Arrow Hotel

Arrow Puzzle

About Arrow Hotel

The Arrow Hotel has a ghost problem. Not a scary one. The guests checked out decades ago and simply forgot to leave. Each one hovers on a hallway tile with a big arrow on its sheet, and that arrow is the only direction it is willing to travel. As the night manager, your job is to get every last one of them out through the doors.

Tap a ghost and it slides along its arrow until it leaves the floor. That is the whole rule. The trouble is that ghosts are polite but solid. If another guest is anywhere in the way, your ghost bumps into it, floats home and costs you a heart. So every floor becomes a small knot to untangle: which ghost is free right now, and who does that free up next?

Floors climbs through 30 handmade layouts, from a snug lobby to a crowded attic. The Daily gives everyone the same bigger floor each UTC day. Night Shift is an endless run where your hearts have to last.

It is an arrow puzzle game you can finish in a coffee break, and then quietly think about for the rest of the afternoon.

How to play

  1. Every ghost has an arrow on its sheet. That is the only direction it will ever move.
  2. Tap or click a ghost and it slides that way until it leaves the floor through a door.
  3. If another ghost is anywhere on that path, they bump: your ghost floats back and you lose a heart. The floor itself never changes, so a bump is a clue.
  4. Clear every ghost to finish the floor. Hearts left become stars.
  5. In Floors, running out of hearts just resets the floor. In the Daily and Night Shift it ends the attempt.

Controls

InputWhat it does
TouchTap a ghost to send it along its arrow
MouseClick a ghost to send it along its arrow
KeyboardArrow keys or WASD jump the highlight from ghost to ghost
KeyboardSpace or Enter sends the highlighted ghost
KeyboardH shows a hint: one ghost that can leave right now
KeyboardM mutes, P or Esc pauses, F goes fullscreen

Tips

  • Trace each path all the way to the wall before you tap. A ghost three tiles away blocks just as well as one right next door.
  • Start from the edges. Ghosts near a wall pointing outwards can almost always leave, and they free the middle.
  • When a bump happens, look at the ghost that wobbled. That one has to go first.
  • Stuck? Count the ghosts that can leave right now. There are usually only one or two.
  • In Night Shift your hearts carry over between floors and you get one back every five floors, so a careful early run pays off later.
  • Only your first Daily attempt is ranked, so take your time: a bump costs more than a few seconds.

FAQ

Is Arrow Hotel free to play?

Yes. It runs in your browser with no download and no account. Ads only ever appear between floors or after a run, never while you are solving.

Does it work on phones?

Yes. It is built for touch first and the square board works in portrait or landscape.

What are Floors, Daily and Night Shift?

Floors is 30 handmade floors in three wings. The Daily is one bigger floor shared by everyone each UTC day. Night Shift is an endless run of growing floors on one set of hearts, ranked all-time.

Is the Daily floor the same for everyone?

Yes. Every player gets the identical layout, and it changes at midnight UTC. Your first attempt that day is your ranked score; retries are practice.

How is the Daily scored?

You start at 1000. Each bump costs 150, each second costs 1, and a hint adds 30 seconds. Finishing always scores at least 50, which beats any attempt that runs out of hearts.

Does it save my progress?

Your stars, best scores and settings are stored in your browser on that device. There is no account, so clearing your browser data or switching devices means starting fresh.

Design notes

We wanted a puzzle you could understand from one screenshot. An arrow tells you where something goes, and a ghost explains why nobody minds it leaving. A bump never changes the board, because the quickest way to learn a floor is often to bump once and see why. A solver checks every floor before it reaches you, and each new trick gets its own small floor before it shows up on a big one.

Changelog

  • Released: 30 floors in three wings, the Daily floor and Night Shift.
  • Game page published. The game is in development.