Turtle Game

Turtle Game is a sea turtle adventure in two halves. First you help a nest of hatchlings scramble down a dark beach to the sea, switching off the beachfront lights that pull them the wrong way and chasing off the crabs and gulls that hunt them. Then you swim through five ocean zones, eating jellyfish and seagrass while dodging plastic bags and boats. You can play it online free in your browser with no download, using a mouse, a keyboard or a phone’s touch screen.

How to play

There are 10 stages: five night beaches followed by five ocean zones. Each stage awards up to 3 stars, and clearing one unlocks the next.

Beach stages

• Follow the moonlight: hatchlings leave the nest one at a time and crawl toward the brightest horizon. With the beach dark, that is the moonlight on the water, so they head straight for the sea.
• Switch off the lights: every beachfront light starts switched on, and a lit light pulls the hatchlings inland. Tap a light to turn it off. If a hatchling crawls all the way up to the houses, it is lost. From the third beach onward, lights switch back on after a few seconds, and a small ring around each dark light shows when it will come back on.
• Shoo the predators: ghost crabs scuttle in from the sides and chase the nearest hatchling. Tap a crab to send it running. Gulls circle over one hatchling with a shrinking red ring, then dive. Tap the gull before the ring closes.
• Fill the holes: sandcastle holes trap any hatchling that crawls in. Tap a hole to fill it in, which also frees a trapped hatchling.

Each beach tells you how many hatchlings you need to save. Reaching that number earns 1 star, saving 80 percent earns 2, and getting every hatchling to the sea earns all 3.

Ocean stages

• Grow up: swim with the arrow keys or WASD, or hold and drag on the water. Eat pink jellyfish for 2 points and seagrass on the seabed for 1 point. Fill the green growth bar before the time limit to clear the zone, and your turtle gets bigger as you go.
• Avoid plastic: drifting plastic bags look a lot like jellyfish. Touching one costs a heart, and losing all 3 hearts ends the stage.
• Breathe: the blue bar is your air. It drains while you are underwater and refills when you swim up into the bright band at the surface.
• Watch for boats: boats cross at the surface from the right. Getting hit costs a heart, so wait below until one passes before coming up for air.

Clearing an ocean zone earns 1 star, finishing with no more than one hit earns another, and beating the par time earns the third.

Tips

• Lights first. At the start of a beach, switch off every light before the first hatchlings get going.
• Watch the relight rings. On later beaches, keep an eye on the ring around each dark light and be ready to tap it again the moment it comes back on.
• Gulls before crabs. A gull dives in under three seconds, while a crab has to walk over first. Deal with the red rings first.
• Look twice before you bite. Jellyfish are pink with trailing tentacles. Plastic bags are white and see-through with handles on top.

Sea turtle facts behind the game

The beach stages are based on real sea turtle behavior. Hatchlings usually leave the nest at night and find the sea by crawling toward the brightest, lowest horizon, which on a natural beach is the open sky over the water. Artificial lights from buildings and roads can disorient them and draw them away from the sea, which is why many nesting beaches have lights-out rules during hatching season. Ghost crabs and seabirds are among the predators that catch hatchlings on the sand.

In the ocean, sea turtles breathe air and must come to the surface to breathe. Leatherbacks feed mostly on jellyfish, and adult green turtles graze on seagrass. Floating plastic bags can be mistaken for jellyfish and swallowed, which harms turtles, and collisions with boats are another known threat.

FAQ

Is Turtle Game free?

Yes. It is free with no account and nothing to install.

Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?

Yes. On a phone or tablet, tap the beach to switch off lights and shoo predators, and drag on the water to swim. The game area won’t scroll the page while you play. On a Chromebook or laptop, use the mouse or the keyboard in any modern browser.

Is my progress saved?

Yes. Unlocked stages, stars and best times are saved in your browser on that device. Press P or Esc to pause at any time.

Enjoy ocean games? Try the Dolphin Game for more swimming, or Frogger for another classic dash across danger to safety.