STORMHAWK

Mission briefing

STORMHAWK is a vertical arcade shooter — a shmup — built to be played with one hand. Fly 32 hand-built missions over the Pacific, dodge with a barrel roll, and chain kills to multiply your score. What makes it different from other plane shooters: everything you earn goes somewhere. Land after a mission and spend it in the hangar, unlock twelve planes that each fly differently, and pick roguelite cards mid-run so no two campaigns stack the same way. Six modes, including a Daily mission everyone plays identically and a Boss Rush against all 32 bosses back to back.

Field manual

Goal: survive each mission, beat its boss, and land to bank what you collected. Chain kills without missing to raise the multiplier — the score is what puts you on the leaderboard. Touch: drag anywhere to fly; the plane follows your finger. Firing is automatic. Tap with a second finger to barrel roll — you are invincible for a moment and nearby bullets turn into points. Hold that second finger to slow down and tighten your shot. Keyboard: arrows or WASD to fly, Z to fire, X to barrel roll, C for the special attack, P or Esc to pause. All keys can be remapped in Settings.

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 portrait (upright) screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It is built tall, for an upright screen — a phone held normally frames it best, though any window will run it. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for shooting operations

• Short bursts beat long ones. Recoil, spread and plain panic all grow the longer you hold the trigger; three controlled shots land where one long spray writes poetry on the wall behind your target.
• Reload behind something. The reload animation is the most dangerous second in any shooter — spend it behind cover, mid-jump, or not at all if the magazine still has work in it.
• Sound is intelligence. Footsteps, reload clicks and distant fire tell you where the fight is before the screen does; play with the volume up and treat every noise as a map marker.

STORMHAWK — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play STORMHAWK?

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 STORMHAWK?

STORMHAWK is filed in our Shooting 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 STORMHAWK 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 tall, for an upright screen — a phone held normally frames it best, though any window will run it.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. STORMHAWK 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 Shooting theatre is one click away — Trigger discipline optional, aim compulsory. Two hundred and thirty-one shooting operations, from arcade galleries to full online firefights, posted in roster order — the strongest files first.