Tank Battle

Tank Battle is a top-down tank game where your tracks and your turret work separately. Clear 24 levels of enemy armor in a maze of brick and steel. Play the tank game free in your browser with no download or sign-up, on a laptop with a keyboard and mouse or on your phone with two on-screen sticks.

How to play

Each level is a walled arena. Enemy tanks roll in from three spawn points along the top edge, a few at a time, and you start at the bottom center. Destroy every tank in the level to clear it.

• Drive and aim separately. WASD or the arrow keys move your tank in eight directions. The turret follows your mouse, so you can back away from a threat while you keep firing at it. With no mouse, Q and E rotate it.
• Fire. Click, Space or F fires a shell. You can have up to three shells in flight at once.
• Ricochets. A shell bounces once off steel or the arena edge, then bursts on the next wall it hits. Your own ricochet can hit you, so think before firing straight into a nearby wall.
• Walls. Brick walls crack on the first hit and break on the second. Steel can’t be destroyed. Water stops tanks but shells fly over it.
• Lives. You start with three lives. After a hit you respawn at your base with a couple of seconds of protection. Lose the last life and the run is over.

Enemy tanks

• Basic (red): steady speed, one hit to destroy. 100 points.
• Fast (yellow): nearly twice as quick, with faster shells. 200 points.
• Armored (gray): slow, but takes three hits. 300 points.
• Rapid-fire (purple): twin barrels that fire a three-shell burst. Takes two hits. 250 points.
• Mine-layer (teal): drops mines behind it as it patrols. A mine blows up when you drive over it and breaks nearby bricks. Shoot it from a distance to clear it. 250 points.

New types join as you progress: fast tanks from level 2, armored from level 3, rapid-fire from level 4 and mine-layers from level 5. Later levels send more tanks at once.

Pickups

Wrecked tanks sometimes leave a pickup. Drive over it before it blinks out:

• Shield (blue): eight seconds of protection from shells and mines.
• Double shot (yellow): twelve seconds of two parallel shells per trigger pull.
• Repair (green): one extra life, up to five.

Levels, scores and progress

Clearing a level adds a 500-point bonus and unlocks the next one. Your score carries on from level to level until you run out of lives. Level select replays any unlocked level, and your best scores and progress are saved in your browser.

2-player versus

Versus mode puts two tanks in a mirrored arena on one keyboard. Player 1 drives with WASD, turns the turret with Q and E and fires with Space. Player 2 drives with the arrow keys, turns the turret with comma and period and fires with Enter. Each tank has three armor per round, pickups appear around the arena, and the first player to win three rounds takes the match.

Controls on a phone or tablet

On a touch screen two sticks appear under the arena. The left stick drives. The right stick aims the turret, and pushing it out past the halfway point keeps firing. You can also tap the field to shoot at that spot. Versus needs a shared keyboard. P or Esc pauses, and the game pauses itself if you switch tabs.

Tips

• Keep moving. Enemy tanks aim where you are, not where you are going. Strafing sideways while your turret stays on target dodges most shots.
• Use the bounce. A shell off a steel wall can reach a tank hiding behind a corner. Line up the angle and let the wall do the work.
• Deal with armored tanks early. They need three hits, so start firing as soon as one rolls in.

FAQ

Is Tank Battle free to play?

Yes. It’s free with no account and no install.

How many levels are there?

24, each with a fixed layout of brick, steel and water, so you can learn it and come back to beat your best score.

Can two people play on one computer?

Yes. Choose 2-player versus from the menu. Both players share one keyboard: WASD, Q/E and Space for player 1, the arrow keys, comma/period and Enter for player 2.

Why did my own shell hit me?

Shells ricochet once off steel and the arena edge. After a bounce a shell can hit any tank, including yours. Give yourself some distance from the wall before you fire into it.

Looking for more? Try defending a path in Tower Defense or clearing space rocks in Asteroids, and see our list of the best browser tank games.