How to play cornered: how do you trap the hunters?

cornered is a free turn-based escape puzzle you play in the browser. You are the green orb on a small walled grid. Red hunters chase you, and every time you move one square they move two. The only way out is one gap in the outer edge.

No download, no account, no app. It runs on a phone and keeps working with the network switched off.

The goal, in one sentence

Step out through the gap in the edge before a hunter lands on you.

The rules

The board is a square grid with walls on the edges between cells. The outer frame is walled all the way round except for one gap, the exit.
Each turn you do one thing: move up, right, down or left, or wait.
Walking into a wall or off the board is a bump. Nothing happens, no turn passes and it does not count as a move.
Stepping through the exit wins at once. The hunters do not get to answer.
After every move or wait, every hunter takes its steps toward you.
If you step onto a hunter, or a hunter lands on you during its steps, you are caught.

How each hunter chooses its step

Hunters are simple, and that is what makes them beatable. On every step a hunter only considers the two directions that bring it closer to you.

The hound (a red four-point blade) tries sideways first, then up or down. It takes two steps a turn.
The stalker (an amber four-point blade with a slit eye) tries up or down first, then sideways. It also takes two steps a turn.
The brute (a pink six-point blade) tries sideways first, like the hound, but takes three steps a turn.

A direction only counts if it closes the gap on that axis, stays on the board, does not cross a wall and does not land on another hunter. If neither direction works, the hunter stands still for that step. The dots under each hunter show how many steps it takes.

When there is more than one hunter they take turns step by step: every hunter takes its first step in order, then every hunter with a second step takes it, and the brute finishes with its third.

Why walls matter so much

A hunter never steps away from you to walk round a wall. Put a wall between you and a hunter and it presses against that wall, stuck, while you walk away. Every board is built so that the obvious route to the exit gets you caught; the way out is to lead the hunters into dead ends first.

Because the hound goes sideways first and the stalker goes up or down first, the same wall traps them in different places. Reading which hunter a wall will catch is most of the game.

Wait is a move

Waiting keeps you still while the hunters take their steps. It often is the best move: it lets a hunter walk the last square into a trap before you run. Press space or the full stop key, press the wait button, or tap yourself.

Controls

Arrow keys or WASD move. Space or . waits.
Z or Backspace undoes, R restarts, H shows a hint.
On a phone, swipe in a direction, tap a square next to you to step there, or tap yourself to wait.
Every control is also a button under the board.

Undo and restart

Undo puts the board back exactly as it was before your last move, as many times as you like. Restart goes back to the start of the board. Your move count is the length of your current path, so moves you undo never count against you.

Par and stars

Every board is checked by a solver before you see it, so there is always a way out. The solver also finds the fewest moves out: that number is par.

Escape at par or better with no hints: three stars.
Within three moves of par with at most one hint: two stars.
Any other escape: one star.

Hints

A hint solves the board from where you are standing and shows the next best move. Easy gives three hints per board, medium two and hard one. If you have already walked into a position with no way out, the hint says so and is not used up. Undo a move or two and ask again.

The levels

Easy is a 5 by 5 board with one hound.
Medium is 6 by 6. A stalker joins the hound from level 3.
Hard is 7 by 7 with a hound and a stalker, and a three-step brute joins from level 5. Solutions are long and you get one hint.

Each difficulty keeps its own level progress and your best stars on every level.

The daily board and challenges

The daily board is the same for every player on each difficulty, based on the UTC date. Your first attempt on each difficulty is the scored one, and later attempts are marked as practice.

After an escape, press challenge a friend. The link opens the exact same board for your friend and shows how many moves they have to beat.

Frequently asked

How do you play cornered? Move one square per turn or wait. After each action every hunter moves toward you. Step out through the gap in the edge to escape, and do not let a hunter land on you.

How does each hunter choose its step? It only steps in a direction that closes the gap to you. Hounds and brutes try sideways first, stalkers try up or down first. If both are blocked by a wall or another hunter, it stays put for that step.

Why do walls matter? Hunters never step away from you to go round a wall, so a wall between you and a hunter holds it in place while you move on. Every solution uses walls to strand the hunters.

What does wait do? You stay where you are and the hunters take their steps. It is often the move that pulls a hunter into a trap.

Can I undo? Yes, as often as you like, and undone moves do not count. Restart takes you back to the start of the board.

How are par and stars worked out? Par is the solver’s fewest moves out. At par with no hints earns three stars; within three moves of par with at most one hint earns two; any other escape earns one.

How do hints work? A hint shows the next best move from where you are. If there is no way out from your position, it tells you to undo and the hint is not spent.

What changes between easy, medium and hard? Board size, the hunters on it and how many hints you get: one hound on 5 by 5, a hound and a stalker on 6 by 6, and up to three hunters including the brute on 7 by 7.

Is the daily board the same for everyone? Yes. It comes from the UTC date and the difficulty. Your first attempt on each difficulty is scored and later ones are practice.

How do I challenge a friend? Escape a board and press challenge a friend. The link rebuilds the same board and shows your move count to beat.

Is cornered like other chase puzzles? Chase puzzles, where you move and pursuers answer on a grid, are a classic genre that many games have explored. The boards, the hunters and how they step, the rules and the levels in cornered are our own, generated from a seed and checked by our own solver.

Where cornered sits

cornered is the portfolio’s game about thinking two steps ahead of something that moves twice as fast. Its siblings test other kinds of nerve. graze is about how close you dare let a shot pass; updraft is about how little input it takes to stay steady; outbound is about reading the order of things under a clock; wreck is about pushing forward under fire; deadband is about not overcorrecting; filter is about asking better questions; overload is about spending a limited hand; closure is about which move you are forced to make next; tint is about the cost of correction; and bridge is about blocking and winning with the same move.

Every one of them is free, runs in a browser, and works offline.

Play cornered →