Stage Mode or Arcade Mode: Which Tomb of the Mask to Play, and How to Climb Higher

Tomb of the Mask ships with two very different games behind the Map and Arcade buttons. Stage mode is a map of short, hand-built levels; Arcade mode is one endless tomb that keeps scrolling upward. They use the same dash movement but reward different things, and most people are better at one than the other.

Stage mode: puzzles with stars

Each level on the map is a small maze with an exit and a handful of dots. There is no clock, so you can sit on a wall and think. Three stars are on offer per level, and earning them means clearing the level properly: all the dots collected, no shortcuts that leave half the map untouched. A level takes fifteen to thirty seconds once you know the route, which makes Stage mode the one to play when you have a couple of minutes and want a clean finish.

Arcade mode: an endless climb

Arcade mode builds the tomb as you go and never stops. The screen scrolls upward and the pace picks up the higher you get; fall below the bottom edge and the run ends. The score is height, so every sideways dash is a small cost and every vertical dash is progress — as long as it does not end on a spike. This is the mode for a high-score chase, and it is where the masks matter most.

Reading the climb

• Look up, not at the mask. The next two walls above you decide the route. If the mask is in the middle of the screen you have time; if it is near the bottom, take the safe upward dash even if it skips dots.
• Do not chase every dot. Dots add to the score, but a detour that costs height costs more than the dots are worth once the scroll speeds up.
• Sideways first, then up. A one-tile hop that lands you on a clean wall is worth more than a long vertical dash into a trap.

Coins and masks

Coins collected in either mode are spent in the Shop on new masks. Each mask carries a perk that changes how a run feels: a shield that survives one hit, more coins per pickup, or a gentler start to the scroll. None of them makes the game easy, but the shield in particular turns an Arcade run from one mistake into two. Buy that first.

On a Chromebook

The game is a 16 MB WebGL build served from this site, so the first load takes about ten seconds and later loads are near instant. It runs on an integrated GPU without trouble. If the frame rate drops, close other tabs; Arcade mode at speed is where a stutter costs you a run.