Feeding Friendsy
(Published on 26. August 2026, 01:30 by marty_sears)
Rat Run may be finished, but I have good news if you enjoyed the series. Last year, a group of my setting friends in the community spent months (unbeknownst to me) making me the best birthday surprise ever… a whole pack of colourful, themed, path-finding puzzles inspired by Rat Run.
I solved them all on my stream during the weeks following my birthday, and they were all excellent! Some were fairly approachable, but some were very challenging indeed! But all brilliant, quirky, and so much fun. We held back from releasing at the time, while Rat Run was still ongoing, deciding it would be nicer to save them for after the series had all finished. Now is that time.
Each Wednesday, for the next 9 weeks, a new episode will be released, by the setter who created it, focusing on one particular character.
I wanted to make a little introduction to the series, offering a sneak peek of the different characters and settings that are coming up. Here it is! Thanks so much again to all the wonderful people who worked for so long on this amazing project without me knowing anything about it.
For me, the main overarching theme of Rat Run was friendship, and so this series couldn't be more perfect as a tribute! :)
Normal sudoku rules apply.
Nine unlikely friends must each find a path through their box, to reach something that will give them an energy boost.
FEEDING MISSIONS:
- BOX 1: The frog must reach the fly resting on a waterlily.
- BOX 2: The mad scientist must reach his lettuce.
- BOX 3: The digital snake must reach the cake.
- BOX 4: The robot must reach the battery.
- BOX 5: The dolphin must reach the fish.
- BOX 6: The flamingo must reach the pancakes.
- BOX 7: The cat must reach the milk.
- BOX 8: The zebra must reach the broccoli.
- BOX 9: The hippo must reach the doughnut.
MOVEMENT: Characters each stay in their own box, but do not necessarily need to visit all 9 cells. They may not pass through any thick walls, visit any cell more than once, or cross their own paths. As well as moving orthogonally, they may also move diagonally if there is a 2x2 space in which to do so, but may never pass through the end of a wall on the corner of a cell.
MATCHING PATHS: Every character visits exactly the same sequence of digits, in the same order.
ONE WAY DOORS: A purple arrow points towards the smaller of the two digits it sits between, and may only be passed through in the direction it's pointing.
EXTRA ITEMS: If two digits are separated by a test tube (in box 2), a metal gear (in box 4), a black sea urchin (in box 5), or a cookie (in box 7), then one digit is double the other. Extra items may or may not be visited.
Solution code: The sequence of digits visited by each character, in the order visited
Comments
yesterday, 23:53 by amatorelle
54:38. Very much underestimated this one, took a great deal of meticulousness to solve.
on 11. October 2026, 12:47 by mariuszdl
Don't now why this has only two stars. For me it's at least 3 stars diffculty, maybe even 4. But still very good RatRun style puzzle :)
on 26. September 2026, 22:41 by ninjamunk
Nothing but perfect. A suduko artist
on 18. September 2026, 09:06 by Robin888
Everytime I solve one of "these" puzzles, I wonder if everyone else had the same strategy.
Some clues are definatly designed to be discovered in a certain manner. But sometimes I'm "afraid" that I took a more convoluted route than planned.
Anyway, always a treat to solve a puzzle that makes you say "What?!" when you first see it. :-)
Thanks and late happy birthday to Marty!
on 15. September 2026, 12:13 by samwdc
The mad scientist and lettuce really cracked me up, great puzzle :)
on 11. September 2026, 15:21 by wuc
Great start. Got a bit color messy in the end. The construction is impressive thx.
on 3. September 2026, 00:29 by Sushila
Very fun coloring puzzle!
on 2. September 2026, 18:13 by Snookerfan
Very nice! Solve time makes it a 3 star puzzle for me. A new series is born, very exciting! Thanks
on 2. September 2026, 08:11 by goldpuffle
Great puzzle, looking forward to the series!
on 31. August 2026, 23:55 by The Pi Guy
Rarely has the description, ‘A total joy’ been more applicable. That was absolutely brilliant and the rest of the series looks mouth-wateringly good. I’m a big fan of wordplay so I love all the titles and obviously can’t wait to solve the actual puzzles. A fantastic and richly deserved present.
All the best, The Pi Guy. ❤️
on 29. August 2026, 12:04 by s1mn
So much fun!! Great puzzle, thanks.
on 29. August 2026, 10:11 by rhyrhy
51 minutes, fantastic puzzle!
on 29. August 2026, 03:51 by psams
What a pleasant collaboration! Looking forward to following along.
on 28. August 2026, 10:21 by Klausku
Lovely!
on 28. August 2026, 00:17 by sujoyku
Thank you for this lovely introduction, Marty! Already thrilled to post mine. :)
on 27. August 2026, 23:44 by yuripuppies
Very excited for the new series! This puzzle was really fun and finicky, once I finally got the hang of it
on 27. August 2026, 16:05 by QuiltyAsCharged
Very fun! If only it was always this easy to get scientists to the lettuce...
on 27. August 2026, 03:28 by KelleyCook
Awesome puzzle and now I have something to do Tuesday nights again.
on 27. August 2026, 03:22 by harwiltz
This was unbelievable, even considering the high bar I set for marty_sears puzzles. Truly felt like 3 puzzles in one, each of which was very elegant.
on 26. August 2026, 14:54 by bboom
That was great fun, love the little story elements on top of the logic puzzle. Looking forward to see what the other setters have come up with!
on 26. August 2026, 14:02 by eladv
Whow, that was totally new! So cool! Lots of emergent logic from such a seemingly-simple puzzle. Thank you Marty!!!
on 26. August 2026, 13:05 by Franjo
Thank you so much for creating and sharing this pilot puzzle. A great appetizer!
on 26. August 2026, 10:17 by mscha
Beautiful! Both the visuals and the execution. difficulty is a high two stars for me.
I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the series.
on 26. August 2026, 07:30 by amirs
Nine puzzles for the price of one, fun!
on 26. August 2026, 06:42 by Scojo
Beep Boop
on 26. August 2026, 04:55 by emoney1374
I like to think that all these characters are working together to make their paths. Great puzzle!! Looking forward to the rest of the series!
on 26. August 2026, 04:27 by dr.Bunsen
Very nice and well balanced prologue. I had a lot of fun solving it.
I can't wait to follow the frog's adventures or find out what went wrong with the lettuce experiment that caused the scientist to go mad.
on 26. August 2026, 03:56 by bugcat
A perfect puzzle!
on 26. August 2026, 02:59 by Thanos13
Marty has finally added Marty into his puzzles as the mad scientist! I cant describe with words how excited I am for this new series! :)
on 26. August 2026, 02:55 by ViKingPrime
You wont realize it yet but this puzzle couldn't have been a more perfect introduction.
on 26. August 2026, 02:36 by blackjackfitz
Huzzah!
on 26. August 2026, 02:00 by Atticus837
I agree with ThePedaillingPianist: Hype!!!
What a cool thing to have done for your birthday! I love this community so much.
And what a great taster of the puzzles to come!
on 26. August 2026, 01:45 by ThePedallingPianist
Hype!!!
