys, gems and finishing a level, plus looping music. The game keeps no save, so closing the page starts you from the beginning again.

On a phone or tablet, two groups of buttons appear under the screen, like the eight buttons of the console. On a computer, use the keyboard.

Controls

Tips

Think of it as one path walked twice. Both characters follow your exact moves, so a detour that is harmless for one may drop the other into a dead end. Trace both before you commit.

Use the walls on purpose. A character that is blocked stays put while the other moves. That is how you line the two of them up.

Restart freely. J puts the maze back and sets the key count to zero, so there is no cost to trying a route.

FAQ

Is this an official Sprig game? It comes from the public Sprig game gallery, where anyone can send in a game. This one was sent in by its author, ivg1, and it runs here unchanged.

What is a Sprig? A small console with a 160×128 screen and eight buttons, made by Hack Club to teach programming by making games. Its games are plain JavaScript programs, and the engine that runs them is open source.

Why is it called Twin Maze? Its file in the gallery is named 2_character_maze_game; this page uses a cleaner name for the same game.

Does it save my progress? No. The mazes are short.