Game Instructions
The goal of Penguin Rally is to guide your penguin through a maze to a tasty fish before the other hungry penguins. There's a catch though: your view of the iceberg maze keeps twisting!
You control your penguin using your keyboard arrow keys (or the WASD keys, or the onscreen arrow buttons on a mobile device). At some point after you begin playing, both the game board and directions rotate. The orange arrow on the maze box always corresponds with the up arrow. If the orange arrow points left, then the up arrow moves you left, the left arrow moves you down, etc.
It might help to think of the arrows as the cardinal directions (north is up, south is down, east is right, west is left.) The orange arrow always points north. For example, if the orange arrow points down, then north is down. If you want to move right, you want to move west by pressing the left arrow.
Penguin Rally Race
For detailed instructions for how to utilize the arrows, please see below:
If the orange arrow is pointing UP (North)
▲ moves up
► moves right
▼ moves down
◄ moves left
If the orange arrow is pointing DOWN (South)
▲ moves down
► moves left
▼ moves up
◄ moves right
If the orange arrow is pointing RIGHT (East)
▲ moves right
► moves down
▼ moves left
◄ moves up
If the orange arrow is pointing LEFT (West)
▲ moves left
► moves up
▼ moves right
◄ moves down
Time Trial vs. Race
Each session of Penguin Rally is divided up into two types of challenges: a Time Trial and a Race. You will first be presented with several Time Trials, followed by a Race.
In a “Time Trial” your penguin races against the clock, earning bonus points for any seconds left on the timer when the penguin reaches the fish (but you can take as long as you need to finish the maze). Time Trials are meant to help you practice navigating the rotating maze without the pressure of competing against other penguins.
Time Trial
In a “Race” your penguin races against one or more other penguins of varying speeds to see who can get the biggest fish. The first penguin to reach the fish gets the largest one; the second gets the second largest, and so on. All Races have at least one other penguin opponent, with a maximum of three. At the end of each Race the winning order will be displayed on a podium.
As your skills improve, you will be presented with fewer Time Trials and more Races.
Race Podium
Levels & Scoring
Each Penguin Rally session consists of a mixture of Time Trials and Races. You will start at a basic level of challenge the very first time you play, and your challenge level will increase or decrease throughout the game depending on your performance. If you finish a Time Trial maze before the timer changes color and defeat all the other penguins in a Race, then your level of challenge will increase. However, other penguins defeating you doesn't necessarily mean that your challenge level decreases. You'll maintain the same level if you complete the Time Trial soon after the timer changes color or if you are close behind the fastest penguin in a Race. If you take too much time to complete a Time Trial or lag too far behind in a Race, your level of challenge will be reduced until your performance improves.
Your score is determined by the total distance between your penguin and the fastest penguin. If you finish before at least one of the other penguins or before the timer fully expires, then your score is calculated using the distance you traveled minus the distance traveled by the fastest penguin.
If you lose to the other penguins or do not finish before the timer expires, then your score is calculated based on the distance you traveled.
Please note, Penguin Rally is still in Early Access, so its score will not affect your LPI.