How to play
A duel is a series of volleys. At the start of each, put the pointer in the holster box at your hip and keep it there. After a random wait of between about one and a half and four seconds, the word comes. Pull the pointer clear of the holster, and your arm and gun follow your hand. Click to fire. Each man gets one shot a volley, then hands go back down and you go again, until one of you cannot fight.
Aiming is an angle, not a crosshair. The bullet travels along the line from your hip through your hand and carries on across the street. Your hand must stay on your own half of the screen; cross the middle and the shot will not go. Leaving the holster before the word is a false start and the volley is re-done, but a third false start in one fight costs you your gun for the next volley.
Damage is per body part. A headshot ends it at once. A torso hit from a standard gun takes 45 of 100 health, so two kill; heavier guns hit harder, lighter ones less. An arm hit takes 25 and finishes that arm. Lose your gun arm and you shoot with the other, far less accurately; lose both and you are out. A leg takes 20 and puts you on one knee: lower and harder to hit in the head, but your aim sways. Once hit, you have a quarter of a second to get your own shot away, shown as a bar under your feet, or you go down.
One player is a ladder of ten gunmen, each faster and more accurate than the last, and losing ends the run. In Two player the left man uses the mouse and the right man aims with the arrow keys and fires with Enter. Both must hold their holster until the word.
Tips and strategy
- Fire the moment you are hit. The quarter-second answer ends most fights. If his shot lands first, shoot, even if your aim is not perfect.
- Go for the head when you are well ahead. It is small, but it ends the duel and pays $40 extra. When it is close, the torso is safer.
- Move your hand out to swing the muzzle. Because the shot follows the line from your hip, a small move near the hip is a big change at his end of the street.
- Never guess the word. The wait is random every volley. Two false starts cost nothing; the third hands him a free volley.
- Take an arm if you cannot take the head. A man on his off hand scatters his shots more than twice as widely. Take both arms and you win without a kill.
- Finish quickly for more money. A win pays $40, more for a fast final shot, $40 for a headshot, $12 for each volley under four, and a little more for each man further up the ladder.
What's in it
- Ten opponents in order: The Kid, Dusty, Mae, The Preacher, Billy, Cortez, The Marshal, Silver, The Widow and Nobody. The Kid reacts in about 620 milliseconds on average, Nobody in about 250. Each man's timing is rolled fresh every volley, and the weaker ones fumble the draw, jump the word and pull wide more often.
- Four guns: the free Army Colt, the Snub .38 ($120, fast out of the holster but it wanders), the Buffalo ($260, slow out of the holster but it hits half as hard again) and the Silver Pair ($420, with no real weakness).
- Four hats (none, Stetson, bowler, wide brim) and four coats (duster, black, scarlet, indigo), which the other man sees too.
Questions
Does it save?
Yes. Your cash, purchases and outfit are kept in your browser.
Do I earn money in two player?
No. Money only comes from one-player duels.
Why did my shot not fire?
Your hand was over the halfway line, you were serving a no-gun volley after three false starts, or you had lost both arms. A gun also needs a moment after clearing the holster before it can fire: shorter for the Snub .38, longer for the Buffalo.
What if we both go down?
It counts as a loss for you, and in one player that ends the run.