Doodle Duel

Notebook artillery, three shell types, and a crosswind that resets every single turn

2 player, one device
action
arcade
2 player

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About Doodle Duel

Two little tanks sit on opposite sides of a hand-drawn hill, and neither of them can move. All you control is the angle of the barrel, how hard you fire, and which of three shells you load. Everything after the trigger belongs to physics: a constant downward pull, a sideways push from the wind, and whatever is left of the ground between you.

The ground is the part that keeps the duel interesting. Every explosion carves a crater where it lands, so a shot that falls short reshapes the hill you were shooting over, and the arc that missed by ten metres might sail clean through on the next attempt. Direct hits are not required either: blast damage falls away with distance rather than switching off, so a close miss still bites. Duel the computer at three difficulty levels, or pass the device to a friend and take alternate shots. A duel takes three or four minutes, and the winner is usually whoever adjusted more carefully rather than whoever hit first.

What is different about this version

The three shells differ in flight, not just in damage. The standard shell is the baseline. Heavy weighs half again as much, so it drops faster and arrives on a much steeper line, but it is the least affected by wind and its blast reaches furthest. Cluster is lighter than standard and catches more wind than either, and it breaks into four fragments on impact, which makes it unreliable against a dug-in target but good for clearing a ridge. The wind is re-rolled at the start of every turn, so a perfect shot cannot simply be repeated, and the faint dotted line left behind by your previous shot stays on screen as a reference. Damage tapers off with distance from the blast centre instead of stopping at the edge.

How to play Doodle Duel

Set up a duel against the computer at one of three strengths, or hand a friend the device.
Set the barrel angle, then the power.
Choose a shell: the standard one is unlimited, Heavy and Cluster give you three each.
Fire and watch where it lands. The impact digs a crater.
Correct from that shot, then hand over.
Take the other tank from 100 health to zero to win.

Controls

Desktop	Left and right arrows turn the barrel a degree at a time, up and down set power, 1 to 3 pick a shell, Space fires.
Phone or tablet	Drag back from your tank to set angle and power together, then release to fire.
Players	One or two people on the same device. Nothing here plays over the internet.

Strategy

Bracket first, then correct for the new wind. Overshoot deliberately, undershoot deliberately, take the midpoint: that usually puts you inside blast range on the third attempt. What breaks the method here is that the wind changes between every shot, so the middle value you worked out was right for a crosswind that no longer exists. Read the wind figure before adjusting, and touch power last.

Wind acts for the whole flight, so its effect grows with time in the air. A high, slow lob spends four times as long being pushed sideways as a flat, fast one. If you have a clear line, a low angle at high power is the accurate shot; if a ridge is in the way, expect a lob to drift and aim upwind of where you actually want it. Heavy is the exception worth remembering, because its extra weight shortens the flight and its shape resists the push. Since damage falls off gradually, aim at the ground just in front of the enemy tank rather than at the tank itself. A shell that lands short still does most of its damage and leaves a crater that drops the opponent lower, which changes the angle you need next turn in your favour. On Hard the computer searches the whole range of angles and powers and picks from the very best, so expect it to land something within two shots. On Easy it chooses from a far wider band and adds several degrees of wobble.

Mistakes that cost you the game

Repeating a shot that worked last turn without checking the wind. It has already changed.
Hoarding Heavy shells for a finisher. Three will not win a duel alone, and they are most useful early for reshaping ground.
Aiming at the tank rather than the slope beneath it, which turns a scoring near miss into a clean flyover.

Tips

Change angle or power, not both at once, or the result teaches you nothing.
Use the ghost line from your last shot as a ruler for the correction.
Flat and fast beats high and slow whenever the line of sight is clear.
Dig away the ridge in front of you to open a flatter shot.
Craters lower whoever stands in them, so a near miss improves your next angle.
On a phone, drag well past the tank; short drags cancel rather than fire.

Questions about Doodle Duel

Does the wind change during a shot?

No, it holds steady for the whole flight and is re-rolled when the turn passes. The arrow at the top shows strength and direction.

Do I need a direct hit to do damage?

No. Blast damage scales down with distance, so a near miss still hurts, and a Heavy shell reaches noticeably further than the others.

Can the tanks move between shots?

No. Position is fixed, which is why reshaping the terrain between you matters so much.

How hard is the Hard opponent?

It simulates every reasonable angle and power before firing and picks from the closest, so expect it to find you inside three shots.

Does it cost anything?

No. Doodle Duel is free to play, runs in your browser, and needs no download, install or account.

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