How do you play Slingshot Castle Smash?
Press the slingshot band on the left of the screen, drag it back and let go: the shot flies in the opposite direction of your pull. Hit the castle on the right, bring it down and knock over every scarecrow and flag barrel inside to clear the level.
The farther you pull, the harder it flies, and pulling downward sends it on a high arc. While you pull, the power (%) and angle (°) appear as numbers above the slingshot, so you can repeat or fine tune a shot. On the first three levels a white dotted line previews the flight path; from level four on you only have the dotted trail left by your previous shot. It is the classic slingshot physics game people often call an Angry Birds style game, moved to pastel skies, cute castles and faceless scarecrows.
What kinds of ammo are there?
There are three: the stone, the log and the bomb stone. Each level hands you 3 to 5 shots in a fixed order, and the next shots wait in a line on the ground behind the slingshot.
| Ammo | What it does | Best against |
|---|---|---|
| Stone | Heavy and round, keeps rolling and pushing after the hit | Glass |
| Log | Tap in flight to boost it hard in its current direction (once) | Wood |
| Bomb stone | Tap to blow it up on the spot; it also goes off about a second after it hits something | Stone |
The log first appears on level 6 and the bomb stone on level 11, each with a short tip on screen. A blast pushes and damages blocks within about 2.6 meters, harder the closer they are.
How strong are wood, glass and stone blocks?
Glass is the weakest, wood is in the middle and stone is the toughest. Every hit wears a block down by how hard it was struck, cracks show as it weakens, and it breaks when nothing is left. A really hard hit breaks it at once.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Break a glass block | 200 |
| Break a wooden block | 300 |
| Break a stone block | 500 |
| Knock down a scarecrow or flag barrel | 5,000 |
| Each shot left when the castle falls | 10,000 |
Blocks take damage from falling roofs and rolling boulders too, not only from your shots. When a block breaks, the shot loses less speed and punches through, so targets behind a glass wall are fair game. Gray rock ledges and the ground never break.
When does a scarecrow or flag barrel count as down?
It counts as down when it is broken by a hard hit, or tips over more than about 60 degrees. Falling off the bottom of the world counts as well.
Scarecrows are tall and topple easily once their floor is gone, while flag barrels are short and wide, so hit them directly or drop something heavy on them. The small icons at the top left show how many targets are still standing. When the last one falls the action slows down for a moment, the spare shot bonus is added one shot at a time and the result screen appears.
How do you get 3 stars?
Clearing the castle earns 1 star, adding more than 30% of the block points earns 2 stars, and saving at least one shot while earning more than half the block points earns 3 stars.
The stars under the score update live, so you can decide whether to spend your remaining shots on more destruction. The level select screen shows the stars for every level, and you can replay any level to raise them. Your final shot plays its first impact in slow motion.
Any tips for bringing castles down?
- Aim for the posts. Cutting the lower posts brings the whole upper floor down onto the targets.
- Match the ammo to the material. Stones shatter glass, boosted logs snap wooden posts, and bomb stones crack thick stone walls.
- Detonate bombs inside the castle. Tapping as the bomb enters the middle does far more damage than letting it go off against an outer wall.
- Remember the numbers. A near miss usually lands if you change the power by just 2 or 3 percent.
- Try lobbing. Targets hidden behind walls are easier to reach with a high arc that drops from above.
Controls
- Mouse and touch: press anywhere, drag back to stretch the band and release to fire. A tiny drag cancels the shot. Tap the screen while the shot is flying to use its special.
- Keyboard: Up and Down change the angle, Left and Right change the power (hold Shift for steps of five), Space or Enter fires and triggers the special, R restarts the level.
- Top buttons: sound on or off, retry and menu.
Stars and best scores are saved only in the browser you are using and are never sent to a server. Clearing your browser data starts you over from level one.