The catch is that the player can only map out the graph by exploring the Pipes, while worrying about the Wumpus, Bottomless Pits, Bats, and other players. While you can shoot the Wumpus, the fundamental goal is to traverse the Raeli Oven HSL Color Space from White to Black without being eaten by the Wumpus or falling in a Bottomless Pit. The trick is to lure the Wumpus around behind you, so that he can no longer block your progress toward the black end of the Raeli Oven Color Space. Allowing the Bat to move you to a random location might help, or it might not.
As you explore the graph the Nodes and Pipes become visible, and are displayed using the appropriate colors from the Raeli Oven HSL Color Space. The designer can control how many retries you are allowed before the graph visibility is reset, and the probability of selecting a different location set for the Wumpus, the Bottomless Pit, and the Bats, including a purely random location set, but the node connectivity is fixed, as initially determined by the designer.
Your current location is displayed on a Named Color Swatch, akin to what you see for a Raeli Oven, and your movements can be controlled with either hotkeys (JK is Hue, UI is Saturation, OL is Luminance) similar to a Gem Table, or with the widgets that are used for the Thoth's Puzzle or the placement of objects in an Initiation Sculpture. It should also be possible to select a node simply by clicking on it, as we do with Reflections.
Just to make it more interesting, the designer can define algorithmic rules that the Wumpus uses to hunt YOU. If you just sit there and wait, you will be lunch for the Wumpus. Conversely, the designer can use similar rules to keep the Wumpus between you and the Black end of the HSL space thereby blocking your progress, or can try to steer you toward the location of the Bottomless Pits or the Bats.
Hunt the Wumpus is classically played in a 20 vertex duodecahedron, and includes a variety of features such as a bottomless pit, bats, five arrows that can shoot around corners, and the Wumpus. The basic idea is to shoot the Wumpus without shooting yourself, before you fall into the bottomless pit. If you happen to enter a room where the bat is hiding, you are likely to be transported to a random room. When you shoot at the Wumpus he will probably change locations.
A limited number of clues are traditionally available, including: