Chomp Strategy: Clearing the Maze and Outfoxing the Cats

Updated October 2026

Chomp is a dot-eating maze game in the classic style: you are a hungry hamster, and four cats are on your tail. You swipe to queue your next turn, eat every dot to clear the level, and avoid the cats. Four power pellets in the corners scare the cats for a few seconds so you can catch them for bonus points, and catching several in quick succession raises the multiplier. You have three lives, and each level brings faster cats. This guide covers efficient routes, pellet timing and staying alive.

Use the move queue

Your swipe sets the direction you will turn at the next junction that opens that way. That means you can swipe early, before you reach a corner, and the turn will happen at exactly the right moment. Getting comfortable with this is the biggest control improvement you can make, since last-moment swipes often arrive too late and send you straight past the turn.

Clear the maze in efficient routes

Travelling through corridors you have already cleared is wasted time, and time spent wandering is time the cats spend closing in. Plan routes that sweep whole sections at once, and leave isolated groups of dots for when the cats are away. The long corridors are the best places to rack up dots quickly.

Save the power pellets

The four power pellets are your only weapon. Do not eat them just because you are passing. Save each one for a moment when cats are near, ideally when several are close together. A pellet eaten with no cats nearby wastes its effect.

Keeping pellets in reserve also gives you escape routes. If you get cornered near a pellet, eating it turns the tables immediately.

Chain cats for the multiplier

When the cats get scared they flee, and each one you catch in quick succession is worth more than the last. Try to eat a pellet when two or three cats are close, then chase them down together. The scare is short, and the cats start to flicker in its last second, so do not chase a cat that has run far away; focus on the ones you can reach.

Staying alive

Watch for cats entering your corridor from both ends, which is the classic trap. Keep an exit in mind at all times, especially near the end of a level when the remaining dots are scattered and you have to go into riskier areas. If a level is going badly, use your remaining pellets as panic buttons rather than keeping them for points.

Learn how the cats behave

Cats move toward you, but they cannot turn around instantly in a corridor, and they each take their own route through the maze. Watching them for a few seconds at the start of a level tells you a lot about where danger will come from. Use corners to break their line of pursuit: a cat following you down a long corridor is dangerous, while one that has to navigate several turns is easy to lose. As the levels speed up, this kind of awareness matters more than quick swipes. Players who reach high levels spend as much attention on where the cats are heading as on the dots they are eating, and they rarely enter a corridor without knowing which cat is closest to each end of it.

A practical plan

1. Swipe early and let the move queue handle the timing.
2. Sweep sections of the maze in long, efficient routes.
3. Hold power pellets until cats are close.
4. Chain scared cats quickly for the rising multiplier.
5. Always keep an exit and avoid corridors cats can enter from both ends.

Chomp rewards planning as much as reflexes. Clear dots efficiently, treat power pellets as precious, and your levels will go faster and score higher.