About Whack-a-Mole

Whack-a-Mole is a neon reflex arcade game for PixPause. Nine holes sit in a 3×3 grid — moles pop up one at a time (or several at once at higher speeds), and you have to click or tap them before they retreat. Miss too many or hit a bomb and you lose a life. Run out of lives or reach the 60-second time limit and your final score is locked in.

The game rewards fast, accurate clicking through a combo multiplier — every consecutive hit without a miss or bomb-hit climbs from ×1 up to ×8, dramatically increasing points per mole. Golden moles are rare, appear briefly, and are worth 10× points. Bomb holes deduct a life on click — treat them as decoys.

Mole Types

• 🐭 Normal mole — standard mole worth 100 × combo multiplier points. Pops up for 1–2 seconds depending on difficulty.
• ⭐ Golden mole — rare, glowing gold mole worth 1,000 × combo points. Appears for less than a second — blink and you'll miss it.
• 💣 Bomb — looks different and flashes red. Clicking it costs a life and resets your combo. Don't do it!

Combo System & Scoring

• ×1 — starting multiplier
• ×2 — after 3 consecutive hits
• ×4 — after 6 consecutive hits
• ×8 — after 10 consecutive hits — maximum multiplier
• Missing a mole or hitting a bomb resets combo to ×1
• Normal mole: 100 × combo points
• Golden mole: 1,000 × combo points

Tips

• Use peripheral vision: Keep your eyes on the centre of the grid, not on a single hole. Movement at the edges is easier to catch this way.
• Prioritise golden moles: At ×8 combo, a golden mole is worth 8,000 points — more than 80 normal moles. Always drop everything to hit one.
• Identify bombs early: Bombs have a distinct red glow and flash animation. Train yourself to hesitate one beat before clicking.
• Don't chase misses: If you miss a mole, ignore it. Chasing it usually means you miss the next one too, losing double the combo.