How to play › ARCADE
WYRMFALL
Every dusk the mountain above Cindergate splits and something long and patient comes down the old road. Wyrmfall is an endless shooter: a colossal wyrm slithers toward your gate, every segment wears its hit points as a number, and your ballista fires by itself. Your job is to point it at the biggest number you can see.
PLAY NOW ▶The goal
Carve each wyrm apart before it breaks your keep. The strength of the keep is your life: when it falls, the run is over. Twenty-five wyrms come down the road, and if all twenty-five fall, the mountain shuts. After that you can keep watch for as long as you last.
How a run plays
Move left and right along the rampart while the ballista fires on its own. You have three kinds of ammo to swap between: the BROADHEAD does even damage, the BODKIN pierces and ignores plate, and the FIRE POT bursts on impact. You also have a heavy volley on a six-second cooldown, a frost horn that freezes the wyrm for two seconds, and a dash that gives you a blink of invulnerability.
Break glowing rune segments for an upgrade card. Your ballista has five fittings (six after the tenth wyrm), and each new line of upgrades takes one, so choose carefully: two lines at rank 2 can unlock a combined card. Steer under blue gates for boosts and dodge the spiked red ones. Every five wyrms brings a new land and species, each ending in a named elder. After every elder a CAMP offers three bargains, or you can walk on.
Coins are spent during a run. Ember shards are kept between runs and grow the EMBER TREE, a set of permanent upgrades.
Controls
| Keyboard | Pad | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left / Right | Stick / d-pad | Move (the ballista fires itself) |
| Z | A | Heavy volley |
| X | B | Frost horn: freeze the wyrm |
| C / Down | C | Swap ammo |
| Q / E | L / R | Dash left or right (or double-tap the arrows) |
On the rune screen, C rerolls the cards for coins.
On a phone or tablet, a see-through joystick and A, B, C, L, R and SPACE buttons appear over the game and do the same as the keys above.
Gamepad: the stick or d-pad moves and the buttons follow the Pad column (Start is START). Esc, P or Back pauses, and the HOW TO PLAY button over the game shows the basics any time.
Modes
- START RUN: the campaign to wyrm 25 and beyond. On the title you can also pick a ballista; others unlock as you progress. After your first win, each run can take a HEAT: eight of them, each adding a twist and paying more shards.
- WEEKLY HUNT: one seeded run that changes every week.
- DAILY HUNT: see below.
- SORTIE: four wyrms and the wyrm-5 elder, against the clock.
- EMBER TREE: spend ember shards on permanent upgrades.
Mastery stars
Each star pays tickets the first time you earn it.
- Bronze: Elder Slayer: destroy an elder wyrm.
- Silver: The Starless Rim: reach wyrm 21.
- Gold: The Mountain Shuts: destroy wyrm 25.
Daily challenge
Yes. The DAILY HUNT is ten seeded wyrms on a lent ballista, the same for everyone today.
Beginner tips
- Aim at the largest numbers. Segments with the most hit points are what keep a wyrm alive, so carving them first shortens the fight.
- Swap to the BODKIN against plated wyrms. It ignores plate, which the others do not.
- Save the frost horn for when the wyrm is about to reach the rampart. Two seconds of freeze is a lot of free shots.
- Commit your fittings to a few lines instead of spreading thin. Two lines at rank 2 can unlock a combined card.
- Dash through danger with Q or E: it gives a moment of invulnerability.