Transformice: Complete Guide

From your first cheese to Divine Mode: movement technique, how the Shaman works, skill trees, the room types worth knowing, titles and cosmetics, and community etiquette.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the most recent Steam announcement (The Great Relic Fishing Expedition, July 2025). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Get the cheese, get to the hole. Every round, grab the cheese and bring it back to the mouse hole within the time limit (under two minutes). Faster is better.
2. Scoring decides the Shaman. The mouse with the highest score becomes the next Shaman. Getting the cheese and entering the hole early raise your score.
3. The Shaman builds for everyone. The Shaman summons planks, boxes, balloons, and more to help mice reach the cheese. Saving mice earns saves and XP.
4. Wall-jumping is essential. Tap jump against a wall and bounce between walls to climb. Most advanced maps require it.
5. Don't rush in a crowd. Many deaths come from being pushed or trampled by other mice.
6. Be patient with new Shamans. Everyone learns by building bad bridges first.
7. Explore other room types. Racing, Bootcamp, Survivor, and module rooms are some of the best parts of the game.
8. All shop items are cosmetic. Nothing you buy gives a gameplay advantage.

Controls

Emotes, commands, and menus are reachable from the interface. Commands are typed in chat, starting with a slash.

Movement Techniques

• Wall-jumping. Jump toward a wall, then jump again as you touch it to bounce up. Alternate between walls to climb chimneys.
• Momentum. Running before a jump extends its distance. Letting go of direction mid-air shortens it.
• Crouching lowers your hitbox and helps under low objects.
• Using physics objects. Planks and boxes can be climbed or pushed; balloons attached to you let you float upward.
• Water and slippery surfaces. Water slows you and some maps use ice-like ground. Adjust your timing.

The Shaman

How you become Shaman

The top scorer of a round usually becomes Shaman for the next one. In some rooms, there are two Shamans (the blue and pink Shamans), each building for the other side.

Summoning

• Select an object from the Shaman bar (planks, boxes, balloons, anvils, cannonballs, spirits, and more).
• Click on the map to summon it. Some objects can be rotated before summoning.
• Nails (colored anchors) fix objects in place or let them rotate. They're the basis of bridges and contraptions.
• Spirit is a blast that pushes mice and objects away. Useful but dangerous.

Shaman modes

Saves in each mode are tracked separately and unlock titles. Divine Mode was added in May 2014.

Totem tips (Hard Mode): build your totem in your tribe house, keep it simple (a pre-nailed bridge or a stair), and remember it only fires once per map, so save it for the part of the map mice can't reach without it.

Skill trees

Leveling up as Shaman gives skill points across five trees:

The five trees were added in July 2013.

Tip: read each skill's tooltip before committing points and pick a tree that fits how you play. Support-style skills help new Shamans save more mice; construction-minded players usually lean on Mechanician.

Being a good Shaman

• Build first, then call mice. A simple bridge that's stable beats an ambitious one that collapses.
• Nail everything important. An unnailed plank will fall.
• Use arrows to show mice where to go.
• Don't troll new players. Being an "evil" Shaman is part of the game's humor, but it's more fun when everyone's in on it.
• Save the room, not just yourself. More saves means more XP and progress.

Room Types

Change rooms with the room list or by typing /room [name] in chat.

Best for learning: Bootcamp for wall-jumping and platforming; Racing for speed; Vanilla to learn Shaman.

Progression

Currencies

• Cheese — earned by playing. Buy cosmetics (fur, hats, items) in the shop.
• Fraises (strawberries) — bought with real money. Buy items faster.

Transformice's business model: every item can be earned through play. Nothing gives a gameplay advantage.

Titles

Titles are unlocked for milestones such as:

• Cheese gathered.
• "Firsts" (being the first mouse into the hole).
• Shaman saves (normal, hard, and divine).
• Bootcamp completions.
• Events and special achievements.

Change your title by typing /title in chat.

Badges

Badges come from events, special purchases, and completing collections. They show up on your profile.

Levels

Your level rises as you earn Shaman XP by saving mice. Higher levels give more skill points.

Events

Transformice runs frequent limited-time events with special maps and exclusive items. Recent examples from the Steam announcements:

• The Great Relic Fishing Expedition (July 2025) — fish relic shards from a lake to unlock artifacts; also added 12 new vanilla maps with galaxy floors.
• 15th anniversary (May 2025) — a week of triple XP and triple cheese, collector items back in the shop, and new galaxy ground.
• Halloween candy event (October 2024) — collect candies in haunted maps for rewards.
• Magic School rebuild (September 2024) — community milestones by collecting building materials, avoiding water.
• Garden Event (July 2024) — grow and trade fruits and vegetables; tomatoes became tradeable.
• AnvilGod battle (June 2024) — collect feathers while dodging lasers.
• Cooking Event (June 2024) — cooperative ingredient-picking maps.

Many events return in later years, often with new twists.

Tribes

• A tribe is a player guild with a shared chat, ranks, and a tribe house (a private room).
• Join a tribe to find people to play with.
• Tribe houses can load custom maps and modules; great for practice with friends.

Map Editor

• Build maps in the in-game editor.
• Submitting a map costs 40 cheese, so test it in your tribe house first.
• Submitted maps go through community voting; popular maps get into rotation categories. The game has around 200 official maps and more than 5 million player-made ones.
• Every map has a code (written as @ followed by numbers). Tribe houses let you load specific map codes, which is how groups practice particular maps.

Etiquette and Safety

• Rooms have their own culture. Racing and Bootcamp players take times seriously; vanilla rooms are more relaxed.
• Don't spam chat. Moderators and room owners can mute you.
• Report, don't argue. If a Shaman keeps trolling or a player is abusive, use the report tools rather than fighting in chat.
• Protect your account. Never share your password; staff will not ask for it. Be wary of "free fraises" offers, which are scams.
• Tribe ranks matter. Tribe leaders decide who can invite, kick, or load maps in the tribe house.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Rushing into the crowd. You'll get pushed off ledges.
• Ignoring wall-jumping. Bootcamp and harder maps become impossible without it.
• Unnailed Shaman builds. Everything falls.
• Spamming Spirit. It blasts mice as well as objects.
• Spending all cheese immediately. Some collector items are expensive; save for the ones you really want.

Advanced Tips

• Practice in Bootcamp. Master wall-jumping, precise jumps, and air control.
• Racing rooms reward memorizing maps and fastest routes.
• Shaman contraptions. Learn to build rotating platforms and elevators with the right nails.
• Hard and Divine modes are the real Shaman challenge. Build confidence in normal mode first.
• Firsts hunting. Competitive players race for firsts in rooms with many players.
• Modules. Try Lua module rooms for completely different games built by the community.

History and Platforms

• Browser origins. Atelier 801 launched Transformice in the browser on May 1, 2010.
• Steam. The Steam version followed on January 30, 2015, and it's free to play there.
• Scale. The store page cites seven official game modes and "55 million" players who've tried it; rooms are busiest during events.

FAQ

Is Transformice free? Yes, it's free to play on Steam. The shop sells cosmetics only.

Is Transformice still active? Yes. It celebrated its 15th anniversary in May 2025 and ran the Relic Fishing event in July 2025. That was the last Steam announcement as of September 2026, so check in-game news for current events.

How do I unlock Divine Mode? Reach 5,000 total Shaman saves, at least 2,000 of them in Hard Mode.

How do I become Shaman? Score highest in a round: get the cheese quickly and reach the hole early.

How do I unlock Hard Mode? Reach 1,000 saves as Shaman.

What are fraises? Strawberries, the premium currency bought with real money. Every item can also be earned with cheese.

How do I change rooms? Use the room list or type /room [name] in chat.

Sources

• Transformice on Steam
• Wikipedia: Transformice
• The Great Relic Fishing Expedition (July 2025)
• Transformice Turns 15 (May 2025)