Crumple Rumble

Mission briefing

Crumple Rumble is a fast, funny stickman fighting game scribbled on notebook paper. Pick one of five doodle fighters, chain punches and kicks into combos, grab pencils, staffs and pipes, and charge your power bar to fire a special move. When your rival is dizzy, the announcer shouts "Wrap it up!" and your last hit decides how they go: flattened, folded into a paper plane, inflated like a balloon, erased, and eight more silly endings. Climb the Arcade ladder of four rivals and a final boss, take on a new Daily Challenge with its own twist every day, survive as long as you can in endless Survival, or share one keyboard or touch screen with a friend in 2 Players mode. Daily missions, a rank ladder and ten unlockable ink colours for your fighter give you a reason to come back.

Field manual

Knock your rival out to win the round; most fights are best of three. Climb the Arcade ladder of four rivals and a boss, beat the new Daily Challenge every day, or last as long as you can in Survival. Keyboard: A / D or the arrow keys move, W, Up or Space jump (again in the air for a double jump), J or Z punch, K or X kick, L or S block, Shift dash (or double-tap a direction), I special when your power bar is full. P pauses, M mutes. Touch or mouse: drag the stick to move, flick it up to jump and twice sideways to dash. Tap Attack to build combos, hold Block to guard, tap Super when your power bar is full. On a computer, click the fight once to show these buttons; any key hides them again. Combos: Punch Punch Punch = sky upper, Punch Punch Kick = spin finish, Punch Kick = rising knee, Kick Kick = double kick, Kick Punch = lunge. Two players on one keyboard: P1 uses A D W S F G H and Left Shift, P2 uses the arrows, K L ; and Right Shift.

Launch orders: press Launch mission above and the game loads on this page itself — nothing downloads and no form stands between you and the first move. It is designed for a landscape (wide) screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for action operations

• First run is reconnaissance. Spend it learning where the danger actually spawns from instead of chasing a score — most action games announce their patterns honestly in the opening minute, then repeat them with worse manners.
• Movement is a defensive stat. A moving target at half health outlives a stationary one at full health in nearly every game on this board, so keep relocating between shots, strikes and reloads.
• Learn the exit before the entrance closes. In arena and chase games alike, the players who survive longest are the ones who noticed the second doorway while everyone else was watching the first.

Crumple Rumble — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Crumple Rumble?

Nothing at all. The mission is free from the first order to the last — no sign-up, no download, no paid tier guarding the good levels. The advertising around this page is what keeps the board free.

What sort of mission is Crumple Rumble?

Crumple Rumble is filed in our Action theatre. Like every operation on this board, it is a browser game — read the briefing above for the publisher's own account of what you are deploying into.

Can I run Crumple Rumble on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Crumple Rumble is an HTML5 game: press the launch button and it loads on this page, and closing the tab leaves nothing behind.

After-action

Mission complete, or still pinned down? The full Action theatre is one click away — The main hall of the board: 469 operations where something is always moving, exploding, escaping or being chased. If a game has a pulse and a problem, it is probably filed here.