Whack-a-Mole is the fairground game made for the browser: cheeky moles pop out of their burrows in a sunny garden patch and you bop them with a big pink mallet before they duck back down. It is the first arcade game many children play, because there is nothing to learn (see mole, bop mole) and it works from about three. It practises reaction time and hand-eye coordination. A mole you miss laughs as it ducks away; a mole you bop goes dizzy. Golden moles with crowns are worth three points, and the grumpy bombs cost just one point if you bop them. Each round is thirty seconds. Get a star in a round and you clear the stage: everyone cheers, you win a new mallet colour, from sky blue to rainbow, and the next round starts somewhere new: the beach, the outback, the rainforest and a moonlit night garden. The first stages stay slow and gentle; later ones get a little quicker. On a first game the clock waits until you have bopped your first mole. Scores are kept on your own device. It is at its best on a touch screen, and works with a mouse or the number keys too.