Tank Battle: classic tank game, online free
Tank Battle is a free Battle City-style tank game you can play online in any browser. Drive a little tank through a maze of brick, steel, water, trees and ice, blast 20 enemy tanks per stage and protect your base. Four enemy types, six power-ups, tank upgrades, endless stages, a Daily battle, 2-player co-op on one keyboard, free leaderboards and 25 badges. It plays on computers with the keyboard and on phones with a touch joystick.
How to play Tank Battle
- Choose a battle: the Campaign on Easy, Normal or Hard, or the Daily battle.
- Drive your tank with the arrow keys (or the joystick on a phone) and fire with Space.
- Shoot through brick walls; steel stops your shells until your tank is fully upgraded.
- Destroy the 20 enemy tanks of the stage before they reach your flag.
- Hit flashing red tanks to drop power-ups and drive over them to collect them.
- Protect the flag at the bottom: if it is hit, or you run out of tanks, the game is over.
Your tank turns on a half-tile grid, so it slips neatly into corridors. The panel beside the map shows how many enemies are still to come, your lives and the stage number.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Phone and tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | Arrow keys or W A S D | Joystick (left) |
| Fire | Space, J, K or Z | FIRE button (hold to keep firing) |
| 2 players | P1: W A S D + Space · P2: arrows + Enter | – |
| Pause | Esc or P | Pause button |
Walls and ground
| Tile | Tanks | Shells |
|---|---|---|
| 🧱 Brick | Blocked | Breaks a little with every hit |
| ⬜ Steel | Blocked | Stops shells; a fully upgraded tank breaks it |
| 🌊 Water | Blocked | Shells fly over it |
| 🌳 Trees | Drive under them and hide | Shells pass under the leaves |
| 🧊 Ice | Your tank slides | No effect |
Enemy tanks
| Enemy | Points | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Light tank | 100 | The basic enemy: slow and steady |
| Scout car | 200 | Twice as fast; it can rush your base |
| Gun tank | 300 | Fires quick shells |
| Heavy tank | 400 | Needs four hits; its colour shows the damage |
The 4th, 11th and 18th enemy of every stage flash red: hit one to drop a power-up somewhere on the map. Later stages bring more scout cars, gun tanks and heavy tanks.
Power-ups
| Power-up | Effect |
|---|---|
| ⛑️ Helmet | A force field for 10 seconds |
| ⏱️ Clock | Freezes every enemy for 10 seconds |
| 🧱 Shovel | Steel walls around your base for 18 seconds; also rebuilds broken bricks |
| ⭐ Star | Upgrades your tank: faster shells, then two shells at once, then shells that break steel |
| 💣 Grenade | Destroys every enemy on the field |
| 🪖 Tank | An extra life |
Every power-up is worth 500 points, and you also get an extra life every 20,000 points. Your upgrades are lost when your tank is destroyed.
Modes
The Campaign goes on stage after stage, on Easy (slower enemies, an extra life), Normal or Hard (faster, sharper enemies, five at a time). Every stage is built by a generator from walls, rivers, forests and ice, so there is always a new battlefield, but each stage number is the same map for everyone. You can start from any stage you have reached. The Daily battle is three stages that are the same for every player each day. Turn on 2 players to fight side by side on one keyboard.
Leaderboards
Easy, Normal, Hard and the Daily battle each have a free leaderboard for today, this week and all time. Campaign scores count when the game starts at stage 1. Open the podium button to see them; you only choose a nickname if you want to join.
Badges
There are 25 badges for destroying tanks, clearing stages, flawless stages, power-ups, big scores, co-op wins and daily battles. Open the medal button in the game to see your progress.
| Badge | How to earn it |
|---|---|
| 💥 First Hit | Destroy your first enemy tank. |
| 🎖️ Tank Buster | Destroy 100 enemy tanks. |
| 🏅 Steel Storm | Destroy 1,000 enemy tanks. |
| 🛡️ Armor Piercer | Destroy 25 heavy tanks. |
| 🚩 Stage Clear | Clear your first stage. |
| ⭐ Veteran | Clear 5 stages in one game. |
| 🌟 Commander | Clear 10 stages in one game. |
| 🎗️ General | Clear 20 stages in one game. |
| 👑 Field Marshal | Clear 35 stages in one game. |
| 😎 Untouched | Clear a stage without losing a life. |
| 🧱 Fortress | Protect your base with a shovel. |
| 💣 Grenadier | Destroy 3 tanks or more with one grenade. |
| ⏱️ Time Stop | Freeze the enemy with a clock. |
| 🚀 Super Tank | Upgrade your tank to the top level. |
| 🎁 Collector | Collect all 6 kinds of power-up. |
| 🧲 Bonus Hunter | Collect 50 power-ups. |
| 🥉 10,000 Points | Score 10,000 in one game. |
| 🥈 50,000 Points | Score 50,000 in one game. |
| 🥇 100,000 Points | Score 100,000 in one game. |
| 🤝 Brothers in Arms | Clear a stage with two players. |
| ⚡ Blitz | Clear a stage in under 90 seconds. |
| 🔥 Iron Will | Clear a stage on Hard. |
| ☀️ Daily Duty | Play the Daily battle. |
| 📅 Week of Battles | Play the Daily battle on 7 different days. |
| 🪖 Tank Ace | Play 50 games. |
Tank Battle tips
- Stay near home early. Enemies head for your flag; meet them in the middle of the map.
- Keep the base walls whole. Do not shoot your own bricks, and grab every shovel.
- Use trees. Hide under the leaves and ambush enemies as they pass.
- Time the grenade. Collect a grenade when many enemies are on the field for the biggest effect.
- Collect stars. Two shells at once and steel-breaking shells change everything in late stages.
- Shoot shells down. Your shell destroys an enemy shell it meets head on.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tank Battle free?
Yes. Tank Battle is completely free to play online, with no sign-up, no download and no in-app purchases. It runs in your browser on computers, tablets and phones, and your records and badges are saved on your device.
Is Tank Battle like Battle City?
Yes, Tank Battle is a Battle City-style tank game, the kind many people remember as Tank 1990: you drive a small tank through a maze of brick and steel, destroy waves of enemy tanks and protect your base. It has its own pixel art, music, generated stages and features. Battle City is a trademark of Bandai Namco; Tank Battle is an independent game and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.
How do I play Tank Battle?
Every stage sends 20 enemy tanks from the top of the map. Drive your tank, shoot them and keep them away from your flag at the bottom. If an enemy shell hits the flag, or you lose all your tanks, the game is over. Destroy all 20 enemies to clear the stage and roll on to the next one.
What are the controls?
Drive with the arrow keys or W A S D and fire with Space (J, K or Z work too). Esc or P pauses. On a phone or tablet, drag the joystick on the left to drive and hold the FIRE button on the right to shoot.
Can two people play together?
Yes. Turn on "2 players on one keyboard" in the battle menu. Player 1 drives with W A S D and fires with Space, player 2 drives with the arrow keys and fires with Enter. Up to six enemy tanks are on the field at once in co-op. Be careful: hitting your partner freezes their tank for two seconds.
What do the walls and ground do?
Brick walls break a little with every shell, so you can shoot a way through. Steel stops normal shells; only a fully upgraded tank breaks it. Water stops tanks but not shells, trees hide tanks and shells underneath them, and ice makes your tank slide.
Which enemy tanks are there?
Light tanks (100 points) are the basic enemy. Scout cars (200) are very fast. Gun tanks (300) fire quick shells. Heavy tanks (400) need four hits and change colour as they are damaged. Flashing red tanks drop a power-up when you hit them.
What do the power-ups do?
Helmet: a force field for 10 seconds. Clock: freezes all enemies for 10 seconds. Shovel: steel walls around your base for 18 seconds. Star: upgrades your tank (faster shells, then two shells at once, then shells that break steel). Grenade: destroys every enemy on the field. Tank: an extra life. Each power-up is also worth 500 points.
How many stages are there?
The stages never end. They are made by a generator that mirrors walls, rivers, forests and ice into a fresh battlefield, with more steel and tougher enemy mixes as you go. Every stage number is the same map for every player, so you can compare runs, and you can start from any stage you have reached.
What is the Daily battle?
Three stages that are the same for everyone each day, on Normal rules. Clear all three for the best score and compare on the Daily leaderboard.
Is there a leaderboard?
Yes. Easy, Normal, Hard and the Daily battle each have a free leaderboard for today, this week and all time. Campaign games count when they start at stage 1. Your score is saved at the end of a game; you only pick a nickname if you want to join.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Tank Battle works in portrait and landscape on phones and tablets with an on-screen joystick and fire button; landscape gives you the biggest battlefield. On a computer the keyboard is the best way to play.
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