Cactu-Sama — Play Free Online

Cactu-Sama is a small desert puzzle game from Poki's catalogue. Each level asks you to get a cactus to the exit, and the way there is blocked by coloured blocks that you have to rearrange or switch on and off. There is no timer and no enemy chasing you, so it is a slow, thinking game that sits at the opposite end of the shelf from the fast jumpers on Doodle Jump.

The central trick is switches. Stepping on or triggering one changes the colour of certain blocks, which turns solid ground into empty space or the other way round. A level is rarely about speed. It is about working out which colour state you need at each point on the route, and in what order to flip things.

If you came to the site for Doodle Jump's one-more-try feel, this works differently: a short run teaches you the rule, and the satisfaction comes from the moment a layout you were stuck on suddenly makes sense.

How to play

Move with the arrow keys or WASD, and use the mouse to aim and select. On a phone or tablet, tap and swipe instead. The game loads in the frame on this page, and nothing needs installing.

A typical level goes like this: look at the whole layout before you move, find the exit, and work out which blocks are in the way. Then locate the switches and test what each one changes. If you end up boxed in, restart the level and try a different order instead of pushing on.

Tips

• Trace the route backwards from the exit. Seeing which blocks must be solid at the end tells you which switch has to be the last one you touch.
• Test each switch once early on to learn exactly which blocks it affects, then plan from there.
• Watch for switches that undo your last change. Flipping one at the wrong moment can remove the platform you are standing next to.
• When a level feels impossible, step away from the keyboard for a minute. Most of these puzzles have one short solution, not a long one.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

For another game where two characters cooperate to reach exits, try Fireboy and Watergirl, which mixes puzzle-solving with platforming. Ovo 2 and OvO game are precision platformers, so they test your reflexes instead of your planning. Helix Jump is a quick one-button game for when you want a break from thinking.

Cactu-Sama suits short sessions of a few levels at a time, and it works with either a keyboard or a touch screen, so a laptop, a Chromebook or a phone will all do.