How to play
Two hooded archers stand on facing autumn hills with a valley between them. Red is on the left, Blue is on the right, and you take turns. When it is your shot, set the angle of your bow, draw the string and let go. A hit on the body scores one point, a hit on the head scores two. The first archer to reach five points wins, and you can play to three or seven instead.
- Red aims with W and S and draws with Space.
- Blue aims with the up and down arrows and draws with Enter.
- Hold the draw key to pull the string. The power bar behind your archer climbs to full and then falls back, so release it when it shows the power you want.
- Gamepads work too: the stick aims, A draws. The first pad is Red, the second is Blue.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Each archer owns one half of the screen: drag up or down to aim, hold the bow button to draw and let go to shoot.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Wind
A flag on each hill and the gauge at the top of the field show the wind for the current shot. Each arrow on the gauge is one step of wind, up to six. The wind changes before every shot and only pushes arrows that are in the air. A few dots in front of your bow show where the arrow leaves while you draw, but they ignore the wind, so the rest is up to you. Switch the wind off on the menu if you want a calm valley.
The shield
You are never just waiting. While your rival’s arrow is flying at you, press your draw key once and your archer raises a round wooden shield. It stays up for only about a third of a second, and you get one try per arrow. Raise it too early and it is already down when the arrow arrives. The shield stops body hits, but it does not cover your head, so a good archer aims high when the other one has quick hands.
Shots in pairs
Shots come in pairs: each archer shoots once, then the next pair begins. The archer who shot second opens the next pair, so nobody always shoots first. The winner is only decided at the end of a pair, which means the second archer always gets an answer. If both of you pass the target with the same score, the duel goes on.
Every new pair also changes the valley. A great oak, a stone tower or a grassy mound rises between the hills, and both archers face the same obstacle. Arrows that stick in it stay there until it changes.
If nobody shoots, the shot clock in the top bar runs out after about twelve seconds and the arrow flies by itself.
Strategy
Learn one angle. Pick an angle you like, such as 30 or 45 degrees, and only change the power. It is much easier to judge a short or long arrow than to juggle both at once.
Lob over the tall ones. A high stone tower is hard to clear with a flat shot. A steep arc drops onto your rival from above, but it spends longer in the wind.
Go for the head when the shield is quick. Two points beats one, and the shield cannot help.
Watch the arrow, not the archer. Raise your shield when the arrow is a few body lengths away. The Hard bot times it well; the Easy one often panics early.
Like duels on one screen? The sandpit maze battles of Bounce Tanks and the table tennis rallies of Paddle Smash are built for two players sharing one device too.
If you enjoy Archer Duel, try Bobble Hoops or Bobble Kick next.
