Let the Bats Out

A tap-away puzzle in a belfry full of sleeping bats. Tap a bat and it flies out the way its head points, but bonk a friend and you lose a heart. Free as many as you can before the sun comes up.

Let the Bats Out is a tap-away logic puzzle set inside a goblin-town belfry at night. Every floor is a grid of wooden rafters packed with bats, and each bat faces up, down, left or right. Tap one and it zooms straight out the way its head points, through the big arched window and into the flock circling the moon. If another bat is in the way it bonks into it, gets dizzy, flutters home and you lose one of your three hearts, so the puzzle is working out the right order to tap the bats out. Clearing a floor gives back a heart, and new pieces join one at a time as you climb: lanterns turn bats around a corner (floor 3), buddy bats hold feet and only leave together (floor 5), sleepyheads won't budge until a bat flies right past them (floor 6), swing lanterns flip which way they turn after every bat that uses them (floor 7), and a bat flying through a tower bell flips every bat on the bell's beam to face the other way (floor 9). Get the order wrong on the later floors and the bats can end up tangled with no way out; rewinding the floor costs a heart and the bats you freed on that floor fly back in. The night lasts 4 minutes 20 seconds of play on the moon clock, which pauses during floor changes, new-piece cards and the pause menu. Floors 1 to 12 are the tower, floor 13 and up are full-size steeple floors, so the climb never runs out and your score is simply the number of bats you freed. Tonight's Tower gives everyone the same floors for the day (by UTC date) and you get one scored climb per night; Practice Night builds random floors with the same rules and the same number of bats per floor, as often as you like. Every floor is built backwards from an empty belfry and checked to be solvable before you see it. On Goblin Arcade your nightly results, best Practice score, the new-piece cards you have seen and your sound setting save automatically.

By Goblin Originals

How to play

Tap a bat (touch or mouse) / arrows or WASD move a cursor, Space or Enter taps, R twice rewinds the floor, P pauses

Tap a bat and it flies straight out the way its head points (the round head with the ears and face leads; the pointed tail trails). A dotted trail flashes along its path. With a keyboard, move the cursor with the arrow keys or WASD and press Space or Enter.

If another bat is in the way, the bat bonks into it and flutters home dizzy, and you lose a heart. You have three hearts; clearing a floor gives one back. Lose the last heart and the climb ends.

New pieces arrive as you climb: lanterns turn bats around a corner, buddy bats leave together, sleepyheads wait until a bat flies past them, swing lanterns flip after each bat, and tower bells flip every bat on their beam.

If no bat can get out, the floor is tangled: rewind it to its start for one heart (the bats you freed on it come back). You can also rewind any time with the Rewind button (tap it twice, or press R twice). Free as many bats as you can before the moon clock reaches 0:00.

Tips

Before tapping, look for a bat whose whole path is clear to the edge, including around any lantern it would turn at.

A swing lantern turns the next bat the other way after each use, so think about which bat should go through it first.

A bell flips every bat on its beam, sleepyheads and buddies included. Send bats through a bell when the flip helps, not when it turns a free bat to face the crowd.

Sleepyheads only wake when a bat flies right next to them, so keep at least one bat that passes them for later.

Your score is bats freed. Every night's tower has the same number of bats on each floor, so a Practice Night score is a fair number to race too.

Can I play this tap-away puzzle online for free?

Yes. Let the Bats Out is an original single-player browser game. It runs in the page with no download, account or app.

Can I play Let the Bats Out on a phone?

Yes. It is built for touch: you just tap a bat. Every cell is at least 40 pixels across even on the biggest floor, the whole cell counts as the tap target, and the board turns sideways on short landscape screens to keep the cells large.

What is Tonight's Tower?

Every day (by UTC date) everyone gets the same tower of floors, and you get one scored climb at it per night, because a second try at the same floors would just be memory. After your climb the title shows your result and how long until the next tower. Practice Night lets you keep playing on random floors with the same rules.

How long is a climb?

One night: 4 minutes 20 seconds of play on the moon clock. The clock pauses between floors, while a new-piece card is open, while the Tangled panel is open and while the game is paused, so a climb usually takes about 5 to 7 minutes. The climb can also end early if you run out of hearts, or whenever you choose End climb in the pause menu.

Does Let the Bats Out save my progress?

Yes, on Goblin Arcade. Your result for each recent night, including a climb that is still in progress (saved at every floor you clear), your best Practice Night score, the new-piece cards you have already seen and your sound setting save automatically. Played outside the arcade, saves last only until the page closes.

Can I play if I am colorblind?

Yes. Which way a bat faces reads from its shape (round head and ears in front, pointed tail behind), and the special pieces differ by shape, not only color: sleepyheads wear a nightcap, buddy bats are joined by a knotted rope, fixed lanterns hang from an iron bracket and swing lanterns from a chain, each with a spiral showing which way it turns, and bells hang from a highlighted beam. Hearts are filled or dashed outlines.

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