Orc Breach

Mission briefing

Orc Breach is a fast-paced tower defense game where you must stop enormous orc hordes before they break through your defenses. Build and aim different turrets, combine their strengths, use powerful support abilities, upgrade your arsenal, and survive increasingly massive enemy assaults across a full campaign.

Field manual

Build turrets near enemy routes and aim them toward the approaching horde. Use different weapons and support abilities to slow, burn, blast and destroy the orcs before they reach your base. On PC, use the mouse to place and aim turrets, the mouse wheel to zoom, WASD or arrow keys to move the camera, and Space to start the battle. On mobile, use touch controls to place, aim and activate abilities.

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 flexible screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for strategy operations

• Economy first, army second. The player who builds one more resource structure in the opening minutes out-produces the player who built one more soldier — arithmetic is the quietest weapon in strategy.
• Scout before you commit. Every strategy game hides a paper to your rock; two minutes of reconnaissance is cheaper than twenty minutes of building the wrong answer.
• Hold a reserve. Committing everything to the first fight leaves nothing for the second, and there is always a second — usually arriving while you are still rebuilding from the first.

Orc Breach — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Orc Breach?

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 Orc Breach?

Orc Breach is filed in our Strategy 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 Orc Breach on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Orc Breach 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 Strategy theatre is one click away — The thinking soldier's shelf: 115 operations where the decisive weapon is a plan made thirty seconds before it is needed. Build first, then hold what you built.