You control checkman moving around the maze defusing the bombs before they explode. Collect the flags for bonus points and avoid the deadly skulls. All the while you are chased by the boots which will kill you if they come into contact with you.

Each bomb to be defused is indicated by a timer which ticks down to zero. You score more points the quicker you defuse the bombs. If the timer reaches zero, the bomb explodes and you lose a life. The total gameplay time is indicated below your score.

As you walk across the squares of the maze they are removed and you may not move across the blank areas left behind. You can also slide the floor of the maze left or right if there is a free square beside you, scrolling new squares onto the screen. You may move bombs, flags and skulls towards you but you can not move them off the edge of the screen. You are allowed to move off the edge of the screen and you appear on the opposite side.

When you collect enough bombs the level is completed and you move on to the next screen. On each screen there are more boots and they move progressively faster and the bomb timers tick down more rapidly. Also, more than one bomb can be ticking down at a time on later levels.

An extra life is awarded every 100,000 points.

Collect all of the flags on the early levels as there is no great threat from the boots.

Scroll bombs to the opposite edge of the screen so you can easily collect them and move back to your starting side.

At the start of each level you get a few seconds where the boots can not move. Make use of this time to get to the first bomb.

If two bombs are ticking down, get the closest one first unless the other is much closer to exploding.

Move the floor away from boots to trap them.

If you trap a boot on a single square, you can move the square away from underneath it, trapping it on empty space.