TOMB RUN
A free arcade survival game you play in a web browser. You are a wizard running down an endless tomb corridor. You hold and slide side to side to dodge; your spells fire on their own; one hit kills you. Most runs last a few minutes.
How to play
On a phone or tablet, hold a finger on the game and slide from side to side; release to stop steering. On a desktop or laptop, move the mouse or trackpad from side to side and the wizard runs to the pointer - no need to click - or use the arrow keys or A and D.
You never press an attack button. Every weapon fires on its own timer, so the entire game is where you stand — lining up shots, threading gaps, and deciding which lane is about to become a bad idea. One hit ends the run unless a ward or extra life saves you, so dodging matters more than trading damage.
Boss fights change the rule. The corridor stops scrolling, the boss stands and trades with you, and the lane opens into a band you can also step forward and back in. Keep a phone in portrait.
Spells and weapons
Pick up new spells as you level up or buy them from the traveller; a run holds up to six. Arcane Bolt is what you start with. Magic Missiles seek their target. Frost Fan throws a spread; Ice Lance is a single long shot. Acid Orb and Fireball deal in area damage, Chain Lightning jumps between bodies, and Soul Spear goes through them. Wisp Lance sends piercing wisps up the corridor that swing with you as you steer. Meteor Shower and Sunbeam arrive from above. Fist of God gives you three seconds to steer its target before a giant fist crushes the marked area. Some spells fire straight ahead and reward standing in line: Blue Ruin sends a volley of blue bolts up the corridor, the Death Ray strikes the first monster in its path and leaves only dust, and Cone of Cold freezes and slows everything in a cone in front of you. Summon Golem sends a molten golem running up from behind you to fight on your side until it falls, and the Doom Globe wraps you in a glowing globe that blasts the first monster to touch it, or swallows the first shot, then has to recharge — it reaches further out than you do, so a monster you would have dodged can set it off. If you would rather be close, the Dagger, Oak Staff and Runeblade swing instead of firing.
What is down there
The tomb is full of monsters, and they do not arrive in a polite order. Skeletons are the crowd, and deeper down they are Zombies. Goblins are quick, and the heavy ones, Rock Golems and Mummies, soak damage and are big enough to block a lane on their own. Imps come in numbers, Green Slimes hunt you, High Demons charge down the corridor, in packs from room eight, and a Necromancer will throw a spell down the corridor from somewhere you have not looked yet — the single most common way to die after simply walking into something. Ghosts drift straight through the pillars you were hiding behind and fade out half the time, when your spells pass straight through them, a Dread Knight stops, raises its sword and charges when it gets close, and a Goblin Crossbowman hangs back up the corridor and shoots. Deeper down, a Skeleton Shieldbearer stops every bolt you fire at it head-on until its shield breaks, and past room 60 a Minotaur herd can come charging down every lane but one.
Every ten rooms a boss is waiting. The Demon Lord is the first. Deeper in you meet the Slime Tyrant, and from room forty the Eclipse Pharaoh, who stops to telegraph each cast and attacks faster once it is hurt. Each boss you beat makes the next one tougher, and from room twelve every room makes the other monsters tougher and quicker than the last.
From room twenty-two the floor itself turns on you: bottomless pits three tiles across open in the corridor. Walk into one and the run is over, unless an extra life catches you at the edge. Knock a monster into one and it falls too.
Keep an eye on the right-hand wall. Now and then a secret door opens in it, onto a guarded library with a prize you cannot find anywhere else, and every player's doors come at different rooms. Buy the Weird Manuscript from the travelling shop and some doors lead down instead, into the Catacombs: goblin war-bands, the Goblin King with his club, and the Bone King guarding a hoard of enchantments found nowhere else.
Getting stronger
Three things carry you, on three different clocks. Enchantments last one run: level up mid-run and you choose one of three, so no two runs build the same wizard, and every corridor boss you beat offers three boons - more damage, another spell slot, a ward against the next hit - that last until the run ends. A Legacy card is chosen for free after you die and carried into the next run only: a spell to start with, extra spells chosen at random, or a second chance. Your gold is permanent: it comes from killing things and is kept between runs. A travelling shop turns up every six to nine rooms with one item, which is a real decision rather than a shopping list, and for gold he will show you another. Once every spell slot is full he sometimes sells an Ioun Stone for one more slot, or an Amnesia Potion to forget a spell and free its slot.
Two stranger bargains wait in the dark. Once in a while an imp offers a Pact: one infernal power for the rest of the run - more damage, faster casting, a chance to cheat death, or floating over pits - paid for with one of your spell slots. And a Black Candle will take your gold: a minute of power, a covenant that lasts the run, or, for 25,000 gold, an ascension that doubles your damage and grants an extra life.
After your run
See how far you got, post your score, and challenge a friend. You can pass on posting or sharing, then choose one of three free Legacy cards for the next run. Pick a card to enable Play. Your gold stays with you for the shops inside the dungeon.
A friend who takes your challenge sees your room at the lower right of the screen while they play, with a bar that fills as they close in. Pass it and it flashes gold and green while the wizard gloats.
Rare shop curios can help your next Legacy: Superior Legacy costs 10,000 gold and improves its spells or extra lives; Loaded Bones costs 2,500 gold and lets you replace all three choices once. Both use earned game gold.
Questions people ask
Is it free? Yes, completely. No purchases, no account, no sign-up, nothing to unlock with money. If you allow advertising, an ad may appear after a round ends; it never interrupts a run.
Do I have to install anything? No. It is a web page — open it and tap once. If you want it on your home screen you can add it, and it works offline once its resources are cached. Options has installation help, and optional title reminders can be dismissed.
What do I need to run it? Any current browser with WebGL. It is built mobile-first for iOS Safari and Chrome on Android, and playable on a desktop, laptop or Chromebook too, steered with the mouse, trackpad or arrow keys.
Does my progress save? Yes, automatically on this device. When cloud saving is available, progress also saves online without signup. Pause a run and open Options: Saves and recovery shows the last cloud save and, where it is offered, lets you add a passkey for recovery. You can also transfer progress with a code from Saves and recovery in Options.
Who made it
TOMB RUN is made by Blue Wizard Digital, an independent studio.