One Hill, a Tank Wars tribute

Up to four tanks. One hill. The wind changes every turn.

One Hill is turn-based artillery, a tribute to the 1990 DOS classic Tank Wars. A tribute to the 1990 DOS classic Tank Wars, rebuilt for 2026. Set an angle, set the power, lob a shell over the mountain, and find out whether the wind turned on you.

Free · plays in the browser · nothing to install · got an invite code?

ATTRACT MODE

It plays itself until you sit down.

That's the actual game, running live on this page. VIPER, HAMMER and BRUTUS are set to HARD and are settling it among themselves.

Every hill is a new map: canyon, mesa, or a water gap that swallows shells. Craters stay. Dig out the ground under a tank and down it goes.

Click the screen to take a turn yourself.

GAME SETUP

Pick your fight.

MODE

YOU · VS 1–3 CPU TANKS

A lone CPU is named for its skill:

  • ROOKIE barely reads the wind
  • LOBBER reads it, mostly
  • WINDMASTER reads it better than you

Add a second or third and it's a free-for-all: VIPER, HAMMER and BRUTUS shoot whoever is closest, each other included.

2–4 PLAYERS · ONE KEYBOARD

Before every turn the screen goes dark with P2 — LOOK AWAY, so nobody copies your angle. Pass the keyboard, press Enter, take the shot.

The way it was played in 1990: elbows out, one chair, loud.

2–4 PLAYERS · THEIR OWN SCREENS

Host a room, send the five-letter code, and fill any empty seats with CPU tanks. Everyone watches every barrel swing live, and every turn runs on a 45-second shot clock.

How online works

Every mode is best of five: first tank to take three hills wins the series. Shop between hills. Win it and the game hands you a result card, a photo of the final blow, ready to post.

ONLINE

Send a code. Start a war.

  1. HOST. Pick ONLINE, then HOST. You get a five-letter code like K7Q4M. It skips I, O, 0 and 1, so it survives being read over the phone.
  2. INVITE. Send the invite link (one tap on a phone) or just the code.
  3. FIRE. Each turn has a 45-second shot clock. When it hits zero, your current aim goes.

Five letters and digits. Pasting the whole invite link works too.

If someone drops out, a bot takes over their tank and the hill plays on. No accounts and no sign-up: the browsers connect to each other directly.

HOST A ROOM

SUPPLY

Kills pay. Spend it on bigger holes.

Win a hill: $700. Each kill: $400. Survive without winning: $150. Everyone starts with $250, ammo you don't fire carries over, and crates drop free rounds mid-battle.

Blast radius, to scale. Point at a row to find its crater.
  • 1SHELLFREEUnlimited. Dead center kills.
  • 2HE BOMB ×2$400Fat crater. A solid hit kills.
  • 3MIRV$500Splits into three on the way down.
  • 4DIGGERCRATESBurrows into the hill, then blows.
  • 5NUKE$1200Huge blast. Do not miss.
  • 6DIRT BOMB$300Piles a mound instead of digging one.
  • TGUIDANCE$200One full dotted arc to the landing.
  •  SHIELD$650Blocks the next hit. Even a fall.

KEYBOARD

A few keys and a steady hand.

Go on, press them. This page is listening.

  • AD swing the barrel
  • WS more or less power
  • SHIFT fine adjustment
  • SPACE fire
  • 1to6 pick a weapon
  • T full arc, spends a guidance
  • M mute
  • ESC back to the title

Rather use a mouse? Drag around your tank to aim, drag up or down for power, click to fire. Touch screens work the same way. Arrow keys do what A, D, W and S do.