Gem Maze
You are a miner firefly trapped in a crystal cave. Run through the tunnels to collect every gem, dodge four rock golems that chase you, and use the big crystals to turn the tables. Your best score is saved in your browser.
A game is in progress. Discard it?
Arrow keys or WASD to move. P or Esc to pause. On a phone, swipe anywhere on the game.
Challenge a friend
It only travels inside the link: it is not stored on any server.
How to play
- You are a miner firefly: run through the cave and collect every gem to clear the level.
- Four rock golems chase you. If one touches you, you lose a life; you have three.
- Big crystals make the golems vulnerable: catch them before they flash and become dangerous again. Each one is worth double the last.
- Halfway through a level, a bonus geode appears for a few seconds.
- The side tunnels take you to the opposite edge. The glowing gate in the center is the golems’ hangar.
Your stats
How to use it
- Select Start, press an arrow key or Space, or tap the board to begin.
- Move with the arrow keys or WASD. On a phone, swipe anywhere on the game or use the on-screen direction buttons.
- Collect every gem in the cave without a golem touching you. If you press a direction before a junction, the firefly turns when it gets there.
- Grab a big crystal to make the golems vulnerable, then catch them before they stop flashing.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Gem Maze?
You run through a cave with the firefly and collect every gem in the tunnels. When none are left, you move on to the next cave. Four rock golems chase you: if one touches you, you lose a life, and when all three lives are gone the game is over.
How does each golem behave?
Each one has its own style. The slate golem follows you directly. The moss golem aims ahead of the direction you are heading. The indigo one patrols a zone of the cave and goes after you if you enter it. The sand golem is erratic and changes course without warning. Every so often they scatter to their corners and then chase you again.
What are the big crystals for?
There are four in every cave. When you take one, the golems turn to crystal, flee more slowly, and can be caught. The first is worth 200 points and each one after that doubles, up to 1,600. They flash before they recover, and the effect gets shorter with every level.
How do I earn extra lives?
You earn a life when you reach 5,000 points and another every 10,000 points after that. You can hold up to five lives at once.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. Swipe anywhere on the game to choose a direction, and keep your finger down to make several turns in a row. You can also turn on an on-screen direction pad with buttons at least 44 pixels wide. The game pauses on its own if you switch tabs.
Where is my best score saved?
Only in your own browser. Nothing is sent to a server, and if you clear the site data your record is cleared too.
Game rules
- The cave is a maze of tunnels with gems in them. To clear a level you have to collect them all.
- There are four different caves, each with its own layout: quartz, amethyst, amber, and emerald. Each level uses one, and after the fourth they start over at a faster pace.
- The side tunnels take you to the opposite edge of the cave. The golems can use them too, but they move slower inside.
- If you press a direction before reaching a junction, the game remembers it and the firefly turns as soon as it can.
- Halfway through each level a bonus geode appears in the middle of the cave and stays for about ten seconds.
The four golems
They are all round and friendly, but each golem has its own color of stone, its own detail, and its own way of moving, so you never depend on color alone to tell them apart.
- Slate, with a metal helmet: heads straight for you as soon as it starts chasing.
- Moss, with a green tuft: aims a few squares ahead of where you are going, trying to cut you off.
- Indigo, with a single eye and an antenna: patrols one zone of the cave and only chases you when you enter it.
- Sand, with crystals on its head: is erratic: sometimes it follows you and sometimes it picks a direction at random.
The golems also alternate between scatter phases, when they head to their corners, and chase phases. Use the scatter phases to clear the area they left behind.
How scoring works
Each gem adds 10 points and each big crystal 50. With a crystal, the golems become vulnerable: the first one you catch is worth 200 points, the second 400, the third 800, and the fourth 1,600. The bonus geode is worth more at each level, from 100 up to 5,000. At 5,000 points you earn an extra life, and another every 10,000.
Strategy tips
- Do not save the crystals for the end: use them when golems are close and you can catch several in a row.
- When a golem flashes, the effect is about to end, so move away from it.
- Learn each one’s habits. The moss golem falls for a corner turn, and a tunnel beats the slate one.
- Collect the gems farthest from the golems’ hangar, the glowing gate in the center, first.
- Think ahead with the arrow keys: press the direction before the junction and the turn comes out clean.
Controls
Arrow keys or WASD to move, P or Esc to pause, and Space to start, pause, or resume. On a phone, swipe anywhere on the game, or turn on the on-screen direction buttons. The game pauses on its own if you switch tabs. If you prefer less motion, the game follows your system setting and reduces shaking, the animated background, and particles.
Updated on October 12, 2026