Games / Arcade Games / Paint Runner / Guide
Paint Runner
You're a blob of paint racing downhill. Roll over red, yellow, blue and white to mix the color each gate asks for, then smash right through it.
What is Paint Runner?
Paint Runner is a three lane runner game with a color mixing puzzle built in. Your blob starts out clear. As you run, you switch lanes to pick up paint cans, and the paint mixes on your body the way real paint does. Red plus yellow makes orange. Every so often a big gate appears across the road with a color painted on it. If your blob is that exact color, you smash through and score. If it isn't, you splat and lose a heart.
It plays free in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. No download, no sign up. Runs start gentle and get quicker with every gate, so a good run is a mix of fast thumbs and knowing your colors cold.
How to play
- Your blob runs on its own. You just pick the lane: left, middle or right.
- Roll over a paint can to add that color to your blob. The cans are Red, Yellow, Blue and White.
- Roll over a light blue Rinse can to wash your blob clear and start over.
- Each section starts with a Rinse row, then the paints you need, then the gate.
- Small drops are worth 5 points each. Grab them when they're on your way.
- From the fourth gate on, some rows are full width puddles of the wrong colors. Hop over them.
- You have 3 hearts. A wrong gate costs one. Lose all three and the run is over.
Controls
| Action | Phone or tablet | Computer |
|---|---|---|
| Change lane | Swipe left or right | Left/Right or A/D |
| Hop | Swipe up | Up, W or Space |
| Pause | Pause button | P or Esc |
While you're in the air you skip whatever is in your lane, good or bad. That's great over a puddle and bad if you hop over the paint you needed.
Color mixing chart
The mixing rules are the classic painter's ones, with white used to make light tints. Picking up a color you already have does nothing, so a second red is harmless.
| Gate color | Paints you need |
|---|---|
| Red, Yellow, Blue | Just that one color |
| Orange | Red + Yellow |
| Green | Yellow + Blue |
| Purple | Red + Blue |
| Mud | Red + Yellow + Blue |
| White | White on a clear blob |
| Pink | Red + White |
| Cream | Yellow + White |
| Sky | Blue + White |
| Peach | Red + Yellow + White |
| Mint | Yellow + Blue + White |
| Lilac | Red + Blue + White |
| Tan | Red + Yellow + Blue + White |
The first three gates of a run are always single colors. After that the oranges, greens and purples come in, then the light tints, and once you're past about 16 gates you'll start seeing Mud, Peach, Mint, Lilac and the four paint Tan.
Scoring and combos
Each gate you smash is worth 50 points plus 25 for every step of your combo, and your combo goes up by one with every correct gate in a row. The combo bonus tops out at x20, so a gate at full combo is worth 550 points. A wrong gate resets your combo to zero as well as costing a heart, which is why one mistake hurts your score far more than the lost heart suggests. Drops add 5 points each. The road also speeds up with every gate until it hits top speed at around 35 gates.
Modes
Play
The standard endless run. A new road every time, three hearts, go as far as you can.
Daily Run
The same road for everyone that day. Your best daily score is saved, back to back days build a streak, and signed in players can post to the daily leaderboard.
Color Lab
A slower, no hearts lesson of 12 gates that walks you through the primaries, the secondaries, a few light tints and finally Mud. If you miss a gate here, the game shows you the recipe. Finishing the lab unlocks the Beret. It's a nice way to teach kids how colors mix, too.
Unlocks in Style
Open Style from the menu to dress up your blob. Everything unlocks from playing, and none of it changes how the game plays.
- Faces: Smile, Wink (smash 10 gates), Grin (score 800 in one run), Shades (reach a x10 combo), Sleepy (3 Daily Runs), Kitty (grab 300 drops), Starry (score 5,000 in one run)
- Hats: Beret (finish the Color Lab), Bow (60 drops), Party hat (40 gates), Propeller (score 2,500), Crown (200 gates)
- Trails: Drops, Stars (x5 combo), Confetti (100 gates), Hearts (5 Daily Runs), Ribbon (score 4,000)
- Canvas: Studio, Mint (500 drops), Sunset (score 1,500), Gallery Night (150 gates)
Tips for longer runs
Read the gate before the paint
The gate color tells you the whole shopping list. The moment you know the target, work out the recipe in your head, then just collect. Players who react can by can are the ones who grab a stray blue on the way to orange.
Take the first Rinse
Every section opens with a Rinse row, and the safest habit is to hit a Rinse can there every time. Starting clean means your mix is exactly what you picked up in this section and nothing left over from the last gate.
Fix mistakes with a side lane Rinse
Grabbed the wrong can? Don't panic. On harder sections, Rinse cans also show up in the side lanes between paints. Wash off and rebuild if there's room before the gate. If there isn't, take the heart loss and protect the rest of your run.
Doubles are free
Running over a paint you already have changes nothing. If the only way to dodge a wrong color is to grab a second red, do it.
Only hop over puddles
A hop skips everything in your lane. Save it for full width puddle rows, and don't hop just to feel safe, or you'll fly over the yellow you needed.
Know the tints
White is the ingredient people forget. Pink, Cream, Sky, Peach, Mint, Lilac and Tan all need it. If a gate looks like a pale version of a color, there's white in it.
Protect the combo
Since a gate is worth 50 at combo zero and 550 at x20, your combo matters more than anything else for score. Late in a run, slow down mentally even as the road speeds up. One clean gate is worth more than a handful of drops.
Questions
Is Paint Runner free?
Yes. It's a free runner game that plays in your browser on phone, tablet or computer with no download.
What colors make orange, green and purple in Paint Runner?
Red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green, and red and blue make purple. All three together make Mud.
How do you make pink or sky blue?
Add white. Red and white make Pink, blue and white make Sky, and yellow and white make Cream.
How many lives do you get in Paint Runner?
Three hearts. Each wrong gate costs one, and the Color Lab has no hearts at all.
Is there a daily challenge?
Yes. The Daily Run is the same road for every player that day, with a streak and a daily leaderboard.
Is Paint Runner good for kids learning colors?
The Color Lab is a slow 12 gate lesson that shows the recipe for any gate you miss, so it works well for learning how colors mix.
