How to play Pitwick

The route

• Each stratum is three rows of three chambers. Pick one per row: the chamber below you, or one lane across. Flooded chambers are shut.
• Fight and Elite chambers hold foes. An Elite is tougher but always leaves a trinket, an item that helps for the rest of the run.
• A Seam is ore: dig it carefully, or blast it for more at the cost of some health.
• A Cart banks the ore you are carrying and sells cards and trinkets. You can also throw away a card you do not want.
• A Lamp-room lets you rest (heal 30%) or refill your lamp with 8 oil. A Find is a small choice with a trade-off.
• The whole map is shown before you start, so you can plan. What waits inside each chamber is only revealed as you reach each stratum.

Fighting

• Each turn you get 3 energy and draw 4 cards. Tap a card, then tap a foe. Cards that need no target play with a second tap.
• Guard soaks up damage until the start of your next turn. Cards marked Once are gone for the rest of that fight.
• The badge above a foe shows its next move. Your lamp lights one foe at a time: a lit foe shows its exact move and takes 1 extra damage from every hit. An unlit foe only shows whether it will attack, guard or do something else.
• Tap an unlit foe to move the lamp there. It costs 1 oil.
• Every turn burns 1 oil. If your oil runs out the lamp goes dark: you cannot see any exact moves and every foe gains 1 Grit (extra damage) per turn. Trim the Wick, Refuel and Lamp-rooms bring oil back.
• Crack makes a target take half as much again from hits. Daze makes its own hits weaker by a quarter. Gas deals damage at the start of each turn, falling by 1 each time. Grit adds to every hit.

How scoring works

• 150 points for every chamber you clear.
• 10 points for every ore you bank. Ore is banked when you leave a Cart or beat the Lode Warden. Ore you are still carrying is lost if you fall.
• Beat the Lode Warden and you also get 5 points for every health point left, plus a pace bonus of 2 points for each turn under 60.
• Spending ore at a Cart lowers your score now but can make the rest of the run safer: that trade is yours to judge.

The weekly league

Your best five counted runs from Monday to Sunday (UK time) are added up for the weekly league, so you can miss a day or two and still finish near the top. Set a name on the results screen to appear on the boards. Friends boards show your friends' daily Pitwick scores alongside the other dailies.

Tips

• Plan the whole stratum from the map before you step in: a Cart late in a stratum is a safe place to bank everything you dug on the way.
• Keep the lamp on the foe that hits hardest. Knowing its exact move lets you guard just enough and spend the rest on damage.
• A thin deck draws its best cards more often. Skipping a weak card reward is often right, and it is worth 1 ore.
• Do not dawdle: long fights burn oil, and a dark lamp makes every foe stronger.
• Before the Lode you get a breather (+12 health). The Warden alternates heavy hits with guarding: save your big attacks for the turns it is not guarding.

Frequently asked questions

Is it the same run for everyone?

Yes. Same map, same foes and the same reward offers in the same chambers. Your choices are what make your run different, so the daily leaderboard is fair.

Can I retry?

Your first run each day is the one that counts. After it, you can retry the same mine as often as you like, unranked. The calendar also replays the last seven days.

What is the endless mine?

A practice mode that never ends: after each Lode Warden the mine keeps going, and the foes get tougher with every stratum. Your best endless score is kept in your browser.

Can I stop a run early?

Yes. On the map, Climb out ends the run: cleared chambers and banked ore count, and you bring up half of the ore you are carrying. It is the safe choice when the next fight looks too much.

What happens if I close the page mid-run?

Nothing is lost. Your run is saved move by move, so you can carry on later the same day. Runs close at midnight UK time.

What does Pitwick store about me?

No account and no personal details. Your browser gets a random anonymous player id. The server keeps your run's moves and score (to check and rank it) and an optional leaderboard name. Your codex, stats and saved runs stay in your own browser. Analytics only run if you accept the cookie banner. The privacy policy is linked at the foot of every page.

Is Pitwick free?

Yes. It is free, runs in your browser and needs no account. See all our daily games.