How to Play Arrow Souls

Ragdoll physics archery: arrows stick in bodies, slow-mo on headshots.

Arrow Souls is a physics archery game where every fighter is a soft-body ragdoll. Arrows stick in whatever part they hit, a clean headshot triggers slow motion, and a heavy hit can knock an enemy off their platform. You stand on the left, enemies spawn on the right, and each wave sends more archers with more armour, with a boss every fourth wave.

Between runs you spend coins on permanent upgrades (armour, health, extra lives, stamina, pull speed, damage, arrow slots) and on packs of special arrows like triple, bomb, fire, ice and laser. The PVP option sends a seeded run to a friend so both of you face the exact same waves and compete on score.

Controls

• Drag anywhere on the screen to pull the bow; release to fire. Pull distance sets power.
• The reticle turns gold on a body and red when a headshot is lined up.
• Tap JUMP to hop; it costs 5 stamina and dodges incoming arrows.
• Every shot needs stamina; the blue bar refills over time and faster with the Stamina Refresh upgrade.
• Tap an arrow slot at the bottom to switch between normal and special arrows you own.

How to play, step by step

1. Press Play for a solo run, or PVP to accept or send a challenge link.
2. Pull back, aim above the enemy for distance, release. Watch the arrow arc and adjust.
3. Aim for the head: a headshot does 45 damage against 18 for a hip and 8 to 10 for limbs.
4. Kill every enemy on the platform to end the wave; the next wave spawns with more archers.
5. Pop balloons that float across for power-ups, but avoid the bomb balloons.
6. Survive as many waves as you can. When your archer dies with no lives left, the run ends and your score is recorded.

Rules and scoring

• Enemy count grows one every two waves up to five; enemy health is 50 plus 11 per wave and armour appears from wave 5.
• Every fourth wave is a boss: Shield Boss, Rapid Boss or Ballista, with 1.3 to 2 times health and much heavier bodies.
• Helmets deflect weak or glancing head hits with a clank; headshots must be hit cleanly and hard.
• Each kill scores 150 plus 20 per wave and consecutive kills build a combo.
• Fire, ice and laser arrows unlock at 10, 25 and 50 total kills; packs cost 80 to 250 coins.

Tips to score higher

• Aim at the neck line on the first shot; a slightly high arrow becomes a headshot and a slightly low one still hits the body for 20.
• Jump only when an enemy arrow is already in the air toward you; it costs stamina you need to shoot back.
• Buy Stamina Refresh before Damage; more shots per wave beats slightly stronger shots.
• Fire arrows burn armoured enemies over time, so fire the pack at wave 5 onward when armour appears.
• Ice slows a boss's pull, which is the safest way to handle Ballista's heavy shots.
• Knockback kills count: a strong body shot near a platform edge can drop an enemy without emptying its health bar.

Modes and challenges

• 1 Player: endless waves with bosses every fourth wave, score saved to Leaders.
• PVP: send or accept a challenge link; both players get the same seed and compare scores.
• 2 Players: local duel on one device.

Frequently asked questions

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