Whack-a-Mole
Shortcuts: Ctrl+P pause · Ctrl+M sound · Enter play again
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About Whack-a-Mole
Whack-a-Mole is a one-minute reaction game set in a three-by-three field of burrows. Brown moles pop up for a moment and drop back down, and you smack them with a mallet before they vanish. Golden moles are worth far more, but dark bombs with a lit fuse are traps that cost both points and time.
It suits quick breaks and short attention spans, and the countdown makes every game exactly one minute. Early on the moles linger, which gives beginners a gentle start. Later they pop up faster and more often, so a good run keeps a long hit streak going, picks out the golden ones and never taps a bomb.
How to play Whack-a-Mole
- Watch the nine burrows for something popping up.
- Tap or click a normal brown mole to score 10 points.
- Go for the golden moles, which are worth 40 points but disappear faster.
- Never hit a dark bomb, which takes off 20 points and 3 seconds.
- Keep scoring until the 60 second bar runs out.
Controls
| Keyboard and mouse | Move the mouse and click a mole's hole to whack it. The keyboard works too: Q W E, A S D and Z X C match the three rows of holes, and number keys 1 to 9 follow the same layout as a number pad. |
|---|---|
| Phone and tablet | Tap the burrow where a mole appears. Tap the hole itself rather than the empty space around it, because a tap that misses every hole counts as a miss. |
Scoring
A brown mole gives 10 points and a golden one gives 40. A streak multiplies this: every five consecutive hits raises the multiplier by one, up to five times the base value. Hitting a bomb subtracts 20 points, cuts three seconds from the clock and breaks your streak. The end screen shows your hits and accuracy.
Tips and strategy
- Keep your streak alive. Hitting five in a row raises each hit's value, while one whack at an empty hole or a mole that slipped away resets the multiplier.
- Look before you tap. Bombs are dark with a fuse and eyes made of white squares, and a quick panic hit costs you 20 points plus three seconds.
- Prioritise gold when two moles appear. It stays up for a shorter time than other moles, but it is worth four times as much as a normal one.
- Learn the keyboard layout. Q W E, A S D and Z X C map to the grid rows, so on a computer your hands can be quicker than a mouse.
- Expect the pace to build. After the first few seconds the moles stay up for less time and sometimes two appear together, so decide fast and avoid hesitation.
Whack-a-Mole FAQ
▸Do I lose points for missing?
Not directly. A miss only lowers your accuracy and resets your streak multiplier. The only moves that subtract points are hitting a bomb.
▸Does a bomb ever count against me if I leave it alone?
No. Bombs that go back underground without being hit cause no penalty, and they do not break your streak either, so ignoring them is the safe choice.
▸How long is a round?
Sixty seconds, shown by a bar near the top. The bar blinks red in the last ten seconds, and a bomb hit shortens the time left by three seconds.
▸Does my score count toward the weekly leaderboard?
Yes. Your final score is sent when the timer ends, so it can earn XP and a place on the weekly leaderboard.
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