The rules

  1. The room is black. You see only what is inside your flashlight beam, which you drag with a finger.
  2. Slim the frog is somewhere in it. He appears only while the beam is on him. Find him and the level is won.
  3. The clock runs down from about a minute and a half in the early rooms.
  4. The battery drains while the light is on. Empty battery, dark room, level over.
  5. Patapim moves. Every few seconds he shifts to a new spot. If the beam lands on him, he has you.

Search in lanes, not in circles

The most common way to lose is to wave the light around and cover the same middle third of the room three times. Treat the room like mowing a lawn: start in one corner, sweep across, drop down by one beam width, sweep back. You will cover the whole room once, in the least time and the least battery.

Remember where you have already looked, because he has not stayed there

Slim stays put. Patapim does not. A patch you swept ten seconds ago was clear of Patapim then, not now, so crossing back over old ground is where most catches happen. Move forward through the room and resist the urge to double back.

Move the beam slowly near the edges

The beam is a circle, so the corners of the room get the least light. Slim fits neatly in a corner. Slow down along the walls and let the full circle pass over each corner rather than clipping it.

Later rooms

The map runs to twenty-five rooms, from The Whispering Woods and the Haunted House through Slim's Lair, Patapim's Parlor and the Moonlit Graveyard to Final Ascent. Patapim gets more aggressive as you go, so the lane habit you build early is what carries you later.

Questions players ask

How do you win a level?

Find Slim the frog with your flashlight beam before the timer reaches zero. Slim only shows while he is inside the circle of light, so you have to sweep the whole room.

How do you lose?

Three ways: the clock runs out, the flashlight battery runs out, or your beam lands on Brr Brr Patapim, who is moving around the same room.

What does Premium change?

Premium gives unlimited battery, removes the adverts and unlocks every level on the map straight away. The clock and Patapim stay exactly as they are.