Reading a Missile Command board
Almost everyone plays Missile Command like a shooting game. It isn't one. It's a game about deciding what you can afford to lose.
This is about Skyguard, our remake of the 1980 Atari game. The numbers are from our version, but the idea holds in the original too.
What's on the board
Six cities, three missile batteries (left, middle, right), ten counter-missiles in each. Click somewhere and a missile flies there and explodes, taking out anything inside the blast. The batteries refill at the start of every wave, which matters more than it sounds.
Plain missiles fall in a straight line. From wave 2 some of them split halfway down. From wave 3 you get smart missiles, which are slow but steer around your explosions, and from wave 4 bombers fly across the top.
What the score is telling you
| What | Points | At wave 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Plain missile | 25 × wave | 250 |
| Splitter | 40 × wave | 400 |
| Smart missile | 60 × wave | 600 |
| Bomber | 125 × wave | 1,250 |
| Each surviving city (end of wave) | 100 × wave | 1,000 |
| Each unused missile (end of wave) | 5 | 5 |
Look at the bottom two rows. A city is worth more every wave. A leftover missile is worth 5 points forever. At wave 10, one city is worth 1,000 and a full, untouched set of thirty missiles is worth 150.
So stop saving ammo. It comes back for free next wave. If it takes three shots to be sure of one warhead heading for a city, fire three.
A lost city also keeps costing you. Lose one at wave 3 and it's not 300 points gone. It's 400 at wave 4, 500 at wave 5 and so on until the run ends. A city that makes it to wave 12 has earned roughly 7,800 points by itself, which is why two players who die on the same wave can end up miles apart.
What to shoot, and what to let go
Anything heading for empty ground: let it land. A shot spent on a harmless missile is a shot you won't have for the one that matters.
Splitters: hit them high, while they're still one target. Once they split you're chasing three or four.
Smart missiles: don't explode right on top of one, because it just swerves. They're slow, so aim where it's going, or put two explosions either side of it.
Bombers: the best points on the board, but they don't destroy cities. Take them when things are calm. Ignore them when three missiles are on their way to your last city.
Don't drain the middle battery
Every shot comes from the nearest battery that still has ammo. Aim anywhere near the middle of the screen and it's the middle battery that pays, so it tends to run dry exactly when the middle cities need it. Where you can, take out missiles while they're still over the left or right side, so the edge batteries do that work.
Each wave brings a couple more enemies, a little faster. Past the early teens there are no new tricks, just more of everything, and runs end because you run out of time to decide. That's why knowing what to ignore beats good aim.
→ Play Skyguard · → How to get better at browser arcade games