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Water Maze Online

by crokocat · Puzzle

Water Maze is a cheerful little puzzle about a tank of water finding its way down. The water starts running the second the level opens, the flower at the bottom is waiting to be watered, and all you do is tap the valves to decide which way the stream goes. One tap to learn, three hundred levels to finish.

The idea fits in a sentence: the tank holds only so much water, the flower is somewhere at the bottom of the maze, and every drop that goes the wrong way is a drop the flower will never get. Tap a valve and the stream turns. That's it — no tutorial to sit through, no rules to memorise, and you're solving the first puzzle about four seconds after the page loads.

It's a puzzle you play with your hands as much as your head. The water is already moving, so there's a little thrill to every level: spot the drain, reach the valve in time, watch the stream swing the other way and pour exactly where you wanted it. Get it right and it feels great. Get it wrong and you're one tap from trying again — nothing is ever lost, there are no lives, no energy bar and no timer counting down at you.

Three hundred levels is a lot of game. The first ones are a pool, a valve and a straight corridor, and by the end you're untangling tall mazes with several tanks, overflow pools in the middle, deep pits that have to be filled before the water moves on, and drains sitting exactly where you were about to send the stream. The difficulty creeps up so gently you don't notice getting good at it — and every single level can be solved, so a hard one is a puzzle, never a dead end.

Every fifth level belongs to the duck. She floats wherever the current takes her and can't swim back, so the puzzle changes shape: now the water has to carry her home to her ducklings as well as water the flower. Those levels are the ones people replay for fun — and yes, there are hearts when she gets there.

It's lovely to just look at, too. Real water sloshing in a little box, waves rolling out from the stream and bouncing off the walls, the level in a pool sinking as it drains away, and a flower that opens into something genuinely worth the trouble when the water finally reaches it. Bright colours, soft light, nothing shouting at you.

And it's built for the gaps in a day. A level takes a minute, the whole thing works one-handed in portrait on a phone, your progress is saved automatically, and the level picker lets you drop back in exactly where you left off. Play three levels waiting for the kettle or lose an hour to it on the sofa — it works either way.

How to play Water Maze

One tank of water, a maze, and the valves in between:

Desktop: Click a valve to turn it; drag the maze with the mouse to scroll a long level.
Mobile: Tap a valve to turn it; drag with one finger to scroll. The whole game is built for one thumb.

Tips for Water Maze

Who made Water Maze?

Water Maze was made by crokocat game studio in 2026 — a small, friendly puzzle about water, valves and one very determined duck. Three hundred levels, all of them solvable, all of them free, right in your browser.

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About this game

Controls
Tap or click a valve to turn it: it swings between the two corridors leaving that junction. The water starts running the moment the level opens, so a valve is only useful before the stream reaches it. Drag the box to scroll a long maze.
Supported devices
desktop, phone, tablet
Developer
crokocat
Genre
Puzzle
Release date
September 2026
Latest update
September 2026

Related categories

puzzlecasuallogic3d

Frequently asked questions

Is Water Maze free to play?

Yes, completely. No download, no sign-up, no ads in the way of a level — it runs in your browser on desktop, phone and tablet.

How do I win a level?

Get the water to the flower before the tank runs dry. The counter at the top of the screen shows how much water is left; every cell the stream fills spends some of it.

Why does the water start before I am ready?

Because that is the puzzle. The stream runs from the moment the level opens, so a valve is only worth turning while the water is still on its way to it. Levels are short and restarting costs nothing.

What do the red rings do?

They are drains. Water that reaches one runs out of the box and never comes back, so routing the stream past a drain is the most expensive mistake in the game.

What are the deep sections for?

Those are pits. The water has to fill a pit to the brim before it can carry on past it, so a pit on the route is a large one-time cost out of the tank — sometimes worth paying, sometimes worth routing around.

What is the duck for?

Every fifth level is a duck level. The duck drifts with the current and cannot swim against it, and the level is only won when the water carries her to her ducklings as well as reaching the flower.

How many levels are there?

Three hundred — from a single valve and a straight corridor up to tall mazes with several tanks, overflow pools, pits and drains. They get harder very gradually, and every one of them can be solved, so there's no level that's simply unfair.

Is my progress saved?

Yes, on your device — the level you are on and the highest level you have cleared. If you have a crokocat account they travel with it to your other devices.

Can I go back to an earlier level?

Yes. The Levels button opens a picker with everything you have cleared, so any level can be replayed.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Valves are tapped and long mazes are scrolled with a finger — the whole game is designed for one thumb in portrait.

How long does a level take?

About a minute, often less. It's built for short breaks — play a couple of levels and put it down, or keep going; your progress is saved either way.

Is it hard?

It starts very easy and stays friendly for a long time. The later levels are real puzzles, but nothing is ever lost when you fail — restarting costs one tap, and a level you couldn't see through yesterday usually cracks on the second look.