Play Guide
First time? No worries. The controls are simple, and you've got three whole hearts. Learn the essentials and the score follows on its own.
Controls
Keyboard — ← → / A D to move left and right, Space · W · ↑ to jump.
Mobile — three buttons appear along the bottom. Hold either side button to keep moving that way; the orange one in the middle jumps.
Game Systems
A hit costs one heart, then you're invincible for 1.5 seconds.
Grab carrots back-to-back within 2 seconds to keep the combo going. At 5, 10, and 20 in a row, your score multiplies by ×2, ×3, and ×5.
Eat one for an 8-second magnet effect — nearby carrots are pulled in automatically.
Skim past obstacles (rocks, moles, meteors) by a hair — or clear a root low — for +50 points.
1 point per 1m of depth, plus the carrots you collect.
Dirt Burrow only. Clears the fog for 6 seconds so you see further — worth about two extra seconds of reaction time at any depth.
A late-game obstacle from 1,500m down. It blocks most of the burrow and turns slowly, and it cannot be jumped — read where the opening is drifting and be there when it arrives.
Step on it to bounce much higher than a normal jump. Aim for the carrot lines floating above.
Eat one to slow time for 3 seconds (+30 points).
1 carrot = 1 coin, plus +5 coins every 100m — spend them on cosmetics from the start screen.
Three of the 20 accessories — the ribbon, the scarf, and the adventurer's hat — can't be bought with coins and unlock through challenges. The rest are sold in the shop.
Everyone takes on the same map each day; +30 coins for your first clear.
High-score tips
- Jump over roots, and dodge rocks to the side.
- Keeping the combo alive is the heart of a high score. Follow the carrot lines so it never breaks.
- The airborne carrot lines above a trampoline are a great shortcut for stringing combos together.
- Once you pick up speed, look far into the screen rather than at your feet. You'll see sooner and react sooner.
Handling each obstacle
There are only four obstacles, and each has one correct response. Identifying what just appeared is faster than reacting to it.
- Roots
- Low, and they span the wall — there's no going around, so jump. Clearing one narrowly pays a +50 near miss, so when you have room, jump a little later than feels safe.
- Rocks
- Too big to jump. Going around is the only answer. Commit to a side early; deciding late is what puts you into whatever is on the other side.
- Moles
- They pop up and drop back down on no fixed rhythm, which makes them the most annoying thing down there. One that's already up is about to leave — waiting half a beat is usually safer than forcing a dodge.
- Meteors
- Moonlit Burrow only. They come from above, so watch up rather than ahead — and remember that the weak gravity there keeps you in the air longer than you expect.
Keeping the combo alive
Most of your score comes from the combo. Twenty in a row is ×5, which means twenty unbroken carrots beat forty scattered ones by a wide margin. The goal isn't collecting a lot of carrots — it's not dropping the chain.
The combo window is 2 seconds. That sounds tight, but carrots come arranged in lines, so following a line maintains it on its own. The gaps between lines are the problem.
- Find the next line before this one ends
- Locate it two or three carrots before the last one, not as you take it. Two seconds isn't much once travel time is included.
- Save golden carrots for a high multiplier
- Eight seconds of magnet pays best at ×3–×5. Taken at zero combo, it just adds carrots with no multiplier behind them.
- Let the dangerous ones go
- Clipping a rock to reach the one carrot tucked behind it costs the entire combo. Skipping it and keeping the chain is almost always the better trade.
Playing each burrow differently
The same player scores differently depending on where they run. If you're chasing a record, the burrow itself is the first decision.
- Dirt Burrow — practice and consistency
- No modifiers, so it's the easiest place to hold a long combo. Learn the controls here, and come here for the ×5 combo achievement.
- Crystal Cave — win on depth
- Fast and tightly packed, so combos break easily — but you cover far more depth in the same time. If you trust your survival, this is where your best score comes from.
- Moonlit Burrow — fight in the air
- Weak gravity means one jump keeps you up for a while. Pair it with trampolines to sweep entire carrot lines overhead — just keep your eyes up for meteors.
Common beginner mistakes
New players' runs tend to end at the same few places.
- Watching your feet
- Once you're up to speed there's no time to react to what's right below you. Look far into the screen and track Mocha with your peripheral vision.
- Jumping too early
- Nerves make you jump ahead of time, which lands you right in front of the root. You can press it later than you think.
- Drifting constantly
- Moving out of habit when nothing is there leaves you badly placed when something is. If the lane is clear, hold still.
- Spending all three hearts early
- Burn them in the opening and you never reach the deep stretch where the score actually builds. A few early carrots are fine to let go.