Free arcade game

Mont-Royal Squirrel

You’re a squirrel on Mont-Royal, collecting acorns and pretzel crumbs across the lookout, Beaver Lake and the Tam-Tam zone. Dodge off-leash dogs, frisbees, longboards, and the inevitable SPVM officer who’ll ticket you for “unauthorized loitering on city greenspace.”

HTML5No downloadMobile + desktopFree to play

About the game

Mont-Royal Squirrel is an original top-down arcade game set on Mont-Royal, Montreal’s iconic central park. You play a city squirrel — twitchy, focused, deeply opportunistic — collecting acorns scattered across three zones: the Belvedere Kondiaronk lookout, Beaver Lake (Lac aux Castors), and the Sunday Tam-Tam drum-circle area at the foot of the Sir George-Étienne Cartier monument.

Acorns are everywhere, but so are off-leash dogs, careless picnickers, longboarders and the occasional SPVM officer slow-walking the path. Every threat has a different movement pattern. Memorize the loops, time your dashes, and rack up the highest acorn count before the sun sets behind Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport in the distance.

How to play

  • Move: Arrow keys, WASD, or tap-and-drag on mobile.
  • Collect acorns: Just walk over them. Bigger acorns = bigger points.
  • Dodge dogs: Off-leash dogs zigzag. Wait for them to commit to a direction.
  • Avoid the tam-tams zone at peak hour: Sunday 4pm = chaos. The drum circle expands and contracts unpredictably.
  • Survive 90 seconds: Stay alive for the full timer to bank your score.

Mont-Royal park: the actual map

Mont-Royal is the 200-meter hill that gives Montreal its name. The park itself was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (the Central Park guy) in 1876, and the game uses a stylized version of his loop paths. Three zones in the game match three real spots:

  • Belvedere Kondiaronk — the stone-railed lookout above the Chalet du Mont-Royal with the famous downtown skyline view. In the game, this is the highest-scoring acorn zone with the fewest hazards.
  • Lac aux Castors — Beaver Lake, the artificial lake near the top of the mountain. In the game, the lake itself is impassable but the surrounding picnic lawn is acorn-heavy.
  • Tam-Tam zone — the eastern slope where free Sunday drum circles run from May to October. In the game, this is the chaotic high-risk-high-reward zone with frisbees and longboarders.

Survival tips

Hug the path edges

Dogs and joggers stay on the main loop. Walking the grass shoulders keeps you out of their lane and acorns spawn more there.

Dash through tam-tams

The drum circle has a 4-second contract phase. Wait for it, then sprint across the centre to grab the rare golden acorn.

Don’t chase low-value acorns

Small acorns are worth 1pt. Big ones are 5. Always go for the bigger one even if it’s deeper into a dog zone.

Use trees as cover

Every tree breaks line-of-sight for dogs. Hide behind one for a 3-second cooldown if you’ve drawn aggro.

The real Mont-Royal park experience

If you want to recreate the game IRL, walk up Mont-Royal on a Sunday afternoon between May and September. Start at the Sir George-Étienne Cartier monument on Avenue du Parc. The Tam-Tams are usually going by 2pm. Climb the steep path up to the chalet — it’s the same elevation gain as 30 floors. The lookout view is the postcard view of Montreal: downtown towers, the river, the bridges, the Mont-Saint-Hilaire on the horizon on clear days. Real squirrels will absolutely attempt to mug you for your picnic.

Want more Montreal-themed games?

Mont-Royal Squirrel is one of eight free games in the Montreal Tips arcade.

Play Cone Dodger

Mont-Royal Squirrel FAQ

Is Mont-Royal Squirrel free?

Yes. Free, no signup, no ads.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. Tap-and-drag controls work on touch screens. Use the Fullscreen button for the best mobile experience.

Are there real squirrels on Mont-Royal?

Yes — eastern grey squirrels and red squirrels both, plus the famously fat groundhogs that lounge near the lookout. The park is also home to coyotes (rare and harmless), foxes and the occasional skunk.

Are tam-tams real?

Yes. Every Sunday from late May to early October, hundreds of drummers and dancers gather on the eastern slope of Mont-Royal for an unorganized but consistent drum circle. It is one of Montreal’s most beloved summer rituals.

Why does the SPVM ticket a squirrel?

Because the running joke across the Montreal Tips arcade is that the SPVM tickets anything that moves. A squirrel hoarding acorns is technically operating an unlicensed storage facility on city land. $148.

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