An artillery game where the wind changes

Hill Cannons, on the Skill & sport shelf of Games by Zaweba, is a turn-based artillery game where the wind changes every turn. You and the computer take turns to lob shells over rolling hills at each other's cannon, and the first to three hits wins. It is free, original and plays offline on Windows.

Every shell blows a crater in the ground, so the hills change as the duel goes on, and each hit brings a fresh set of hills.

Aiming and firing

Drag away from your cannon to set the angle, and drag further to add power, then let go to fire. One gesture sets both, much like pulling back a catapult. With the keyboard, Left and Right change the angle, Up and Down change the power, and Space fires.

High, gentle shots and low, fast shots can both reach the same spot. High shots spend longer in the air, so the wind has more time to push them. Low shots are less affected by the wind but can hit the hills in between.

Allowing for the wind

Watch the flag before every shot. The wind changes every turn and carries the shell with it, so the shot that nearly hit last time won't hit this time unless you allow for the new wind. A wind blowing towards the computer's cannon adds distance; a wind blowing back at you takes it away.

A simple method is to keep a mental note of your last shot: the angle, the power and where it landed. Then adjust for the change in wind since then, as well as for the miss. Small changes are usually enough.

Craters and the changing ground

Every shell digs a crater where it lands. Shots that fall short can dig into a hill in front of you, and over a few turns the ground between the cannons changes shape. A hill that blocked low shots early on might have a dip in it later.

When someone scores a hit, a new set of hills appears for the next round, so you can't simply repeat the winning shot. First to three hits takes the game, and your plays, wins and best are kept on the game's tile.

The computer has to deal with the same wind as you, and it does not always get it right either, so a miss is never the end of the game. Keep your shots tidy, remember what worked, and be ready when the wind turns in your favour. A turn when the wind drops away to almost nothing is the moment to go for a direct hit, because your last known angle and power will be closest to true. When the wind is strong and changeable, a slightly short shot that leaves a useful crater can be a fair result.

Where Hill Cannons lives

Open the Skill & sport shelf in Games by Zaweba or press Ctrl+F and type cannons. The title card explains the rules and controls, F1 explains them again, Esc pauses and F11 fills the screen with the hills. Everything is drawn and every boom synthesised in code, so there are no downloads, no adverts and no accounts.

If you like reading the wind, Bullseye Archery and Long Drive on the same shelf are both games where a breeze can undo a perfect aim.