How to play Yuzuwander

What is Yuzuwander?

Capybaras are famous for being unbothered. They sit in warm water, they let birds sit on their heads, and they get along with everybody. We wanted a maze game with that same mood: clever enough to make you think, gentle enough that nothing ever goes wrong.

Every maze ends at a steaming hot spring with yuzu floating in it. Your job is to get Mallow there. On the way you can collect every yuzu, find a shorter route than par, open gates, slide across ice and hop through cloud rings. Yuzuwander is free and plays in your browser on phone, tablet or computer, with no download.

How to play

• Swipe in a direction. Mallow trots that way and follows the path around its bends until the path splits, ends, or something interesting happens.
• One swipe is one move. The counter at the top shows your swipes and the par for the maze.
• Walk into the hot spring to finish the maze.
• Bumping into a hedge does nothing at all and does not count as a move.
• Undo and Restart are always free and never run out.

There are no lives, no timers on the main mazes and no fail screen. If a twist like a one-way log or a snowball leaves Mallow somewhere with no way back, a little note tells you and the Undo button glows.

Stars

Every maze has three stars, and you can earn them on different tries. They add up over time.

Par is the true fewest number of swipes, worked out by a solver that tries every possible route. It does not need the yuzu, so getting the yuzu star and the par star in the same walk is rarely possible. Most players take one star on each try. You can switch par off in Settings if you would rather just wander.

The six worlds and their twists

Each world has 20 mazes and adds a new idea. Maze 20 of every world is a showcase: a bigger maze where the Grand Spring stays closed until you ring three bells.

Every maze is checked by a solver before you see it, so it can always be finished, every yuzu can always be gathered, and each new twist really matters for the best route.

Friends, the village and hats

Each world hides two friends: one in maze 10 and one in the showcase. Walk past a friend and it follows Mallow to the spring. There are twelve, from Pip the duckling and Old Moss the tortoise to Kumo the snow monkey and Dumpling the tanuki. Rescued friends come to visit your village.

The village is called Yuzu Springs. Yuzu you gather in mazes pay for 24 things to build, from stepping stones and a bamboo fence to a koi pond, a snack stall, a waterfall and a rainbow arch. Your friends soak in the pools and Mallow relaxes in the top one.

Mallow can wear 24 hats. They unlock with stars, finished worlds, friends you rescue and Daily Mazes, and a few only appear in their own season of the year.

Fireflies

• Tap Firefly to light up the next few swipes of the quickest way to the spring.
• You earn Fireflies from daily goals, your first finish each day, the Daily Maze, every 20 stars and every finished world.
• They are never sold. In the first few mazes a free glow also appears if you stop for a while.

Daily Maze and leaderboards

The Daily Maze is the same for everyone and changes at midnight UTC. It is a larger maze with five yuzu and two twists. Your score is 1,000 for reaching the spring, 100 for every yuzu, a par bonus of up to 300 (30 less for each swipe over par) and a quick bonus of up to 200 that fades over three minutes.

Only your first finished run of the day posts to the leaderboard. Replays are practice. There is also an all time leaderboard for your total stars.

Wander and Sprint

Wander opens after maze 3. It is an endless line of calm mazes with no par to worry about, and every one pays yuzu for the village. Sprint opens after maze 10: five quick mazes in a row against the clock, with your best time kept on your device.

Controls

• Phone and tablet: swipe anywhere. You can chain a turn into the same swipe, like up then right.
• Mouse: click on the side of Mallow you want to go.
• Keyboard: arrow keys or WASD walk, Z undoes, R restarts, F uses a Firefly and Esc pauses.

Tips and strategy

• Yuzu like dead ends. If a path seems to go nowhere, there is often a yuzu at the end.
• For par, think in stops, not steps. Count the places where Mallow will stop and pick the route with the fewest.
• On ice, rocks and hedges are your brakes. Plan where you want to stop, then find what will stop you there.
• With moonflowers, an extra swipe somewhere safe can flip the hedges your way.
• Push snowballs carefully. Undo is free, so test an idea and take it back.

Questions