Skip to content
Arrow Escape

How to play Arrow Escape

Arrow Escape takes a minute to learn. The goal is simple: get every arrow off the board, in an order that works.

The goal

The board is covered in black arrows. Each one is a continuous line that may bend several times, with an arrowhead at one end. Tap the arrows one at a time to send them off the board. When the board is empty, you win the level.

Level 1: three arrows on a small board

How an arrow moves

When you tap an arrow, its head moves straight ahead in the direction it points, and the rest of the arrow follows its own path — the way a train follows its rails. The arrow never changes shape or cuts corners, so the only new ground it covers is the straight line from its head to the edge of the board. We call that line the arrow's runway.

An L-shaped arrow with a clear runway to the right edge
Clear runway: the blue arrow escapes.
A short arrow whose runway is crossed by a vertical arrow
Blocked: the vertical arrow is in the way.

Blocked moves and hearts

If any part of another arrow sits on the runway, your arrow slides forward until it bumps into it, flashes red and returns to where it started. A blocked move costs one heart. You get five hearts per level — four from level 501, three from level 801 and only one on level 1000. Lose them all and you can retry straight away — no waiting, and no ads required.

Red arrows

From level 31 some arrows are red. They move exactly like black arrows, but a blocked red arrow costs two hearts. They are always among the arrows that start blocked, so leave them until their runway is clearly empty.

Stars

  • ★★★ — no mistakes and no hints.
  • ★★ — up to two mistakes (or a hint).
  • ★ — any other win.

Your best stars and fastest time for each level are saved on your device.

Tools

  • Hint highlights an arrow that can escape right now — usually the one that frees the most others.
  • Undo puts the last escaped arrow back. It does not refund hearts.
  • Restart resets the board, hearts and timer.
  • Pause stops the timer and opens settings (sound, vibration, shortcuts).

Controls

Touch

Tap an arrow to launch it. On big boards, pinch to zoom and drag with one finger to look around; a drag is never treated as a tap.

Mouse and trackpad

Click to launch. Use the zoom buttons below the board, or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll (or a trackpad pinch) to zoom, then drag to pan.

Keyboard

Focus the board (Tab), then use the arrow keys to move between arrows and Enter or Space to launch the selected one. Shortcuts: H hint, U undo, R restart, P or Esc pause, + / − zoom.

Ready?

Start with level 1, read some tips and tricks, or try today's daily challenge.