Every registered TraceBlazer player has a Multiplayer rating that starts at 1200. It moves up or down based on your results in Battle, Co-op, and Timebreaker Multi matches — the only part of TraceBlazer where you're rated against another specific player, rather than the clock or a fixed scoring rubric. Classic, Timebreaker, and Hack Mode instead run on their own points- and time-based leaderboards, kept separate from this rating on purpose (more on that below).
Why a rating instead of just raw score
A leaderboard sorted by raw score or fastest time rewards volume — the person who's played the most puzzles tends to sit at the top regardless of how close their matches actually were. A rating system instead asks a different question: how good are you relative to the people you're actually competing against? Beating a higher-rated opponent moves your number up more than beating a lower-rated one, which is what keeps the system meaningful even as the player base grows.
The seven rank tiers
Behind the scenes, that numeric rating maps to one of seven named tiers, from Novice up to Grandmaster:
| Tier | Rating range |
|---|---|
| Grandmaster | 2600+ |
| Master | 2200–2599 |
| Expert | 1800–2199 |
| Advanced | 1400–1799 |
| Intermediate | 1000–1399 |
| Beginner | 600–999 |
| Novice | 0–599 |
Everyone starts in the middle of Intermediate at 1200. Climbing to Advanced (1400+) or Expert (1800+) means consistently winning against players near your own level; reaching Master (2200+) or Grandmaster (2600+) puts you against the best regularly-active players on the site.
Why rating and points don't mix
Classic, Timebreaker, and Hack Mode aren't head-to-head — you're playing against a puzzle or a maze, not another person in real time — so they're ranked by points and solve time instead of an ELO-style rating. Mixing the two systems would be misleading: a player who's solved thousands of Classic puzzles would dominate a "rating" that's really measuring something closer to head-to-head win rate. Keeping Multiplayer's rating separate means it stays an honest measure of how you do against real opponents specifically.
On top of that, every leaderboard — rated or points-based — is also split into a Weekly view that resets on a schedule and an All-Time view that never does, plus separate boards per game type (One-Stroke Puzzle vs. Maze Kingdom) and per mode. The weekly reset gives newer or returning players something realistic to compete for, rather than trying to catch an all-time board built up over months.
If you're just starting out, the fastest way to see your rating move is Multiplayer's Quick Match — it pairs you against opponents in real time, so every result has a direct effect on where you sit in the tiers above.
Ready to put a number on your skill? Check the Leaderboard to see where you currently stand, or jump into Multiplayer to start climbing.