I Made a Cute Maze Game Called Sloth Hunger: Free to Play

I’ve got another one for you. I caught the game-building bug again, and this time I went for something cute instead of flashy: a little maze game I’m calling Sloth Hunger. With the help of AI I built the whole thing from scratch, and like the others it’s completely free to play right in your browser. No signup, no catch. Just open it and start munching.

If you’ve ever played Pac-Man, you already know the basic idea, except this time you’re the world’s hungriest (and sleepiest) sloth. You wander a jungle maze nibbling up every leaf, and once you’ve cleared them all you move on to the next level. The catch is you’re not alone in there: four hungry predators are prowling the maze, and they would very much like to catch themselves a slow-moving sloth.

There’s a fun twist that keeps you moving. Your sloth has a tummy meter that’s always slowly draining: let it hit empty and the poor thing falls asleep right where it’s standing, so you’ve got to keep eating to stay awake. Leaves give you a little nibble; the juicy bonus fruit fills you right up. And scattered around the maze are coffee beans: grab one and your sloth goes caffeinated, zipping around at double speed while the predators suddenly turn tail and run. That’s your moment to chase them down for a stack of bonus points.

The four predators each hunt a little differently: Harpy the eagle comes straight at you, Jag the jaguar tries to cut you off, Coco the snake sneaks in from the side, and Ozzy the ocelot is the shy one who hangs back. There’s a global leaderboard if you want to see how you stack up, a handful of badges to collect, and the maze speeds up and changes scenery the deeper you get.

It runs great on a phone, and you can add it right to your home screen like a real app. Fair warning: it’s a little more addictive than I expected, which I’m choosing to take as a good sign. Give it a go:

Like my other games, this is one I’m still poking at and improving, so if you hit a snag or think of something that would make it better, I’d love to hear it: leave a comment or use the contact form. Thanks, and watch out for that eagle!

New to This Kind of Game? Here’s How to Play

It takes about ten seconds to pick up, and the game walks you through it as you go. But here’s the quick version:

• The goal. Eat every leaf in the maze to clear it and move on to the next one. That’s really the whole job: wander around and munch until the place is spotless.
• Getting around. Steer with the arrow keys or WASD on a computer, or just swipe (or tap the on-screen pad) on your phone. Your sloth keeps heading the way you pointed it until you turn.
• Don’t fall asleep. Keep half an eye on the tummy meter. As long as you’re eating you’ll stay awake, and the bonus fruit tops you up the most.
• Coffee is your power-up. Grab a coffee bean and the tables turn: you speed up and the predators run scared. Catch them while you can for a points bonus that keeps climbing the more you boop in a row.
• Dodge the predators. A bump from one of them (when you’re not caffeinated) costs you a life. Give them room, use the maze to lose them, and save a coffee bean for when things get hairy.
• Snag the bonus fruit. Every so often a piece of fruit pops up for a little while: grab it before it vanishes for a nice points boost.

That’s all there is to it. Hop in, fill that belly, and see how many levels you can clear before the sloth gets caught, or nods off. Have fun!