Coffee Run is a free daily route puzzle. It is your turn to get coffee for the team. Start at the coffee machine, walk around the furniture and bring a cup to every colleague in the fewest steps. The order you choose decides how long the walk is. Monday is a small office with 4 colleagues. On Friday there are 8 colleagues and the tray holds only 3 cups, so you also have to plan the trips back to the machine.
No sign-up and nothing to install. It runs in your browser on a computer or a phone, and your progress is saved on your device.
- Draw the walk. Drag your finger or the mouse along the floor. You can also tap the next square or use the arrow keys.
- Every step counts. The game shows your steps next to the shortest possible number. You win when the two match.
- Change your mind freely. Tap an earlier square of your walk to go back to it. Undo and restart are free.
- Stuck? The lightbulb lights the way to the next cup, or takes you back to the last square where the walk was still a shortest one.
How to play Coffee Run
- Start at the coffee machine. Drag along the floor, one square at a time, up, down, left or right.
- Step on a colleague’s square to hand over a cup. The badge turns green.
- Watch the step counter. The second number is the shortest walk that serves everyone.
- On Thursday and Friday, watch the cups on the tray. When it is empty, step on the coffee machine to fill it. You win when everyone has coffee in the shortest number of steps.
What is on the floor
| Square | What it does |
|---|---|
| Coffee machine | The walk starts here. On small-tray days, stepping on it fills the tray again. |
| Colleague with a grey cup | Still waiting. Step on the square to hand over a cup. |
| Colleague with a green cup | Already has coffee. You may walk across the square again. |
| Furniture | Desks, cabinets and plants block the way. Walk around them. |
| Gold tray | This is you. On small-tray days the dots under it show the cups that are left. |
| Orange line | Your walk so far. A darker middle line marks a stretch you walked twice. |
Tips for a shorter walk
- The nearest colleague is not always the best start. From Tuesday on, going to the nearest person each time usually costs extra steps.
- Start with the far corner or end there. A colleague who sits far from everyone else belongs at one end of the walk, not in the middle.
- Avoid walking a stretch twice. A dark middle line shows a stretch you used twice. Sometimes it is needed, for example into a dead end, but often a loop is shorter.
- Serve dead ends on the way past. A colleague in a pocket costs steps in and steps out. Go in when you are already next to it.
- With a small tray, group by threes. Split the office into groups of up to three colleagues near each other, with the coffee machine between the groups.
How the week gets harder
| Day | Office | Colleagues | What is new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 5 × 5 | 4 | A short walk of about 12 steps. |
| Tuesday | 6 × 5 | 5 | Going to the nearest colleague each time usually costs extra steps. |
| Wednesday | 6 × 6 | 6 | More furniture and more detours. About 20 steps. |
| Thursday | 6 × 6 | 6 | The tray holds only 3 cups. You have to go back to the coffee machine at least once. |
| Friday | 7 × 7 | 8 | A small tray and at least two trips back to the machine. About 37 steps. |
Saturday plays like a Wednesday and Sunday like a Tuesday.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coffee Run free?
Yes. There is no account, no download and no paywall.
Do I have to find the shortest walk?
Yes. The puzzle is solved when everyone has coffee and your number of steps equals the shortest possible number. A longer walk shows you how many steps you are over, so you can go back and try another order.
Is there only one shortest walk?
Not always. Any walk with the shortest number of steps wins.
How does the game know the shortest number?
Every puzzle was solved by a program that checks every possible walk, so the number shown is the true minimum.
When does the new puzzle appear?
At midnight in your local time.
Can I play earlier puzzles?
Yes. Open the calendar button at the top of the game and pick any day from the past eight weeks.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Drag your finger along the floor to draw the walk, or tap the next square.
More to play on WiseChecker
- Browser Games: every WiseChecker game in one place.
- Clean Desk: remember the desk and find what is gone.
- No Blind Spots: place cameras so that no square is a blind spot.
- Cell Value: find the number behind every letter.
- File Pairs: turn over two cards and find the pairs.