Whack-a-Mole
Moles pop out of a nine-hole grid and vanish fast, chain hits for combos, and race your best score in a 30 second rush.
FAQ
How does the combo bonus work?
Does the pace change?
Does an escaped mole count as a miss?
Where is the best score stored?
How to use
- Start the rush
One tap opens a 30 second round where moles pop from random holes in the grid, and each hit scores.
- Build the combo
Consecutive hits without a whiff raise the combo, adding a bonus on top of the base 10 points, capped at 10 extra.
- Hold the pace
Stay time and pop gaps shrink across four speed levels as your score climbs, so the late game demands prediction, not just reflex.
- Chase the record
The results card shows score, best combo and accuracy, a new record gets its own callout, and the personal best is always visible.
About this tool
Whack-a-mole is reaction gaming at its most direct: nine holes, one mole popping at random, thirty seconds on the clock. A hit pays base 10 with a combo bonus that stacks up to 10 extra, while a single tap on an empty hole zeroes the combo, which keeps wild spamming from paying off. Stay time and pop interval tighten across four speed levels, turning the round from a warmup into a sprint.
The feel is identical on phones and desktops since the holes are large targets for both touch and mouse. The results card reports score, best combo and accuracy, the personal best is stored locally for review, and an escaped mole is not a miss, which makes rhythm judgment part of the strategy: measured taps outscore frantic flailing. The results card gives both, so progress stays visible from the very first game.
The scoring formula rewards a little arithmetic. Each hit adds a bonus of two points per combo step, capped at 10 extra. From the sixth straight hit on, every tap pays the full 20. Speed tiers trigger at 0, 80, 200 and 400 points. Mole wait time falls from 900 to 400 milliseconds, and the pop gap from 700 to 280. Accuracy is hits divided by total taps, a miss only clears the combo, and the results card reports it on its own line.
How it works
The scoring favors steady hands: base points are flat, the combo bonus grows linearly but caps, so sustained accuracy beats bursts of tapping. The empty tap penalty clears the combo rather than subtracting points, which hits high scorers hardest because their combo is worth the most, while beginners face a gentle cost. Speed levels trigger on score, forming a natural difficulty curve inside the fixed 30 seconds. Understanding that trade explains why calm play outscores frantic tapping.
On pacing, stay time falls from 900 to 400 milliseconds and the gap from 700 to 280 across four tiers, giving the round clear phases: build the combo early, maintain it mid game, then protect accuracy at the limit. Reporting best combo next to accuracy lets different play styles each find a metric to polish, and the personal best ties the sessions together. The tiers map cleanly onto practice phases inside one short round.
All nine holes share one active spot: only a single mole is ever on screen. It waits a fixed stretch and sinking back costs nothing. That single-target design is what makes the centre-gaze strategy work, because peripheral vision covers the whole grid faster than hole-to-hole scanning. A 100 millisecond heartbeat drives the round, updating both the countdown and the mole clock, and your best score lives under the key t55k6-whack-a-mole.
When to use it
- A 30 second reset
One round fits between tasks with no commitment, perfect for elevator waits or queue breaks. The pace is quick enough that there is no time to spiral, only hands and aim. Nothing carries over, so every start feels light and commitment free.
- Parent versus kid
One sentence of rules and the child is playing. Taking turns on 30 second rounds keeps adults honest, since the combo system punishes complacency and leaves the winner genuinely uncertain. Short rounds keep the rivalry friendly and the rematch instant.
- Tracking reaction health
Accuracy and best combo are trackable numbers across days. A round every few days shows whether reactions are sharp or tired, a handy baseline for anyone training reaction speed. Numbers over weeks reveal trends that memory alone would miss. Keep the notes short and the trend line does the talking.
- Chasing the full bonus
The bonus maxes out from the sixth straight hit, so build six calm hits early. The rest of the round then pays double per tap, and a slow start beats frantic tapping every time.
Tips & tricks
- Hover your hand above the grid so the tap starts the moment the mole appears.
- The combo is worth more than any single hit, so slow down half a step to protect it.
- At high speeds watch the center of the grid instead of the hole that just closed.
- An escaped mole is free, so waiting for the next one beats chasing the last.
- Once the combo reaches five, the bonus is nearly maxed and steadiness beats speed; every accuracy point lost costs more than one extra mole gains.
Things to watch
- Spamming for speed
Hammering every hole that might hide a mole gains little and zeroes the combo several times over. Clearing the combo costs high scorers far more than it looks. A steady rhythm scores more than bursts almost every time. Protect the combo and the total takes care of itself.
- One pace all game
Starting loose leaves no adjustment room for the fast tiers. Ramp up deliberately in the middle so the last tier is not the first time you hurry. Shift into prediction mode before the pace forces you to. Deliberate pacing beats reacting late every round.
- Ignoring accuracy
Watching only the score hides a sloppy hand. Accuracy is the honest marker of control, and the score follows once it is high. Accuracy first, speed second, and the score follows both. Once control is solid, faster tiers feel natural instead of scary.
- Waking up at the last tier
At 400 points the mole waits just 400 milliseconds, and a half-second reaction window cannot be improvised. Pull your eyes to the grid centre in the middle phase so prediction, not panic, carries the finish.