Pixel Tank Duel

A local multiplayer tank shooter for 2–4 players. One device runs the server and hosts the match; everyone else joins from a phone, laptop, or tablet on the same Wi-Fi — no internet needed.

How it works

The host runs a Node process that is authoritative: it owns the game loop (movement, shooting, collisions, round timer) at 60 updates/sec and broadcasts state to every connected browser over WebSockets. Clients only send input, which keeps everyone in sync without a central server on the internet.

Gameplay

• Move with WASD/arrows or an on-screen joystick; fire with Space or the FIRE button.
• A 3-2-1 countdown opens each round, then 1.2 s of spawn protection. Tanks have 3 HP.
• Last tank standing wins; if the 60 s timer runs out, most kills wins, and a tie goes to sudden death.
• Matches are first to 3 round wins, up to 4 players.
• Type with T/Enter and taunt with 1–7 emotes; hold Tab for the scoreboard.

Rooms and the armory

A single server hosts many independent games. Each room has a 4-letter code, its own arena and players, and rooms never see each other. You can create an open room (listed publicly) or an invite-only one, join from the list or by code, and a shared ?room=CODE link drops straight into the match.

Before deploying — and any time mid-game — the Armory lets you set a callsign, pick a hull, turret, barrel length and colour. Parts are cosmetic only; they don’t change speed, hitbox, or damage. A Controls toggle switches between classic (turret follows your driving) and independent aim (mouse or a second touch stick).

Systems

• Bolt economy & The Forge — earn bolts in battle, spend them on cosmetics and consumables.
• Haunts — keep losing and your own browser starts fighting back.
• Persistence — progress is tied to an account reached by a device token in localStorage, with no login; extra devices can be linked from the Armory.

Stack

Layer	Choice
Server	Node.js, Express
Realtime	WebSockets (ws)
Client	Vanilla JS, HTML5 Canvas
Transport	Lobby over HTTP, gameplay over WS
Persistence	JSON file (data/players.json)

Running it

npm install
npm start   # port 3000

Open http://localhost:3000 on the host; other devices use the host’s LAN IP (http://192.168.x.x:3000).

Notes and limitations

The game needs a persistent Node process holding live state in memory, so it is not deployable to serverless platforms — it belongs on a VPS, Railway, Render, Fly.io, or your own machine. For play outside the LAN, a Cloudflare Tunnel publishes it at a public HTTPS hostname without opening any ports; it is live at game.shreeshalember.com.np.