pod3x3 — a real time strategy game of piloting three pods

you can try the game for free here to the left

pod3x3 is a somewhat unusual take on the RTS genre, with the constraints of the 2 player 8 bit pico-8 console in mind. the result is something more in likeness to a fighting or dogfighting game. a game of zoning and feinting to get the upper hand of your opponent. easy to learn, hard to master. the game can be played 1 vs 1, vs AI or AI vs AI.

but first things first:

how to play pod3x3

in pod3x3, each player give orders to 3 pods each. these pods are somewhat like tanks. you cycle between your pods with button 1. with the up and down buttons, you set the active pod's throttle. with the left and right buttons, you can change the pod's direction. the pod will try to match its rotation and velocity to the selected direction and throttle, even if you cycle to another pod later.

every pod is equipped with a turret that will automatically target and shoot at the nearest enemy. when a pod is selected, you can see the turret's current range as the circle around the pod. the range is bigger the faster you go, but it is also offset so that the turret have a harder time shooting backwards. this is the key to winning the a game of pod3x3.

if you're in a bind, you can hold button 2 to activate a shield. you can only use the shield on the active pod, and the pod cannot shoot while using its shield. however, the pod only takes 1/10 of the usual damage when the shield is up. the shield uses a shared meter that regenerates when not in use.

oh and one last trick — if you press button 1 and 2 at the same time, you e-brake. e-braking resets all your pods throttle to 0.

the arena is the big white circle. if a pod moves outside the circle, the autopilot is engaged and the pod is steered back into the arena. after one minute, the arena will start shrinking, watch out!

controls

title screen

• ready player — button 1
• activate AI — button 2

in-game

• throttle up/down — up/down
• change direction — left/right
• switch pod — button 1
• shield — button 2
• e-brake — button 1+2

keyboard

• up/down/left/right — p1: arrow buttons p2: e/d/s/f
• button 1 — p1: z or n p2: tab
• button 2 — p1: x or m p2: q
• pause : p

about ossian borén

i'm an artist and game designer who enjoys playing netrunner and drink coffee. if you have any questions or thoughts you can mail me at ossianboren@gmail.com or tweet me @ossianboren

cheers!

about pico-8

pico-8 is an 8 bit "fantasy console" made by lexaloffle. pod3x3 was made exclusively for this console. you can play pod3x3 natively, for free on the console (which costs about $10) or you can play the game using any of the standalone version. the HTML5 web version should work in most browsers on most platforms.