Tank Stars

Tank Stars is a turn-based artillery game with two tanks, one hilly battlefield and a big pile of very silly weapons. Your tank sits on one side, the enemy sits on the other, and you take turns lobbing shells over the terrain. Every shot is a little physics problem: how hard to fire, how steep the barrel should be, and whether the hill in the middle will swallow your missile before it gets there. Land enough direct hits and the enemy's health bar up at the top drains to zero.

Power, Angle and the Aim Circle

The first match starts with a quick lesson. In the lower right corner sits a round aiming control with a crosshair in the center. Drag it, and two numbers next to your tank change: POWER and ANGLE. A dotted line arcs out of your barrel to show the start of the trajectory, but it stops short of the target, so you still have to judge where the shell will land. When you are happy, press the big orange FIRE! button. Then it is the other tank's turn.

The trick that makes good players good is remembering numbers. If 75 power at 37 degrees landed just short last turn, try 78 at the same angle. Small, steady corrections beat wild guesses every time, especially when the target is behind a hill and you can only reach it with a high arc.

Driving and Fuel

You are not stuck in one place. Each turn your tank can drive a little to the left or right, limited by fuel. When it runs out, the game says NO FUEL and you have to shoot from where you are. Moving matters for three reasons: rolling to higher ground gives you a cleaner shot, backing into a dip can hide you from a flat shot, and dropboxes that land on the map can be picked up for a bonus. Do not waste all your fuel on one turn if the enemy is about to start digging a crater under you.

A Ridiculous Arsenal

The weapon list is where Tank Stars gets its personality. Before a shot you can change weapon and choose from a long arsenal, and each one behaves differently:

• Homing shells curve toward the target, forgiving a slightly wrong aim.
• Napalm and Flame attacks leave fire burning on the ground.
• Machine Gun, Vulcano and swarm-style weapons spray lots of small hits.
• Railgun and laser-type shots fire in a straight line that ignores the arc.
• Atomic blasts, the Pumpkin Bomb and Earth Tomb change the terrain itself.
• Support picks like Repair and Shield Barrier buy you time instead of dealing damage.

A DIRECT HIT deals much more than a near miss, and landing several in a row builds a COMBO. Craters matter too: blow away the ground under the enemy and their next shot has to fire out of a hole.

Single Player, Duels and the Campaign

The game has a single player side where you fight the computer at different difficulty levels, a campaign that walks you through new enemies and missions, and a 1 vs 1 duel where two people play on the same computer and take turns at the controls. "Player One" and "Player Two" swap after every shot, so two people can share one keyboard and mouse and trade shots. Winning battles earns coins and chests; open them to unlock new tanks with names like Spectre, Helios, Tiger and Blazer and to upgrade the weapons you already own.

Controls

• Drag the aim circle with the mouse - set power and angle.
• FIRE! - shoot.
• Movement arrows - drive left and right while you have fuel.
• Weapon button - change weapon before shooting.
• Menu in the top-left corner - pause or leave the match.

Tips for Winning Tank Duels

• Save your strongest weapon for when you already know the right power and angle. Testing a nuke on a guessed shot wastes it.
• When the enemy is behind a tall hill, aim higher and lower the power instead of trying to blast through the ground.
• Use the first turn to move onto a slope that faces the enemy. A clear line of fire makes every following turn easier.
• Watch the enemy's shots. If the computer's last shell landed just in front of you, it will correct next turn, so move.
• Shield and repair are best used one turn before you expect a big hit.

For more tank battles on the site, try Tank Trouble for top-down maze duels with a friend, or Awesome Tanks 2 for a real-time arena shooter.