How to play Critter Crash
Critter Crash is a slingshot physics game. You aim the sling and let go to launch woodland critters at forts built from wood, glass and stone, and a fort comes down once its supports give way. Bring down every scrap robot hiding in a fort to clear the level. There are three kinds of critter, Pebble, Bramble and Zip, and twelve campaign levels in three areas: Whispering Woods, Scrap Junction and Scrap Forge. There is also a Local Battle for two players taking turns on one screen, and Fort Rush, a 120-second Arcade run played for a personal best.
Or play Critter Crash Arcade, a real-time run played for a personal best.
How to play
- In the Campaign and Fort Rush, drag back from the slingshot and let go to launch; a longer pull means more power. A dotted line shows where the shot is heading as it leaves the sling, and letting go after a very short pull cancels the shot without using a critter.
- Clear a level by bringing down every scrap robot in its fort; you never have to destroy the whole fort. Each level gives you a fixed line-up of critters, shown at the top in the order they fly. Run out with a robot still standing and you can restart as often as you like.
- Meet the critters. Pebble is the all-rounder. Bramble is the heaviest, which makes it the one to reach for against stone, and it does extra damage to wood. Zip is the lightest and fastest, does extra damage to glass and can use a Turbo Dash.
- While Zip is in the air, tap or click the arena, or press Space, for a burst of speed along the path it is already on. The dash works once per flight, has a top speed and cannot be steered, so aim first.
- Break the supports and let the weight do the work. Glass breaks easiest, wood takes more and stone takes the most, and a heavy falling block can crush a robot, a wood beam or a glass pane beneath it. Level 8, Junction HQ, holds an explosive crate; when it breaks, its blast damages everything close by.
- Breaking things with a hit or a fall scores: 100 for wood, 150 for glass, 250 for stone, 500 for an explosive crate and 5,000 for each robot. In the Campaign, every critter you did not need adds 10,000 at the finish, and your total sets the stars, one to three. Each level keeps your best stars and score, and clearing it unlocks the next; the Levels button opens the list.
- In the Campaign and Fort Rush you can also play from a keyboard. Press an arrow key to bring up the aim, then use Up and Down to change the angle, Left and Right to change the power and Space to launch. Escape cancels your aim, and Space also triggers Zip’s Turbo Dash in flight.
- Local Battle is a two-player mode on one screen. Each side has a fort with three glowing core pods and ten critters: six Pebble, two Bramble and two Zip, and you take turns choosing a critter. Break all three of the other side’s core pods to win. If both sides run out of critters first, the side with more of its own pods standing wins, then the higher score, and otherwise it is a draw.
- Fort Rush, the Arcade edition, is a run against a 120-second clock, which starts when you press Start Run, with no limit on launches. The loaded critter rotates after every launch: Pebble, Bramble, then Zip. Clearing a fort adds 15 seconds (the clock never goes above 180) and 10,000 to your score, and the next fort loads at once. The forts come in Campaign order and start over after the last. Your best score is kept on this device.
Tips & strategy
- Go for the supports, not just the robots. Pieces that fall onto a robot, a glass pane or a wood beam can break it without a critter touching it. In Level 8, the explosive crate is worth aiming for: it breaks at a light hit, scores 500 and its blast reaches everything close to it.
- Plan around the line-up. In the Campaign the critters arrive in a fixed order, so check which is next before you aim: Bramble for stone and wood, Zip for glass or a long shot, Pebble when nothing calls for either. In Battle you choose the critter yourself.
- Do not chase every block. A critter you do not need is worth 10,000 at the finish, twice a robot and more than every block in any Campaign fort put together, so a clear with critters to spare scores far more than a thorough demolition.
- Trust the pull, not just the dots. Damage depends on speed, so a full pull hits hardest and a short pull hits softer as well as shorter. The dots are only a short preview of the start of the flight, not a promise of where it lands, and they leave out Zip’s dash.
- Aim Zip first and dash second. The dash speeds Zip up to a top speed along its current path, so it adds the most once Zip has slowed, after a shorter pull or late in the flight, and very little right after a full pull. Line the shot up on the target, then dash for extra reach or a harder hit.
- In Battle, the core pods win the match. The score only decides a game when both sides run out of critters with the same number of core pods standing. With only two Bramble and two Zip each, spend them where they will count.
- In Fort Rush, let the loaded critter pick your target and go for the robots first: a cleared fort is worth 10,000 and 15 more seconds, far more than any block. The forts follow the Campaign, so its early levels are practice for the start of a run.
Accessibility
In the Campaign and Fort Rush you can play from the keyboard: the arrow keys set the angle and power, Space launches and triggers Zip’s Turbo Dash, and Escape cancels your aim. The mode switch, Levels, Restart, critter and Start Run controls are ordinary labelled buttons, and in the Campaign each critter in the line-up carries a letter, P, B or Z, as well as a colour. The Campaign and Local Battle never run against a clock; Fort Rush does. A sound button (Sound On or Muted) turns the sound off and is remembered, and screen shake is skipped when your device asks for reduced motion. The arena itself is drawn on a canvas that has a label but no text description of the fort, so the game relies on sight.