A Mole in a hole

Category: Arcade, Puzzle Plays: 37 Rating:

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How to Play

Game Overview

So I've been playing this little game called A Mole in a Hole, and it's basically a memory puzzle dressed up as a cartoon about a dumb mole who keeps getting lost. You play as Mortimer, this round brown mole with big googly eyes who's trying to tunnel back to his wife before dinner gets cold, which is a goofy premise that actually works. The whole thing looks like a children's book illustration -- lots of warm browns and greens, with these cute little dirt textures that pop when you touch them. You don't actually control digging or movement directly. Instead, the game shows you a map of the underground tunnels for a few seconds, then hides it, and you have to tap the correct path from a set of buttons on the screen. Miss the right tunnel and he hits a rock, gets eaten by a worm, or falls into a pit, and you restart the level. It's frustrating at first because some paths look nearly identical, but once you start recognizing the little visual cues -- a weirdly shaped rock here, a different colored root there -- it clicks. There are 20 levels that get trickier with more branches and less time to study the map. The achievements are funny, like getting killed by the same earthworm three times in a row. This game is perfect for short bus rides or waiting in line, because each attempt only takes about 30 seconds. Anyone who likes puzzles that test your short-term memory, or who just enjoys watching a dopey cartoon mole die in silly ways, will get hooked. It's not deep, but it's honest fun.

About A Mole in a hole

So you're Mortimer the Mole, and you've got a bad sense of direction. The game throws you into a tunnel and shows you a little map of the underground--it's not a full map, just a top-down view of the forks ahead. Your only control is touching one of two or three buttons on the screen to pick which path Mortimer takes. That's it. One tap per junction. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

Each level is a short labyrinth with maybe four or five decision points. Pick the wrong path and Mortimer runs into something unpleasant: a rock slide, a grumpy earthworm that knocks him silly, a pocket of gas that makes him dizzy. Death is quick and cartoonish--he gets bonked, squished, or swallowed, and you restart from the beginning of that level. The first few levels are easy, with obvious clues like a glint of light or a faint sound cue pointing the way home. But around level 5, "The Worm's Banquet," they start adding fake exits that look promising but lead to dead ends with worms waiting.

By level 10, "Collapsing Corridors," the map gets partial--some paths are hidden until you've already committed. The game also introduces moving hazards: a rolling boulder that shifts after you choose, or a patch of glowing mushrooms that make Mortimer turn the wrong way if he touches them. You start having to memorize patterns from previous deaths. The difficulty isn't just more traps--it's the game messing with your memory. Level 14, "Echo Chamber," has forks that look identical but have different sound cues (a distant drip, a wife's call, a scary growl).

There are 20 levels total, and no upgrades or power-ups. You just get better at reading the signs. Each level has a name that hints at the gimmick: "The Fork in the Grave," "Mushroom Madness," "Wife's Whistle." Dying unlocks achievements with silly names like "Earthworm Buffet" (die to a worm three times) or "Snack Time" (get eaten by a rock). The satisfying moments come when you nail a tricky sequence on your first try after five deaths--you feel like a mole savant. You tap left, then right, then middle, and suddenly you see the dinner table through the dirt. Then level 16 happens and you're back to square one. The game doesn't hold your hand, and it doesn't care if you cry 💥.

Tips & Tricks

The map preview before each level actually changes slightly once you start moving -- look for worm tracks that fade in and out because those mark dead ends. I kept dying in level 6 until I realized the buttons on screen aren't always telling the truth; sometimes the dirt path that looks safest collapses instantly if you don't tap fast enough. One mistake I made over and over was rushing through the tutorial levels -- they teach you that earthworms are harmless, but later ones explode into a cloud of dirt that blinds you for a second, which is enough to hit a trap. For level 12 specifically, ignore the left path even though it seems shorter; there's a hidden achievement called "Detour Disaster" if you take it, but it just ends your run. The wife's dinner timer in the corner isn't just decoration -- if you dawdle too long, she gets worried and the tunnels start filling with water, which is a mechanic the game never explains. Another thing: the achievements aren't all death-related; one triggers if you complete three levels without hitting a single wrong turn, which forces you to memorize the map perfectly. Finally, don't trust the glowing mushrooms -- they look like checkpoints but actually reset your progress to the start of the level, which stung me more than once.