GNOMEKEEP
A retro 3D gnome-hunting, base-converting browser game.
Adaptive levels increase as you complete waves.
SURVIVE THE GNOMEKEEP
The full mission briefing, controls and conversion rules are in ❔ HOW TO PLAY.
HOW TO PLAY
Your mission briefing, controls and number-conversion rules are here. Opening Help pauses the countdown and all enemies.
🎯 YOUR MISSION
Survive the maze, defeat each wave of evil gnomes and earn the highest score. Start with 100 HP, 10 bullets and 90 seconds. Wave 1 brings 12 gnomes, then +4 each wave; each gnome takes two hits, and clearing a wave earns 100 bonus points. Gnomes shoot on sight, patrol in pairs from wave 2 and hunt in squads from wave 3. Explore fog-covered corridors, collect supplies and unlock three treasure vaults. Solve conversion questions for extra ammo, time and supplies. Only reaching 0 HP ends the game.
🎮 Controls
W A S D Move SHIFT Sprint
MOUSE or ← → Look
CLICK or SPACE Shoot
P Pause / resume H Help
On touchscreens, use the movement arrows and FIRE button.
👹 Enemy tactics
Gnomes fire as soon as they have a clear line of sight. Wave 1: individual patrols. Wave 2: pairs. Wave 3: hunting pairs that track your movements. Wave 4 onwards: hunting trios. You have a short damage-protection window after a hit; use corners and cover.
📦 Supplies
Walk directly over the centre of an item to collect it. Walking beside it does nothing.
▣ Ammo crate: +5 bullets, collected instantly.
✚ Med pack: +35 health, one conversion.
🍎 Food: +20 health, one conversion.
🛡 Armour: 20% less damage for 60 seconds, one conversion.
Wrong supply answer = EMPTY (except ammo, which asks no question). Only food and med packs restore health.
🧠 Conversion rules
Convert between binary, denary and hexadecimal. Binary answers must have exactly 8 bits, including leading zeros: 00001010. Hexadecimal questions show the 0x prefix, but answers require only two hex digits: enter 0A, not 0x0A. Optional hints and worked solutions help you learn.
⏱ Ammo & time quizzes
When you run out of bullets, answer five questions: each correct answer gives 2 bullets and 15 seconds. When the timer reaches zero, answer exactly five questions: each correct answer gives 15 seconds (up to 75). If none are right, retry. Your game ends only when health reaches zero.
🗺 Explore & unlock
The fog-of-war mini-map is in its own panel to the right of the game. Explore corridors to reveal them. Find three locked treasure vaults with golden gates. Face a locked gate and walk forward into it to start the unlock challenge; simply standing nearby or passing it will not activate it. Solve three conversions correctly to open it. A wrong answer does not destroy the vault.
★ Choose question difficulty on the Start screen: Apprentice (0–31), Explorer (0–127), Master (0–255), or Adaptive (rises with waves). You can also change it through Learning. Leaderboard entries show the question setting used during the run; changes partway through a run are marked MIXED. Older scores without this information show OLD. Correct-answer streaks earn points. Scores are shared on the online leaderboard when hosted with PHP/MySQL; offline scores are stored in this browser only.
OUT OF AMMO!
Answer all five conversions. Every correct answer = +2 bullets and +15 seconds. The gnomes and countdown freeze while you answer. Binary answers need 8 digits with leading zeros; hex answers need exactly 2 digits WITHOUT 0x.
TIME'S UP!
Answer exactly FIVE questions. Each correct answer earns 15 seconds for your next round: 1/5 = 15s, 3/5 = 45s, 5/5 = 75s. Wrong answers earn no time. Score 0/5 and you can retry another set; the maze stays frozen. Your game ends only if health reaches zero.
UNLOCK THE SUPPLIES
Solve one conversion. A wrong answer empties this pickup forever. The game pauses. Binary answers use exactly 8 bits with leading zeros; hex answers use two digits WITHOUT the 0x prefix.
SUPPLIES OPENED!
LOCKED TREASURE ROOM
Solve three conversions correctly to open this door. Wrong answers do not unlock a seal: try a new question. Enemies and the clock pause while you solve.
NICE WORK!
CONVERSION ACADEMY
See your progress across all six conversion directions. Questions scale with the wave unless you choose a fixed level.
Wave 1–2: Apprentice · 3–4: Explorer · 5+: Master
| CONVERSION | RIGHT | ACCURACY |
|---|
1,536 possible conversions across the full 8-bit range. Questions avoid repetition during each run.
Optional method hints are available before answering. Open a worked solution after each question to learn the method.
DUNGEON SOUND
Offline synthesised ambience, footsteps and danger warnings. Music becomes faster and more intense when hunters find you.
Audio begins after pressing Start, according to browser autoplay rules.
HIGH SCORES
Online Top 10 shared across players. If the server is unavailable, clearly labelled local scores are displayed instead.
GAME PAUSED
Take a moment. The timer and gnomes are frozen.
GAME OVER
Out of time.
QUESTION LEVEL: ADAPTIVE