Scorched Earth

Angle your tank's cannon, judge the wind, and blast your opponents off the battlefield in the legendary artillery game known as "the Mother of All Games." Scorched Earth online costs nothing on this page — the shareware release asked players to register their copy, and no such step stands between you and a duel now. This 1991 turn-based artillery game loads in seconds and delivers the addictive, explosive tank duels that made it a multiplayer staple. It will run on a phone, but each shot is an angle and a power figure nudged one press at a time, and arrow keys do that far more patiently than a touchscreen.

How to Play Scorched Earth Online

Getting into battle takes seconds:

1. Press Play and the "Mother of All Games" title screen comes straight up.
2. It starts quickly and runs in the browser window, with the same configuration screens the shareware release used.
3. Click inside the game frame so angle and power adjustments register on your tank.
4. Set up the number of players and tanks, then buy weapons.
5. Take turns adjusting your angle and power to fire on enemy tanks.

Scorched Earth is about angle, power, and wind — adjust all three to land your shots, and use the money you earn to buy better weapons.

Controls

Scorched Earth is played with the keyboard, taking turns to fire:

Each shot is a calculation of angle, power, and wind — watch the wind indicator, adjust your aim accordingly, and switch weapons to match the situation.

What Is Scorched Earth?

Scorched Earth is a turn-based artillery game developed by Wendell Hicken and released in 1991 for MS-DOS. Affectionately dubbed "the Mother of All Games" in its own title screen, it pits up to several tanks against each other on a randomly generated 2D landscape. Players take turns aiming and firing their cannons at one another, adjusting the angle and power of each shot while accounting for wind and the destructible terrain, with the goal of destroying all opponents.

Scorched Earth is a beloved classic of the artillery game genre, famous for its addictive multiplayer duels and huge arsenal of weapons. Between rounds, you earn money for hits and kills and spend it in a shop on an outrageous variety of weapons — from basic shells to guided missiles, napalm, MIRVs, nukes, and the screen-filling "Death's Head" — as well as defensive items like shields and parachutes, and mobility upgrades. Its blend of simple, skill-based aiming, escalating firepower, destructible landscapes, and the fun of playing with friends made it a quintessential DOS-era favorite and a defining example of the genre.

How the Game Works / Gameplay Basics

Each round places the tanks on a randomly generated, hilly 2D battlefield, and players take turns firing at one another. On your turn, you adjust your cannon's angle and the power of your shot, then fire, trying to land a projectile on an enemy tank. The key challenge is accounting for gravity, the arc of your shot, the wind (which pushes projectiles sideways), and the terrain between you and your target — shots that miss often reshape the destructible landscape, changing the battlefield. Direct hits damage or destroy enemy tanks, and the last tank standing wins the round.

The depth and fun come from the weapons and economy. Successful hits earn you money, which you spend in a between-round shop on a vast and often ridiculous arsenal — guided missiles, cluster bombs, napalm, dirt-moving tools, and devastating super-weapons — plus defensive and utility items like shields, parachutes (to survive falls when the ground is blasted away beneath you), and batteries. Choosing the right weapon for the situation, managing your money, and mastering the angle-power-wind aiming are the keys to victory. Whether played against the computer or, ideally, with a group of friends taking turns, Scorched Earth delivers tense, funny, explosive fun that's easy to learn and endlessly replayable.

Beginner Tips

• Master angle and power. Practice your aiming arc to land consistent hits.
• Account for wind. Adjust your shots to compensate for the wind direction and strength.
• Buy smart weapons. Spend your money on weapons that fit the battlefield and your strategy.
• Use defenses. Shields and parachutes can save your tank from destruction.
• Watch the terrain. Use hills for cover and reshape the ground to your advantage.
• Play with friends. The game shines as a turn-based multiplayer duel.

Why Play Scorched Earth Online?

Scorched Earth travelled on shareware disks and bulletin boards, but its real life happened around one keyboard with everyone taking turns and heckling the shot in flight. That part survives intact, and since nothing needs configuring, a group can be lobbing napalm at each other a minute after opening the page. A round runs a few minutes; the arguments about the wind take longer.

Nothing goes onto your hard drive, so whatever machine is in front of you is enough for a duel. For a game that comes down to two numbers and a wind reading, the setup ought to be trivial, and here it finally is.

Troubleshooting

• Game won't start? Reload and let the configuration screens finish drawing before you set tank counts and player types.
• Keyboard not responding? Click once inside the game frame — small angle tweaks are easy to lose if the frame isn't focused.
• Running slowly? Close other tabs and heavy applications; the large explosions and collapsing terrain are the heaviest thing on screen.
• No sound? Scorched Earth dates from the years when a DOS game had to be told which sound device it was talking to, and everything it plays is a short effect — the explosion audio is how you judge a shot that lands off-screen.
• Screen too small? Use fullscreen so you can follow a shell's whole arc across the battlefield.
• Missing your shots? Practice adjusting angle and power, and always factor in the wind.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Scorched Earth free to play online? Yes. Its shareware release asked players to pay a registration fee; nothing on this page is held back behind one, and no account is involved.

Does Scorched Earth need a download or a DOS setup? No. There's no archive to unpack and no DOS configuration to work through — the page starts the game with the same setup screens it always had.

Can I play Scorched Earth on mobile? You can, but you aim by nudging an angle and a power value one press at a time, and holding an arrow key is much steadier than tapping repeatedly at glass. The wind indicator is also a strain to read on a small screen.

Is this the original 1991 Scorched Earth? Yes — Wendell Hicken's DOS artillery game, the one whose own title screen calls it "the Mother of All Games."

How do you aim? You adjust your cannon's angle and firing power, accounting for wind and terrain, then fire at enemy tanks.

Can I save my progress? Scorched Earth is played in self-contained matches and rounds rather than a long saved campaign.

A hilly battlefield and a huge arsenal await. Load it up and start the artillery duel.