How to play
TOY SOLDIER BLITZ is a third-person shooter where you are a little green plastic army man fighting the tan army across a kid's bedroom. Every battle has two parts. First comes a short BUILD phase of about half a minute, when both sides put up a fort on their own half of the map out of wooden alphabet blocks, domino walls, staircases, ramps and ruler bridges. Then the FIGHT starts, and everyone battles over whatever got built.
In the build phase, click on your green half to place the selected piece and right-click to remove one. Pick pieces with 1 to 5, rotate with R (or Q and E), undo with Z, and move the camera with W A S D and the wheel. F is AUTO-BUILD, which lays out a sensible fort for you, and Enter says you are ready. Each piece costs points from your build budget, shown in the bar.
In the fight, click to lock the mouse, then move with W A S D and look with the mouse. Left click fires, right click aims, Space jumps, Shift sprints, G throws a firecracker and R reloads. M mutes. On a phone, tap to place pieces and use the build bar buttons, then use the left stick to move (push it all the way to sprint), drag on the right side to look, and tap FIRE, AIM, JUMP, BANG and R.
Tips and strategy
Build for the mode. In Team KO, walls and a raised block to shoot from are worth more than anything. In King of the Hill, build stairs and cover that lead towards the centre ring, because that is where the whole fight goes.
Aim for the head. Your rifle holds 24 shots. A body hit does 20 damage and a headshot does 45, so a couple of clean headshots end a fight fast. Short bursts stay more accurate than holding the trigger down.
Firecrackers wreck forts. You get two per life. They blow pieces apart, and anything resting on a broken piece falls too, so one firecracker under a tower can bring the whole thing down along with whoever is standing on it. Bullets also chip pieces away, just more slowly.
Do not trust thin cover. Every piece has its own health. Ruler bridges are the weakest and staircases the toughest.
Use the high ground. Stairs and ramps let you walk up; anything taller you have to jump onto. Bots react to what they can see, so popping up from behind cover and dropping back down works well, though they will lob firecrackers at anyone who hides too long.
What's in it
Four mirrored maps: RUG RUMBLE on the bedroom floor with a toy car, crayons and books, PILLOW FORT on the bed among pillows and teddies, BATHTUB BEACH with rubber ducks, soap and a slow water channel, and DESK DEFENSE among pencils, a mug and an eraser.
Three modes: Team KO (first team to a set number of knockouts), King of the Hill (hold the centre ring for 60 seconds) and Duel (one on one, first to 5). Matches last two and a half minutes, duels two, and the higher score wins when time runs out.
Eight operations unlock in order, each worth up to three stars: one for winning, one for knocking out at least as many as knocked you out, and one for a big winning margin. You earn XP towards eight ranks from Private to General; each promotion adds a build point, Corporal unlocks the ramp and Sergeant the ruler bridge. Quick Battle lets you pick any map, mode and bot skill.
There is also online play: host a room and send the four-letter code to a friend, who joins with it. Team modes fill up with bots.
Questions
Is it violent? It is a shooting game, but there is no blood. Plastic soldiers topple over and come back a few seconds later.
Do I need an account? No. Your rank, stars and unlocked operations are saved in your browser. Online play needs no sign-up either, only the room code.
Does it flash? Yes. There are muzzle flashes, bright flashes from firecracker explosions, and a red glow at the screen edges when you are hit.