# Labyrinth: How to Play, Controls & FAQ

## About Labyrinth

Labyrinth is a free browser game built around one of the oldest tricks in tabletop puzzles: tilt the board, not the ball. You control a metal ball resting on a wooden board and guide it toward a finish hole by tilting the whole surface beneath it. Momentum carries the ball through corridors, gravity pulls it toward open pits, and a light touch is usually worth more than a fast one. This version was built from scratch for the browser, with real rolling physics, a hundred levels spread across five difficulty tiers, and mechanics that keep changing as you go: ice patches, sticky mud, wind that pushes back, switches and locked gates, teleport portals, and rotating barriers that sweep across the board.

There is nothing to install. Labyrinth runs entirely in your browser on desktop, tablet, or phone, and once you have loaded it the first time it keeps working even if your connection drops. Your progress is saved automatically on your device, so you can close the tab mid-level and pick up again later without losing anything.

## How to Play

Every level has one ball, one start point, and one glowing finish hole. Tilt the board to roll the ball through the maze without falling into a pit, brushing a spike, or getting struck by a moving obstacle. Later levels add extra steps along the way: a switch might need to be triggered before a gate will open, a key might need to be collected before a locked door will let you through, and a portal might be the only way to cross a particularly nasty section. Checkpoints appear on longer levels, so a fall only sends you back to the last one you touched, not all the way to the start. Clear a level to unlock the next one; your best time and star rating are kept for every level you finish.

## Controls

- Desktop: Arrow keys or WASD to tilt the board.
- Mobile: An on-screen joystick by default, with a drag-anywhere mode and a real gyroscope tilt mode available in Settings (tap the 📱 icon, or choose it from the pause menu).
- Pause, Restart, Next and Previous buttons sit below the board at all times.
- Sensitivity slider in Settings adjusts how strongly tilting is felt, useful for fine control on the hardest levels.
- A dark mode toggle and a mute button with volume slider are always within reach in the top bar.

## Game Features

- 100 levels, 5 tiers
  Easy through Insane, each tier introducing new hazards and mechanics.
- Real physics
  Momentum, friction, edge-sliding and bounce, not a simple grid-snap maze.
- Ice, sticky floor & wind
  Zones that change how the ball handles as you cross them.
- Switches, keys & portals
  Puzzle mechanics layered on top of the maze itself.
- Works offline
  Installable as an app; keeps playing without a connection.
- Autosave
  Your unlocked levels and best times are saved automatically.

## Difficulty at a Glance

- Easy (Levels 1–20): Pure navigation – walls, dead ends and long corridors, with no hazards yet. This is where to learn how the ball actually handles.
- Medium (21–40): The board gets its first teeth. Holes open up along dead ends, ice patches send you sliding, speed pads add a burst of momentum, and the first checkpoints appear on the longer routes.
- Hard (41–60): Spikes join holes as genuine hazards, sticky floor slows the ball to a crawl in places, wind zones push against you, and small obstacles patrol the tighter corridors.
- Expert (61–80): Switches, timed gates, keys and locked doors add a layer of sequencing on top of the maze itself, and rotating barriers sweep through the wider junctions.
- Insane (81–100): Every mechanic from the tiers below, combined, at the largest board sizes and the tightest passages in the game.

## Tips for Getting Further

- Slow down before open sections – it is much easier to steer around a pit at a crawl than at speed.
- Use walls on purpose. A controlled bump against a wall bleeds off speed without stopping you dead, which is often exactly what a tight turn needs.
- On ice, tilt earlier and more gently than you think you need to; the ball keeps sliding well after you level the board.
- Timed gates need commitment. Scout the route from switch to gate once before you actually go for it.
- If a level has a checkpoint, it is usually there because the section after it is genuinely harder – take the hint and slow down.
- Sticky floor is a good place to make fine adjustments; use it to line up a tricky shot rather than rushing through it.

## Frequently Asked Questions

Is Labyrinth free to play?

Yes. The full set of 100 levels is free, with no purchase, sign-up or download required.

Does it work on my phone?

Yes. Labyrinth is built mobile-first, with a touch joystick by default and an optional gyroscope mode that uses your phone's actual tilt.

Can I play without an internet connection?

Yes, after your first visit the game is cached on your device, so it keeps working offline or on a slow connection.

Is my progress saved?

Yes, your unlocked levels and best times are saved automatically in your browser. There is no account to create.

I'd rather not use my phone's motion sensor. Can I still play well?

Absolutely. The on-screen joystick and drag controls are built for full precision and are the default on mobile; the gyroscope is entirely optional.

How many levels are there, and how hard do they get?

There are 100 levels across five tiers: Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert and Insane. Each tier introduces a new mechanic on top of everything from the tier before it, so the later levels combine several systems at once.

Can I reset my progress?

Yes, there is a reset option in the pause menu. It is permanent, so it will ask you to confirm first.

## Why Players Enjoy Labyrinth

Part of the appeal is how physical it feels for something running in a browser tab: the ball has real weight, corners need to be taken at the right speed, and a fall is almost always the player's own fault rather than the game's. That makes each level a small, fair puzzle rather than a test of patience. The other part is pacing – levels are short enough for a coffee break but the difficulty curve is long enough to keep experienced players busy well into the Expert and Insane tiers, especially once portals and timed gates start showing up. Add instant loading, no install, and progress that is always there when you come back, and it is the kind of game that is easy to open for "just one level" and hard to put down after ten.

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