How to play slick: slides, brakes and par

slick is a free sliding maze puzzle you play in the browser. A penguin stands on a wooden maze. Every slide carries it from wall to wall and paints each tile it crosses. Paint every floor tile to clear the board.

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

How a slide works

Swipe or press a key. Swipe on the board, or press an arrow key or WASD. The penguin slides that way until the next wall.
Paint. Every tile it crosses fills with colour. Painting four or more in one slide floats a score, eight is a SPLASH and twelve a MEGA SPLASH.
Clear. Paint the last tile and the board is done. A slide that cannot move just bumps, and costs nothing.

Up to two slides queue while one is still moving, so you can swipe ahead.

The brake

Tap the board, press Space or B, or press the brake button while the penguin is sliding, and it stops on the next tile with a skid. Braking lets you stop in the middle of a corridor, which a plain slide never can, so a well-timed brake can beat par.

You get three brakes a level on easy, two on medium and one on hard. Rush gives two per board. Braking on the last tile does nothing and costs nothing, and undo does not give a brake back.

Special tiles

Honey stops you on it.
Arrows turn you mid-slide in the direction they point.
Portals come in pairs. Slide into one and you come out of its partner, still moving.
Cracked tiles break after one crossing. Slide onto a broken one and you fall: the slide is undone and costs one slide.

A short tip appears the first time each tile shows up.

Par and stars

Every board is generated from a seed, checked to be solvable, and given a par: the fewest slides that paint it without brakes.

3 stars at par or better.
2 stars within 30 percent over par.
1 star for anything else.

Undo and restart help you find the route. Undo restores the paint, the broken tiles and the slide count.

Rush and the daily maze

Rush gives you 90 seconds to paint as many small boards as you can. Your best count is kept for each difficulty.

The daily maze is one board that is the same for everyone that UTC day and difficulty. Your first clear goes on the daily leaderboard, ranked by fewest slides. Play it again and it is marked as practice.

Coins and the shop

Clearing a board pays coins: 10 per star, 15 for finishing under par, a bonus for splashes, and 3 for every brake you did not use. The daily pays double and rush pays 5 per board. Spend coins on hats and paint trails in the shop. Coins are cosmetic and never change a score.

Tips for beating par

Look for the tile you can only reach once. Plan the route around it first.
Long corridors are worth a brake when the turn you need sits halfway along.
Cross cracked tiles last, or only once.
Count slides before you start: the HUD shows your slides against par.

Frequently asked

How do slides work in slick? Swipe on the board, or press an arrow key or WASD, and the penguin slides that way until the next wall, painting every tile it crosses.

How does the brake work? Tap the board, press Space or B, or press the brake button mid-slide and the penguin stops on the next tile. Easy gives three brakes a level, medium two, hard one and rush two per board.

What do the special tiles do? Honey stops you, arrows turn you, portals send you out of their partner still moving, and cracked tiles break after one crossing so a second crossing drops you and costs a slide.

What is par? Par is the fewest slides that paint the whole board without brakes. Three stars at par, two within 30 percent over, one otherwise.

How does rush work? You get 90 seconds to paint as many small boards as you can, with two brakes and three undos on each.

How does the daily maze work? One board is the same for everyone each UTC day and difficulty. Your first clear counts, ranked by fewest slides; replays are practice.

What is the shop for? Coins from stars, under-par routes, splashes and unused brakes buy hats and paint trails for the penguin. They never affect a score.