The object of the game
Push every block onto a slot.
A Muse level is a walled floor with blocks standing on it, slots cut into it, and you. There are always exactly as many slots as there are blocks, and the level is solved the moment the last block comes to rest on the last slot. Nothing else on the board has to be anywhere in particular — only the blocks.
- Wall — the frame; nothing passes through it.
- Floor — where you and the blocks stand.
- Block — push it; you can never pull it.
- Slot — a block belongs here.
- Block on a slot — green: that one is done.
- You — the only yellow square on the board.
- Transport — the fire; step on it and you come out somewhere else.
Moving and pushing
You move one square at a time. Walk into a block and you push it one square in the direction you are walking, provided the square behind it is clear. If it is not — a wall, another block, or a transport — neither of you moves, and the move costs you nothing.
- Move — the arrow keys, the on-screen arrow buttons, or a swipe in that direction on a touchscreen.
- Undo — U takes back your last move, one move at a time.
- Restart — R puts the level back exactly as it started.
- Study first — the clock does not start until your first move, so looking at a board costs nothing.
The one rule that makes Muse hard
You can push. You can never pull.
That is the whole difficulty, and it does not look like a difficulty until it costs you a level. Because a block only ever moves away from you, there are squares a block can reach and never leave.
A block in a corner is the plain case: to move it you would have to stand inside a wall. It is finished, and if it is not on a slot, so is the level.
A block flat against a wall is the case that catches people out. It can still slide along that wall, but it can never come off it, so unless there is a slot somewhere on that wall it is as dead as the one in the corner. Two blocks pushed side by side against a wall pin each other the same way.
Nothing flashes when this happens. The level simply cannot be finished any more, which is why U and R are worth reaching for the moment a move feels wrong.
Transports
Some levels have transports — the burning squares. Step onto one and you come out at one of the level’s other transports, chosen at random. They are how you reach a part of a board that has no door.
A block can never be pushed onto a transport. A block stops at one exactly the way it stops at a wall, so a transport is a place you can go and a block cannot follow.
Finishing a level
Blocks turn green as they land on slots, so what is left to do is always the grey ones. When the last block turns green the level is solved, and the next level in the list opens.
Levels are ordered by difficulty and open one at a time: the one you can play is the first you have not finished. Solve it and the next unlocks. Nothing is bought, unlocked with a code, or waited for.
Scoring and world records
Fewest moves wins.
Solving a level is the first half of Muse. Solving it in fewer moves than anybody else is the other half, and it is the half that keeps players coming back to a board they have already beaten.
- Moves first. The lowest move count takes the record.
- Then time. Same number of moves, faster run ranks higher.
- Then who was first. Identical on both, and the player who got there first keeps the higher position.
- The clock starts on your first move, not when the level loads. Plan for as long as you like.
Every level carries its own world record, with the holder’s name and where they played from. Beat one and the board is yours until somebody takes it back — the whole standing is in the World Record Hall of Fame, behind the trophy in the corner of the game.
How to solve a hard Muse level
Muse levels are not solved by reflex. These are the habits that separate a level that falls in twenty minutes from one that never falls at all.
- Work out which slot each block is for before you touch anything. Most wasted moves are a block being walked to the wrong slot and never coming back.
- Fill the slots that are hardest to reach first. A slot in a corner or up a dead end usually has exactly one block that can ever reach it, and exactly one route.
- Read the corners as traps, not as scenery. Before any push, ask what the block’s next square takes away from you.
- Count the walls a block is already against. One is a constraint. Two, at right angles, is the end of it.
- Keep your own route open. Blocks wall you in as surely as walls do, and a block you cannot get behind is a block you cannot push.
- Undo early. U costs nothing and a salvaged level is worth more than a proud one.
- Then do it again in fewer moves. The first solution is almost never the short one, and the record is scored on the short one.
Why that kind of thinking interests researchers studying the aging brain →
Common questions
Can you pull blocks in Muse?
No. Blocks can only be pushed, and only one at a time. That single restriction is where all of the game’s difficulty comes from.
Why did my level become impossible?
A block was pushed somewhere it can never leave — usually a corner, or a wall with no slot on it. The game does not stop you doing it, which is what U and R are for.
Can I play Muse on a phone?
Yes. Swipe the board in the direction you want to move, or use the arrow buttons beside it. Everything else works the same way.
What happens when I finish a level?
The next level opens, and your score is measured against the standing world record for the one you just finished. Levels are ordered by difficulty and open one at a time.
More about the game itself: what Muse is, where it came from, and how its levels were recovered with AI.