What is Tilt Marble Maze?
Tilt Marble Maze is the classic wooden labyrinth toy on screen: you tilt a walled box by hand so a steel marble rolls through the maze, dodging the holes in the floor until it drops into the exit hole. You never move the marble directly. Gravity does that, so knowing the maze is not enough; the fine control in your fingertips decides the run.
The wooden labyrinth toy, with two knobs that tilt the board front to back and side to side, has been sold since the 1940s and still sits on many desks. This game draws that box in code, down to the walnut grain and brass pins. When you tilt, the wall sides and the box shadow shift so you can see at a glance which side is low, and the marble rumbles as it rolls, clacks against walls and thuds when it drops into a hole.
What is on the board and how does a level end?
You start on the marked spot, and the level ends when the marble drops into the gold rimmed exit hole. Falling into a black hole sends the marble back to the start, but the clock keeps running. Higher levels add more holes and narrower paths, then spinning bars and slope pads that push the marble sideways.
| Item | Looks like | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Start spot | Light ring | Where the marble begins and returns after a fall |
| Exit | Gold rimmed hole | Drop in to finish; the box lid closes and opens again |
| Hole | Black hole | Pulls the marble in when it gets close. Falls are counted |
| Spinning bar | Wooden bar on a brass pin | Turns slowly and knocks the marble away. Wait for it to pass |
| Slope pad | Tile with flowing arrows | Pushes the marble in the arrow direction. Going against it needs more tilt |
| Glass marble | Translucent blue marble | Levels 9, 15, 21, 25 and 29. Hard wall hits crack it; three cracks and it shatters back to the start |
How do I earn stars?
Every level has a three star time: finish within it for three stars, within 1.8 times it for two, and anything slower earns one. The target is computed from the shortest path through that maze plus its spinning bars and holes, and it is always shown under the board.
The clock starts the moment the marble first moves and stops when it drops into the exit. It does not pause when you fall, so a clean run with no falls is the fastest run. The best time and most stars for each level are saved, and the title and level screens show how many levels you have cleared and how many stars you have collected.
How do I turn on the tilt sensor on a phone?
Tap Enable tilt sensor on the title screen. The angle you are holding the phone at that moment becomes level, and from then on the box follows the phone as you tilt it forward, back and side to side. On an iPhone a permission dialog for motion and orientation appears once; tap Allow and it works right away.
- Neutral angle: hold the phone the way you normally look at it when you tap the button. That pose is the flat position where the marble rests.
- Sensitivity: about 22 degrees of tilt is full tilt. Small wrist movements are more precise than big ones.
- Portrait and landscape: the game reads the screen orientation and swaps the axes, so the directions stay right when you rotate the phone.
- No sensor: if the button is missing or does nothing, drag on the screen instead. Dragging also works alongside the sensor.
How does the marble move?
The marble accelerates in the direction of the tilt, slows a little from floor friction, and loses part of its speed when it bounces off a wall. Near a hole it is pulled toward the center, and the closer it gets, the faster it is sucked in.
So when passing a hole, hug the wall on the opposite side. In open rooms a fast marble is hard to stop, so get into the habit of tilting briefly toward where you want to go and then slightly back to kill the speed. On glass marble levels this speed control matters even more: a wall hit above a certain force cracks the marble, and the third crack shatters it and sends it back to the start.
Any tips for faster times?
- Read the route first. Most mazes have more than one way from start to exit. A slightly longer path with no holes is usually faster in the end.
- Small tilts, often. Full tilt means bouncing off every wall and losing time. Ease off before each corner.
- Follow the spinning bar. Enter right after the bar sweeps past and you have a full turn of time before it comes back.
- Ride the slope pads. If your route runs with the arrows the pad speeds you up; if you must go against them, build speed beforehand.
- After a fall, be ready. Set your tilt while the marble is being placed back at the start so you leave without delay.
Controls
- Mouse and touch: press anywhere and drag; the box tilts from the center of the board toward your finger. Pull farther for more tilt, and release to return to level.
- Keyboard: hold the arrow keys or WASD to build tilt in that direction and release to level out. Two keys together give a diagonal. R restarts the level and Esc returns to the title.
- Phone sensor: tap Enable tilt sensor on the title screen, then tilt the phone.
- Top right buttons: ↺ restart, ≡ level select, 🔊 sound, ⌂ title screen.
Level records and the sound setting stay in this browser and are never sent to a server. On devices with reduced motion enabled, the screen shake and confetti are skipped.