How to Play
Calculated Carnage is a turn-based artillery game. Each tank gets one shot per turn. Pick a weapon, set your angle and power, account for the wind, and fire. The last tank standing wins the round.
Controls
Desktop
- Aim: drag from your tank toward where you want to shoot. Farther drag means more power.
- Fine-tune: Left/Right arrows change the angle, Up/Down change power. Hold Shift to move in steps of 5.
- Drive: A and D keys (uses fuel).
- Fire: Spacebar or the FIRE button.
- Camera: scroll to zoom, drag the map to pan.
- Items & guidance: open ITEMS to raise shields, deflectors or heal. Pick a guidance system in the MOD box before firing.
Phone and tablet
- Aim: touch your tank and drag. The dotted line shows your launch arc.
- Fine-tune: use the Angle and Power sliders.
- Drive: hold the arrow buttons.
- Camera: pinch to zoom, drag with one finger to pan.
- Turn your phone sideways for a bigger battlefield.
- Items & guidance: open ITEMS to raise shields, deflectors or heal. Pick a guidance system in the MOD box before firing.
Health and damage
Every tank starts a round with 100 HP. An explosion does full damage at its center and less toward its edge. A direct hit adds a bonus. Falling a long way after the ground is blown out from under you also hurts, so digging under an enemy is a real tactic.
Like in Scorched Earth, damage weakens your cannon: your max firing power matches your health (a tank at 60 HP can fire at up to 60 power). Batteries and Repair Kits bring it back up.
Shields block one whole hit per charge, whatever the damage. Repair Kits restore 40 HP and don't use up your turn.
Game modes
Standard (Shop)
Play a set number of rounds. You earn $1 for every point of damage you deal to enemies, $50 per kill, and a placement prize at the end of each round. Unspent money earns interest. Spend it in the shop between rounds. The tank with the most round wins takes the match.
Card Mode
Inspired by ROUNDS: winning a round earns half a point, and after every round everyone who didn't win picks an upgrade card, so the losers catch up. There are 79 cards, from extra bounces to orbital lasers. The first to the target score wins.
You can play against CPU opponents at three skill levels, or pass one device around for local multiplayer with up to 8 tanks.
Weapons
| Weapon | Cost | Damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missiles & Nukes | |||
| Baby Missile | Free | 35 | Small explosive. Free and unlimited. |
| Missile | $100 | 50 | The standard warhead. Moderate blast. |
| Heavy Missile | $250 | 65 | A heavier warhead with a large blast radius. |
| Baby Nuke | $400 | 80 | A small nuclear device. Removes a big chunk of land. |
| Nuke | $700 | 95 | A full nuclear warhead. Devastating. |
| Mega Nuke | $1,200 | 120 | Clears whole sections of the map. Keep your distance. |
| Multi-warhead | |||
| LeapFrog | $350 | 40 | Explodes, then leaps forward and explodes twice more. |
| Funky Bomb | $500 | 35 | Bursts into 6 bomblets that scatter in every direction. |
| MIRV | $600 | 45 | Splits into 5 warheads at the top of its arc. |
| Death's Head | $1,100 | 65 | Splits into 9 heavy warheads at the top of its arc. Total annihilation. |
| Fire | |||
| Napalm | $300 | 60 | Burning fuel that flows downhill and roasts any tank it pools around. Shields don't stop fire. |
| Hot Napalm | $550 | 100 | Hotter and more of it. Deadly in valleys. |
| Rollers | |||
| Baby Roller | $150 | 40 | Lands and rolls downhill until it stops or hits a tank, then explodes. |
| Roller | $300 | 55 | A bigger roller. Great for tanks sitting in valleys. |
| Heavy Roller | $550 | 75 | The biggest roller. Nowhere low is safe. |
| Digging | |||
| Riot Charge | $100 | — | Instantly blasts away the dirt in front of your barrel. Digs you out. |
| Riot Blast | $200 | — | A longer, wider Riot Charge. |
| Riot Bomb | $150 | — | Removes dirt where it lands. Does no damage. |
| Heavy Riot Bomb | $300 | — | Removes a lot of dirt. Does no damage. Collapse the ground under enemies. |
| Baby Digger | $50 | — | Tunnels a short trench through the ground. |
| Digger | $100 | — | Tunnels a medium trench through the ground. |
| Heavy Digger | $200 | — | Tunnels a long, wide trench through the ground. |
| Baby Sandhog | $200 | 45 | Burrows into the dirt, then explodes underground. |
| Sandhog | $400 | 60 | Burrows deep and explodes with a medium blast. |
| Heavy Sandhog | $700 | 80 | Burrows very deep and causes a massive underground explosion. |
| Dirt | |||
| Dirt Clod | $75 | — | Adds a ball of dirt. Build a wall or bury an enemy. |
| Dirt Ball | $150 | — | A bigger ball of dirt. |
| Ton of Dirt | $300 | — | A mountain of dirt. Bury them alive. |
| Liquid Dirt | $200 | — | Flows downhill and fills in valleys and craters. |
| Dirt Charge | $100 | — | Instantly throws up a dirt wall right in front of you. |
| Earth Disrupter | $250 | — | Shakes the ground where it lands until it settles flat. Peaks slump, holes fill, tanks slide. |
| Energy & Other | |||
| Plasma Blast | $700 | 70 | Instant energy pulse around your tank. More power = wider pulse. Never hurts you. |
| Laser | $500 | 55 | Instant straight beam. Range grows with power. Ignores wind and gravity. |
| EMP Strike | $350 | — | Stops every tank in the blast from driving until its next turn ends. |
| Tracer | $10 | — | Harmless. Leaves a line showing its path for the rest of the round. |
| Smoke Tracer | $20 | — | Harmless. Leaves a thick smoke trail everyone can see. |
Items
| Item | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Shield | $150 | Blocks 1 hit. Raise it during your turn. |
| Force Shield | $300 | Blocks 2 hits. |
| Heavy Shield | $500 | Blocks 3 hits. |
| Mag Deflector | $250 | Magnetic field that pushes incoming shells away. Deflects 3 shots. |
| Super Mag | $450 | A stronger, wider deflector field. Deflects 6 shots. |
| Battery | $50 | Restores 10 HP. Use during your turn. |
| Repair Kit | $150 | Restores 40 HP. Use during your turn. |
| Lazy Boy | $250 | Auto-aims at the nearest enemy (wind included). You still press fire. |
| Parachute | $80 | Opens automatically when you fall. No fall damage. One per fall. |
| Auto Defense | $200 | At the start of each round, automatically raises your best shield. |
| Fuel Tank | $100 | +150 fuel for driving next round. |
| Heat Guidance | $200 | Shell curves toward the nearest enemy in flight. Pick it in the MOD box before firing. |
| Ballistic Guidance | $300 | At the top of its arc, the shell corrects course to land on the nearest enemy. |
| Horizontal Guidance | $150 | When the shell drops to the target's height, it flies level straight at it. |
| Vertical Guidance | $150 | When the shell passes over the target, it drops straight down. |
| Contact Trigger | $50 | Shell explodes on first contact: no rolling, burrowing or bouncing. |
Strategy tips
- Read the wind. The bars in the top bar show its strength, and the clouds drift with it. A strong headwind can cut your range in half.
- Walk your shots in. If you land short, add a little power and keep the angle. Changing both at once makes it hard to learn from a miss.
- High arcs clear hills. Angles around 60–70° lob over terrain that would block a flat shot.
- Mind your own blast. Big weapons hurt you too. Keep nukes for targets that are far away.
- Drive before you shoot. A few steps can give you a clear line of fire or move you off a ledge that's about to collapse.
- Save for the shop. Interest rewards patience, but one Large Missile at the right time beats a pile of cash.
- In caves, watch the ceiling. Shots that hit the roof explode there, and stalactites can be knocked loose onto the tanks below.
- Valleys are dangerous. Rollers, Napalm and Liquid Dirt all flow downhill. Park on a slope or a ridge when you can.