Crater Volley.

How to play Crater Volley

1. Choose Battle on the campaign screen, or select another unlocked position from the map.
2. Hold the left or right driving control to move. Watch the fuel bar and the slope under your tank.
3. Drag the aim stick upward and toward your opponent. Its direction chooses the angle and its distance chooses the power. Fine aim exposes exact angle and power sliders.
4. Select the weapon tile to see your available ammunition, then choose a useful shot for the terrain.
5. Press FIRE or Space. Wait for every projectile, explosion and tank movement to finish before the next turn.
6. Complete the battle, collect its reward, and visit the hangar to purchase tanks or spend earned upgrade cards.

Make your move

About Crater Volley

Crater Volley is a free artillery game about making a careful shot on an increasingly uneven battlefield. Two tanks begin on opposite sides of a wide stretch of hills. You can move before firing, but each turn has a limited fuel supply. An aim stick controls the firing direction and strength. The short dotted guide shows the beginning of the shot rather than its entire destination, so judging the rest of the arc is part of play. A successful hit removes health from the opposing tank, and a careless close-range blast can damage your own machine too.

The ground is part of the simulation. An explosion removes a bowl of earth, and the tank settles onto the surface left behind. A series of shots can cut a deep crater, flatten a useful ridge, or leave a vehicle tilted on the side of a hollow. Tank wheels and hull follow the slope while the cannon aims separately. A shot begins at the end of the barrel and travels continuously until it reaches a tank, the ground or the edge of the battlefield. The camera follows the active projectile, then returns to the next firing position. Edge markers help locate a tank when the camera has moved away from it.

Each weapon offers a different way to approach a position. Comet is the reliable unlimited shell. Needlefall slows its horizontal movement at the apex and dives downward. Prism Split creates three separate projectiles, and Skyline calls a line of falling charges at its landing point. Scattershot launches a spreading group of pellets, while Triple Salvo sends three nearby trajectories in succession. Other tank kits and supply crates provide guided Firefly rockets, freezing Cold Front blasts, burning Emberfield rounds and the large Nova warhead. Special ammunition is limited, so it is worth checking what remains before planning the next turn.

Parachute crates arrive during longer battles. Drive close enough to collect one and its weapon is added to the active tank’s ammunition. Movement is useful for more than collecting supplies: it can bring an opponent within reach of a shorter-range weapon or move you away from burning ground. Fuel refills when your next turn begins. Once a shot is fired, the turn waits for all of its projectiles, explosions and moving tanks to resolve. The computer opponent uses the same terrain, projectile and damage rules, including self-damage. Its choices do not directly subtract health without a physical attack.

The campaign contains sixty battle positions across four illustrated landscape palettes. Winning a battle unlocks the next position and records your best campaign progress. A completed campaign battle awards coins and cards, with a larger reward for victory. Coins purchase additional tanks in the hangar. Health cards and coins improve a tank’s maximum health, while weapon cards and coins improve that weapon’s damage. Upgrade ranks are limited, purchases check both resources, and a recorded result cannot award the same reward twice after a reload. Replaying a cleared position is also available from the current campaign page.

Ten original machines form the hangar. Sunburst is the balanced starter; Rime is low and long, Cinder carries rear exhausts, and Morrow has a rounded command turret. Bulwark uses a broad plated hull, Wisp a compact four-wheel track, Spindle tall launch tubes, Gull a long rocket rack, Briar twin canisters, and Bastion a heavy raised command box. Their profiles differ in hull size, turret shape, wheel count and barrel length. Weapon kits also differ, making a purchase a change in available choices as well as appearance. Campaign progression, coins, cards, tank ownership, upgrades, sound and effects preferences are saved on the current device when browser storage is available. An unfinished battle stays in the current visit and is not restored after reloading. After five completed battles, VS friend opens local pass-and-play matches. A handoff screen names the next player and waits for confirmation before their turn starts. This mode is local and does not connect to online opponents.

A little help for your next high score

• Use the first short guide dots to check that a shot clears the nearby ridge. A high distant arc still fails if the muzzle points into the hill beside you.
• Save a powerful area weapon for a position where its blast will reach the opponent. Nova can also damage the tank that fired it.
• Needlefall drops early after its apex. A normal shell’s successful angle is not automatically the best setting for this weapon.
• Drive away from burning ground when possible, and use the next turn’s fresh fuel to reach a useful supply crate.
• Several small projectiles can spread damage over a wide area. Against a narrow firing position, a focused Comet shot may be more reliable.
• Check both cards and coins in the hangar. The button becomes available only when you have enough of each resource.

Good questions