Recoil
About Recoil
Recoil is a zero-gravity puzzle in which your gun is also your only engine. A small ship floats in the middle of a frictionless box with five stars scattered around it and a limited magazine: fourteen rounds on Easy, twelve on Normal, ten on Hard. Every shot fires the way you aim and kicks the ship the opposite way by exactly one unit of speed, and nothing slows you down again except another shot. Fire once to start drifting, fire along your own motion to brake, fire sideways to bend your path. The outer walls and the purple interior bars bounce you back perfectly, with no speed lost, so a rebound is a free change of direction rather than a crash. A dotted ghost line previews the next three-quarters of a second of flight for whatever direction you are aiming, which turns each shot into a small calculation instead of a guess. Collect a star after a bounce and it counts as a bank shot worth bonus points. Run dry and you get eight seconds of drift to finish; stop dead with no rounds left and the run ends on the spot. Winning pays for every unused round and for speed, so the best runs are short, planned and economical.
How to play
- Aim the ship’s gun by pointing with the mouse, touching and dragging on the arena, or with the keys: ←/→ turn 22.5° (hold Shift for 90°), ↑/↓ point straight up or down.
- Fire by releasing the click or tap, or with Space / Enter. Each shot pushes the ship exactly one unit of speed in the opposite direction to your aim — shooting is the only way to move.
- There is no friction: you keep drifting until another shot changes your velocity. The outer walls and the purple bars bounce you back with no speed lost. Fly through all five stars to win.
- Rounds are limited — 14 on Easy, 12 on Normal, 10 on Hard. With the magazine empty you get 8 seconds of drift to reach the remaining stars, and the run ends at once if your last shot leaves you motionless.
Strategy & tips
- Trust the dotted ghost line: it traces the next 45 ticks (about three-quarters of a second) of flight for the direction you are aiming, bounces included.
- To brake, fire in the direction you are already moving — two shots in exactly opposite directions cancel out completely. A slow ship is far easier to steer than a fast one.
- Let the walls do the turning. A bounce costs nothing, and any star you collect after a bounce since your last shot is a bank shot worth an extra 50 points.
- Spend rounds sparingly: every unused round pays 150 on a win, more than a star, while the time bonus (up to 600) drops 10 points per second. Try to finish at or under the par shown above the arena.
FAQ
How is Recoil scored?
Each star is worth 100, plus 50 more if it was a bank shot. Collecting all five adds a 500 win bonus, 150 for every unused round, and a time bonus of up to 600 that shrinks by 10 points per second after your first shot. A failed run keeps its star and bank points.
Why did my run end while I was still moving?
Once you are out of rounds you only have 8 seconds of drift to collect the remaining stars. If you finish a shot with zero velocity and no rounds left, the run ends immediately as "Dead in space".
Is there a daily board or a way to challenge friends?
Daily mode gives everyone the same Normal board each UTC day, with a streak for daily wins; Practice deals a fresh board at Easy, Normal or Hard. After any run that scored points you can send a challenge link — it carries the board and difficulty, so your friend flies the exact same walls and stars against your score. Challenge runs do not count toward your best or your streak.