Orbit Gunners
Tap to fire. Your shot curves round the planet. First to 5 hits.
Orbit Gunners is a two-player timing shooter in which each turret sweeps along its side of a planet and fires shells that curve round it. Hit your rival's turret to score, and the first to the target number of hits wins.
Your turret sweeps its side of a tiny planet's orbit and you have one button. Every shell swings round the planet and lands on the far side about a second later, so aiming is all timing, and every shot kicks you back out of the way.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 5 hits
- Length
- About 1 to 2 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Orbit Gunners: quick rules
About 1 to 2 minutes at first to 5. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Your turret moves on its own.
- 2Tap to fire; the shot curves round the planet.
- 3It lands opposite where you fired.
Orbit Gunners rules
Setup
- A small planet sits in the middle with a ring-shaped orbit round it. Red's turret rides the lower part of the orbit, Blue's the upper part.
- Each turret sweeps back and forth along its own arc on its own. The two start in mirrored positions, so neither side is ahead.
- Each turret holds 3 shells.
Firing
- Tap your fire pad to launch a shell. The planet's pull swings it round so it crosses the orbit again on the far side, roughly opposite where you fired.
- So aim by timing: fire when your rival will be opposite you as the shell arrives.
- Every shot kicks your turret back along its arc, which also makes a shot a handy dodge.
- Spent shells come back one at a time. With none left, your pad greys and taps do nothing.
- Shells fade after a few seconds, or when they leave the arena or hit the planet.
- Two rival shells that meet pop each other. Your own shells pass through each other.
Scoring
- Hit: a shell that reaches a turret scores for the other player, and the point ends.
- Own goal: if your own shell loops round and hits you, your rival scores.
- If both turrets are hit at the same instant, the point is replayed. If three points in a row end that way, the third is settled by a coin toss.
- Pausing mid-point cancels it; it's replayed on the same map.
Winning
- First to the target wins: 3, 5 or 7 hits. A match never ends drawn.
Maps (with New maps on)
- Plain planet
- One planet and nothing else. Always the first point.
- Moon map
- Two small moons circle the planet and bend the shots.
- Rock belt
- A turning ring of rocks that soaks up shells.
Tips to win at Orbit Gunners
- 1Fire when your rival will be opposite you as the shell arrives, about a second later, not where they are now.
- 2Use the kick from each shot to dodge: firing moves your turret out of the way of an incoming shell.
- 3Keep one shell spare. With an empty pad you can neither shoot back nor dodge.
- 4Watch where your own shells loop: one that comes all the way round can hit you and score for your rival.
- 5Fire into an incoming shell's path to pop it before it reaches you.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Each player has one round fire pad at their end. Tap it to fire; holding or dragging does nothing.
- Three pips above the pad show your shells, refilling one at a time.
- Both players can fire at the same moment.
- The turret moves by itself; you never steer it.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Points to win | 35 (default)7 | The number of hits that wins the match. |
| Aim guide (extra) | On (default)Off | A dotted line shows the start of the curve your next shot would take. |
| Close call (extra) | On (default)Off | A near miss slows the game for a moment and shows "Close!". |
| New maps (extra) | OnOff (default) | From point 2, the map can be the plain planet, the moon map or the rock belt. Every map is the same from both sides. |
| Star shard (extra) | OnOff (default) | A star circles the planet; shoot it first and your next shot splits into three. |
Play Orbit Gunners against the bot
The bot plays Blue and sees only what's drawn: the turrets, the shells and the map. It works out where its shot would land before firing, and better levels also fire to dodge.
Easy
Fires loosely, often at random, and never dodges.
Normal
Waits for a decent shot and sometimes fires to dodge an incoming shell.
Hard
Times its shots well, dodges often and keeps a shell spare for dodging. Shots it doesn't expect can still catch it.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyBoth players fire at the same time and every hit or dodge depends on split-second timing, so Orbit Gunners stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it uses the default options: first to 5 with Aim guide and Close call on.
- Hints
- No hints here: it's all about your own reactions.
How it feels
- A pop and a low thump on every shot, with a muzzle flash and a kick.
- Trails in each shooter's colour, a crackle when shells clash.
- A boom, a starburst and turret shards on a hit; a comic horn on an own goal.
- Haptics follow your phone's settings and the in-app vibration switch.
Accessibility
- Colour is never the only cue: Red's turret has a solid band and Blue's a dotted one, and each stays on its own side.
- One pad, one tap: playable one-handed.
- Aim guide shows where shots go, so nobody has to learn the curve by trial.
- With reduced motion on, the screen shake and slow-motion zoom are dropped.
- Cartoon space shooting only: turrets burst into shards, nobody is hurt.
Orbit Gunners questions
Your turret sweeps along its side of a planet's orbit by itself. Tap to fire: the shell curves round the planet and lands roughly opposite where you fired. Hit your rival's turret to score; first to 5 hits wins.
No. Your turret sweeps along its arc by itself; your only control is the fire pad, and every shot kicks you back along the arc.
If your own shell loops round and hits your turret, it's an own goal and your rival scores.
No. If both turrets are hit at the same instant the point is replayed, and a match always ends with one player reaching the target.
Yes. Orbit Gunners in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Yes. The bot plays Blue and sees only what's drawn: the turrets, the shells and the map. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
Play Orbit Gunners on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
