Exactly! Going partway up a ladder to get the monks to change direction is a key mechanic that breaks if they’re too smart.

I helped work on that game. One of the devs on it was one of the authors of the original Lode Runner. The logic for how the monks chase you was lifted directly from the original code - nothing else was as fun. We tried making the monks smarter and it was just too difficult.

🎯

Incompetent management

First thought: Is your PiHole's static IP within the range of addresses your DHCP server hands out?