Fan
What is an artillery game?
In an artillery game, players take turns firing at each other across a battlefield. You choose an angle and a power, sometimes allow for wind, and watch your shot fly. Most modern artillery games add destructible terrain, so every explosion changes the map, and a ridiculous arsenal to choose from.
A short history of the genre
- Arthur Luehrmann writes Potshot, one of the first artillery games, followed by mainframe games like Gunner (1973): type in an angle and a velocity, then hope.
- Gorillas ships with QBasic in MS-DOS 5, and Wendell Hicken releases Scorched Earth, "the mother of all games", for DOS.
- Team17 releases Worms, adding teams, destructible terrain and absurd weapons. The genre goes mainstream.
- Worms Armageddon perfects the formula. It is still played online today.
- Blitwise releases Pocket Tanks, the classic angle-and-power tank duel.
- Softnyx launches GunBound in Korea (worldwide in 2003), turning artillery into an online team game. Its spirit lives on in GunboundM.
- Playdom launches Wild Ones on Facebook: artillery with cartoon pets, played by millions until 2013.
- ShellShock Live enters early access; it reaches 1.0 in 2020.
- Worms W.M.D arrives, and Bowmasters brings quick aiming duels to phones.
- Tank Stars puts online tank duels on phones.
- Team17 releases Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition, and Worms Across Worlds follows on Apple Arcade in 2025.
- Wild Wars brings Wild Ones-style pet battles to iPhone, Android and PC, and Team17 announces Worms: Galactic Tactics for 2027.
The ranking
Artillery games, ranked
Wild Wars
- Pets
- Out now
The newest take on the genre: cute pets, 30+ weapons, ranked online play and both turn-based and real-time modes.
Wild Wars is a free-to-play, turn-based pet battle game built by developers who grew up playing Wild Ones. When Playdom switched Wild Ones off in 2013, nothing quite replaced it. Wild Wars was made to fill that gap, and of every game on this list it is the one that feels most like the original.
Worms W.M.D
- Paid
- Classic
- Active
The most polished modern Worms, with vehicles, crafting and hand-drawn destructible maps.
When Wild Ones first appeared in 2009, Adweek described it as, for all intents and purposes, Worms 2. Worms W.M.D is the series at its most polished: hand-drawn destructible maps, turn-based team battles and a ridiculous arsenal that includes the Banana Bomb, Holy Hand Grenade and Concrete Donkey.
ShellShock Live
- Paid
- Online
- Active
The best online artillery game on PC, with hundreds of weapons and XP levels.
ShellShock Live is an online artillery game where tanks take turns lobbing shots across destructible terrain. You earn XP to unlock a huge list of weapons, which is a very similar feeling to levelling up in Wild Ones.
Worms Armageddon
- Paid
- Classic
- Active
The 1999 classic that still has an active community.
Worms Armageddon came out in 1999 and is still one of the best artillery games ever made. Its community has kept it alive with fan-made updates, and it remains a cheap buy on Steam.
Hedgewars
- Pets
- Active
A free, open-source take on the formula with hedgehogs and a level editor.
Hedgewars is a free, open-source take on the Worms formula, starring pink cartoon hedgehogs. Like Wild Ones it leans into cute animals, hats and absurd weapons.
Pocket Tanks
- Classic
- Active
Pure angle-and-power artillery with a huge weapon list.
Pocket Tanks has been around since 2001 and keeps artillery simple: set your angle, set your power, and watch your shot arc across the screen. The fun is in the weapon packs, with hundreds of wacky options to unlock.
Wormix
- Mobile
- Active
Social-network artillery with fighters to upgrade and dress up.
Wormix began life on social networks around the same time as Wild Ones, and the two feel like cousins: small cartoon fighters, turn-based shots, wacky weapons, hats and a progression system that keeps you coming back.
Bowmasters
- Mobile
- Active
One-on-one aiming duels on your phone.
Bowmasters strips the Wild Ones formula down to one-on-one duels: aim, release, and try to hit your rival before they hit you. A huge cast of silly characters, each with its own weapon, keeps it fun.
Tank Stars
- Mobile
- Active
Online tank duels on destructible hills, on your phone.
Tank Stars is a free mobile game where you take turns firing at an opponent across destructible hills. It has online PvP, lots of tanks and weapons to collect, and short matches.