Tumblekin is a free browser rescue puzzle inspired by Lemmings. The kins walk ahead on their own; you assign limited skills to dig routes, build stairs, block the crowd, and survive falls. Get enough walkers to the exit before time runs out, then try bringing home the three glimmers in each level.
Key Takeaways
- Tumblekin is a puzzle game in the spirit of the early 90s classic: you can't steer the kins, you can only give them jobs.
- Seven skills do all the work: Climber, Floater, Bomber, Blocker, Builder, Basher and Digger, each with a fixed number per level.
- Every level hides three glimmers, crystals that a kin has to carry all the way through the exit door to count.
- The first world, Mossy Hollow, has five levels that each teach one new idea, from soft ground to a deep stone cellar.
- Failed levels can be retried as often as you like, and your score is saved after every level you clear.
A Lemmings-style puzzle game where nobody listens to you
The kins are not clever. They walk. When they meet a wall they turn around, when they meet a small step they climb it, and when the ground ends they fall. A short drop is fine. A long one is not, and they don't get up again. Water at the bottom of a pit is worse.
Your job is to get enough of them to the lantern-lit stump door at the other end of the level before the clock runs out. Each level tells you how many you need, for example 15 out of 20, so you can afford to lose a few. You can't afford to lose many.
You select a skill and assign it to a kin instead of steering the walkers directly. Timing still matters because the crowd keeps moving. Use pause to inspect the route, check your remaining skills, and decide which walker should act.
The seven skills, explained
Every level gives you a short list of skills and a fixed number of each. Here is what they do:
- Digger digs straight down through earth. Use it to drop the crowd through a floor to the level below.
- Basher tunnels sideways through earth and keeps going until there is no more earth in front of it.
- Builder lays a stair of twelve wooden planks, up and forward. When it runs out of planks it shrugs, and you can give it another batch.
- Blocker stands with arms out and turns every other kin around. It holds the crowd in place while someone else clears the way.
- Climber scales any wall it walks into. This one is permanent: the kin keeps the gift for the whole level.
- Floater opens a leaf and glides down safely from any height. Also permanent, so one kin can be both a Climber and a Floater.
- Bomber counts down for five seconds and then blows a hole in the ground around it, taking itself with it.
Diggers, Bashers, and Bombers can remove soft terrain such as earth, roots, and wooden planks. Gray stone cannot be destroyed by those skills. Look for soft routes around it or use movement and building skills to reach another path.
Glimmers: the second puzzle in every level
Clearing a level is one challenge. Each level also hides three glimmers, small glowing crystals tucked into the rock, perched on high ledges or sitting well off the main path.
A kin that touches a glimmer picks it up and carries it above its head. Each kin can carry only one. The glimmer only counts when that kin walks in through the exit door, and if the carrier falls, splats or drowns, the glimmer floats back to where it was so another kin can try again.
That changes how you play. The easy route to the exit often skips the glimmers completely. To get all three, you have to send a few kins on detours: a Climber up a pillar, a Floater off a ledge, a Basher into a side wall. Then you have to make sure those same kins still find their way home. Each glimmer is worth more points than two kins, so collecting them can make a substantial difference to the score.
Mossy Hollow: five levels, five ideas
The first world is Mossy Hollow, a forest at dusk with old trees, hanging moss and a pale moon. Every level opens with a short briefing while the clock waits, so you always know what the level is about before the first kin drops.
- Soft Ground teaches digging. The kins land on a shelf high above the exit, and a couple of Diggers are all it takes. Two of the glimmers are buried inside that shelf.
- Plank Bridge brings in the Builder and the Blocker. A gap full of water lies between the crowd and the exit, and the only way across is a stair you build plank by plank while a Blocker keeps everyone else safe.
- Root Tunnels is about the Basher and the Climber. Earthy hills block the way, one of them wrapped around a core of stone, and the glimmers sit on top of them.
- Stone Cellar drops the kins into a stone room far above the ground. The fall is deadly, so this is where Floaters and a well-placed Bomber come in.
- Glimmerdeep gives you every skill at once in a deep crystal cavern, with a pen of stone walls, a shelf, a pillar and an island exit on the far side of a pool.
Clear a level to unlock the next one.
How to play Tumblekin
On a computer:
- Pick a skill on the bar at the bottom, or press 1 to 7. The arrow keys move along the bar.
- Click a kin to give it the selected skill. The number on each skill button shows how many are left.
- P or Space pauses. Use pause to line up the perfect moment, then click.
- F runs the level at triple speed when you are just waiting for the crowd to walk home.
- R restarts the level and N sets off every kin at once. Press either one twice to confirm.
- M toggles sound, Esc ends the run.
On a phone, hold it upright. The level sits at the top, with a small map of the whole level below it and large skill buttons underneath. Tap a skill, tap a kin, and drag the level or tap the map to look around.
A few tips for your first run:
- Watch before you act. Let the first kin walk for a moment so you see where the crowd is heading.
- Block first, fix second. A Blocker buys time for a Digger or a Builder to finish the job.
- A Blocker can be cleared. When you no longer need it, give it a Bomber and it blows itself out of the way.
- Count your skills. Unused skills add to your score, so solving a level with fewer tools is worth it.
Scores, runs and achievements
A run follows the levels in order, and failed levels can be retried. Sign in for supported leaderboard submissions after cleared levels. Those recorded results do not mean the current unfinished level is saved if you stop.
Every cleared level scores points for each kin you brought home and each glimmer, a bonus that grows with the level number, and a little extra for every unused skill and every second left on the clock. Three achievements wait for you: clear your first level, clear all five in one run, and carry all fifteen glimmers home in a single run. If you are logged in, your unlocked levels and best glimmers follow you to any device.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tumblekin like Lemmings?
Yes, it follows the same idea as the classic puzzle game of the early 90s. You get a crowd of small walkers that can't be steered directly, a handful of skills to give them, and a number that has to reach the exit. Tumblekin adds glimmers that must be carried to the exit by individual kins.
Is Tumblekin free to play?
Yes. Tumblekin is free and runs in your browser with no download and no account needed. Signing in connects supported scores, achievements, level unlocks, and glimmer records to your account. These records are separate from an unfinished level.
Why do my kins die after a fall?
A kin survives a short fall, but a drop of more than a few body heights is fatal. Give a kin the Floater before it walks over the edge, or find a route with shorter drops. Builders make stairs upward and forward, so they do not create a descending staircase.
Why won't my Digger or Basher go through?
Diggers and Bashers only cut through earth, roots and planks. Gray stone cannot be removed by Diggers, Bashers, or Bombers. Look for the soft ground around the stone instead.
Can I play Tumblekin on my phone?
Yes. Hold your phone upright and the level fills the top of the screen, with a minimap and large skill buttons below. Tap a skill, then tap a kin.
Lead the kins home
Start Tumblekin in Mossy Hollow and pause to inspect the first route. Once you can meet the rescue target, try detours for the glimmers. For another puzzle, open Alchemia or browse the puzzle category.