Punball · systems design
Ten pencil battlefields. Choose an action beside a unit, pull back, and time the pen release. Cover and line discipline decide what the earned streak can do.
§ 1
Play against the bot or pass the same screen between two people. Choose one of ten maps before the battle. Each side starts with ten tanks, ten soldiers and two jets. Water maps also have boats. The bot gets sharper as rounds continue.
Select a unit, then choose Move or Strike beside it. Pull away from the target. Pull length controls power, up to 110 screen pixels. A 760 ms wind-up gives full range; the green release window lasts about 112 ms. An early or late release loses range and adds a small aim wobble. Holding longer does not guarantee a perfect shot.
§ 2
Soldiers move 5 squares and fire 7. Tanks move 6 and fire 10. Jets move 10 and fire 8.8. Boats move 8.8 and carry passengers; they do not fire. No stroke can exceed the 10-square hard limit.
Trees, rocks, ridges and ruins block ground movement and fire. The full path is checked, so a unit cannot jump through water or cover. Ground units cross bridges or board nearby boats. Boats carry two units, stay on water, pass under bridges, and cannot fire or take damage. Jets fly over terrain but need a clear landing. Bases take four hits.
§ 3
A soldier is worth 60 points, a tank 120, a jet 150, and a base hit 150. A round win adds 300 plus 100 times the round number. The bot campaign continues into harder rounds on the same map, up to round 99. You can bank a winning run before continuing. Defeat submits the run once. Pass-the-screen matches do not submit scores. Matches are not saved.
§ 4
A move earns a black streak. Choose a clear point on it, or use the distance slider and Move here. Green marks the reachable segment. A strike resolves against the first unit, tree, rock, wall or base it meets. Friendly fire counts. A cancelled pointer gesture, lost focus, or a pull shorter than 12 screen pixels spends no turn.
Select a unit to zoom toward it. Drag empty paper to pan, and use Whole sheet or the zoom buttons to recover your view. Units opens a touch-friendly roster. Keyboard users can choose a unit and action, aim with arrows, adjust pull with +/−, then hold and release Space. Escape cancels. The map and rules live in war-on-paper/maps.ts and sim.ts; SVG art and motion live in art.tsx. The bot uses the same movement and first-hit rules. It favors bridges and aircraft rather than planning boat ferries.