🎯 Tank Maze Duel

A tank battle in a maze

Tank Maze Duel is a fast top-down tank game in which every round is a small battle inside a maze. Each tank starts in its own corner of a freshly built maze, the walls between them are just thick enough to hide behind, and the shells bounce. That one rule changes everything. A shell fired down a corridor can turn two corners and arrive behind an enemy who thought they were safe. A shot that misses keeps flying, and a few bounces later it can come straight back at the tank that fired it. The last tank still rolling wins the round, and the first player to win five rounds wins the match.

Rounds are short, often less than half a minute, and the maze is different every time, so no two rounds play out the same way. You never learn a map by heart: you read the maze as soon as it appears, work out where the other tanks are, and decide whether to hunt them down, hide in a dead end or set up a clever bank shot.

Play with friends on one keyboard

Tank Maze Duel is made for sharing a computer. Two or three people can play on the same keyboard, each with their own set of keys, so it works as a quick 2 player game or a 3 player game with nothing to set up and nothing to install. The green tank drives with W, A, S and D and fires with Q. The red tank uses the arrow keys and fires with M (or Enter). The blue tank uses I, J, K and L and fires with U, or the number pad keys 8, 4, 5 and 6 with 0 to fire. The 2 Players + CPU mode adds a computer tank, so two friends can also team up against it or just have a three-way scrap.

Three players on one keyboard does get a little crowded, which is half the fun. Sit close, keep your hands on your own keys and try not to laugh too much when somebody knocks themselves out with their own shell.

Playing against the computer

On your own, you can battle one computer tank or two of them at once. Choose how strong they are. Easy tanks are slow to react, only line up straight shots and the odd single bounce, and often miss, which makes them a gentle way to learn the controls. Normal tanks plan shots off one or two walls, collect power-ups and sometimes dodge a shell coming their way. Hard tanks think quickly, look for shots off up to three walls and nearly always see your shells coming, so beating them takes patience, smart positioning and a few tricks of your own.

Bank shots and bouncing shells

Every shell bounces off the maze walls just like a ball off a cushion: it leaves the wall at the same angle it arrived. Once you get a feel for that, the maze becomes a giant game of angles. Aim at a wall halfway between you and an enemy and the shell will turn the corner for you. In a long corridor, a shell fired at the far wall comes straight back, so keep out of its way.

Shells last about eight seconds before they burn out, and each tank can only have five of them in the maze at once. Firing all five in a panic is risky: they are all still bouncing around, and you can't shoot again until some of them have gone. When two shells meet head-on they knock each other out, so a well-timed shot can even block an incoming one.

Power-ups

A few seconds into every round, power-ups start to appear in the maze. Drive over one to pick it up, then fire to use it. The ⚡ laser shoots a beam that bounces off up to six walls and hits instantly; while you hold it, a dotted aiming line shows where the first couple of bounces will go. The 🔱 spread shot fires a fan of five fast little shells that are hard to dodge at close range. The 💣 mine drops behind your tank and arms after one second; any tank that rolls over it is knocked out, including you, so remember where you left it. The 🛡️ shield switches on as soon as you pick it up and stops one hit within eight seconds.

Four arenas

Every round you win against a computer tank or in a game with friends adds a trophy, and trophies unlock new arenas. You start on Paper Desk, a maze drawn on squared paper. Desert Camp, with sandbag walls, opens at 8 trophies. Snow Fort, with walls of blue ice, opens at 20, and the glowing Neon Grid opens at 40. The arenas look different but play the same, so pick your favourite.

Tips to win more rounds

Don't rush. The tank that charges round a corner first is often the one that gets hit. Wait for the enemy to come to you, or fire a shell round the corner before you follow it. Stay out of long straight corridors when shells are flying, because a missed shell bounces straight back down them. Keep track of your own shots and step aside when one comes back. Use dead ends as hiding places, but remember that a single good bank shot can reach you there too. And when you have a laser, take a moment to line up the dotted aiming line before you pull the trigger.

Phones and tablets

On a touch screen, Tank Maze Duel shows a drive stick and a big fire button under the maze. Push the stick the way you want to go and your tank turns and drives that way by itself; tap FIRE to shoot. Touch controls are for one player against the computer. For two or three players, use a computer or a tablet with a keyboard.

Free and kid-friendly

Tank Maze Duel is free to play in the browser on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones, with no download, no account and nothing to buy. There are no people in the game and nothing gory: a tank that is hit simply stops and pops up a little white flag until the next round. Your trophies and unlocked arenas are saved only on your own device. Grown-ups can read more on the Parents & Safety page.

More tank games

Love battles on wheels and tracks? Every tank game on AnonArcade, from 3D battles to artillery duels and history games, is on the Tank Games page. For more two player fun, try Head Hockey Battle, or take to the sea in Warship Sea Battle 3D.

Frequently asked questions