What is Square Meal?
Square Meal is a dungeon arcade game developed by Nitrome. You guide an insatiable square creature through subterranean corridors, swallowing stone blocks and launching them across walkways to stun wandering enemies before eating them. Instead of merely avoiding threats across maze rooms, your creature turns solid obstacles into offensive weapons to clear chambers of meat and beasts. The game runs directly in modern desktop web browsers for free with nothing to download or install.
Key features
- Block consumption: Swallow solid obstacle squares directly from dungeon hallways to clear pathways.
- Stun spit: Propel ingested blocks forward in straight trajectories to knock enemy creatures unconscious.
- Devouring foes: Advance toward stunned beasts to consume them before they recover their footing.
- Chamber cleanup: Gobble up every piece of meat across the stone floor to complete each room.
- Cooperative play: Team up on a single keyboard using the built-in two player mode.
How to play
- Navigate your square monster along stone corridors toward an adjacent block.
- Swallow the block directly in front of you to store ammunition and open the walkway.
- Align your monster facing an approaching beast along a clear straight lane.
- Spit the block out so it slides forward and knocks the enemy dizzy.
- Rush over to the incapacitated creature immediately and swallow it whole.
- Eat every piece of meat remaining in the room to finish the stage.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| Move first player | Arrow keys |
| Eat blocks (first player) | Space |
| Move second player | WASD |
| Eat blocks (second player) | Ctrl |
Block swallowing and combat
Dungeon survival relies on smart positioning and block handling. Your creature can ingest an adjacent stone block to open blocked corridors, instantly transforming environmental barriers into sliding projectiles. Spitting a held block sends it hurtling across the corridor until it strikes a wall or hits an approaching enemy. Striking a monster knocks it unconscious, but the stun wears off quickly. You must rush in and consume the helpless adversary before it resumes pursuit. Eliminating all enemies and finishing every piece of meat unlocks the next stage.
Tips and strategy
- Clear corner lanes: Ingest blocks near narrow intersections early so patrolling enemies cannot trap you against dead ends.
- Wait for straight lines: Spat blocks travel along straight paths, so let beasts turn into your corridor before firing.
- Close distance rapidly: Knocked-down enemies wake up quickly, requiring immediate follow-up to devour them safely.
- Retain defensive ammunition: Holding a swallowed block while exploring protects you if a creature rounds a corner unexpectedly.
- Separate cooperative lanes: In two player mode, assign separate hallways so teammates avoid colliding or blocking each other.
Game modes
Single player
Guide your hungry monster alone through increasingly challenging dungeon chambers, managing block consumption and timing attacks to clear every room safely.
Two player mode
Two participants share the keyboard to tackle dungeon floors cooperatively, coordinating block launches and monster devouring side by side.
Similar games
If you enjoy arcade maze action and tactical block mechanics, check out these related titles:
- Bad Ice-Cream: Break and build icy obstacles across maze layouts while dodging enemies.
- Bad Ice Cream 2: Continue the frozen arcade puzzle experience with additional fruit and creature varieties.
- Toxic: Drop explosive charges to blast obstructions and navigate hostile chambers in a retro platformer.
Nitrome also produced other memorable arcade releases from this era, including Swindler 2, Cave Chaos 2, and Twin Shot 2.
Developer and history
Square Meal was developed by Nitrome as a classic Flash arcade title. The adventure was subsequently adapted for modern web browsers through HTML5 emulation by AwayFL in 2022. It continues to deliver accessible cooperative dungeon action playable directly in desktop browsers.
