Happy Life GamesRicochet Shot Guide: Bank Shots, Lining Up Targets and Barrel Chains
Ricochet Shot is a geometry puzzle dressed up as a shooting game. You have a handful of bullets, a room full of masked bad guys, and walls that send every shot bouncing off at a new angle. Some targets are in plain sight. Others hide behind slabs and pillars where only a bounce can reach them. The fun is in finding the one angle that threads past the cover, through two targets at once, and maybe into an explosive barrel at the end.
Rules and controls
Drag anywhere on the screen to aim your agent's gun, then release to fire. While you aim, a red laser shows where the bullet will go: the first straight line plus a short piece of the first bounce. After that you're on your own, which is the heart of the puzzle.
A few rules decide everything:
- Bullets bounce. Walls, ceiling, floor, slabs and pillars all reflect the bullet like a mirror. It can bounce up to four times. When it reaches the fifth surface, it stops.
- Bullets pass through bad guys. Hitting one doesn't stop the bullet, so a single shot can take out everyone along its path.
- Barrels explode. A bullet that hits an explosive barrel stops there and sets it off. The blast knocks out every bad guy nearby and sets off any other barrel close enough, so one shot can start a chain.
The top bar shows how many bullets you have left and how many bad guys are still standing. Clear the room before you run out of bullets and you win. Run out with anyone left and the level ends with "Out of bullets!" If the game can tell that the bullets you still have can no longer clear the room, it says so with a "Stuck? Restart or tap Hint" message, so you don't have to waste the rest.
Starting out
The first two levels are free practice. Level 1 is a single direct shot. Level 2, "Line them up," puts two bad guys where one bullet can go through both. Get used to the idea that you're looking for lines, not targets.
Before each shot, count. If you have two bullets and four bad guys, at least one shot has to hit two or more. That alone tells you to stop aiming at individuals and start looking for pairs that sit on a common line, either directly or after a bounce.
Take your time aiming. Small finger movements change the angle by tiny amounts, and the laser updates as you move. When the laser's bounce lands exactly where you want, let go.
Thinking in reflections
The mirror trick
The easiest way to plan a bank shot is to imagine the room mirrored on the other side of the wall. A target you want to reach after one bounce off the right wall sits, in the mirrored room, at the same height but flipped across that wall. Aim at the mirrored target and the real bullet bounces into the real one. It works for floors and ceilings too, and for slabs in the middle of the room.
Use the laser as a ruler
The laser shows only the first bounce, but that first bounce is a strong clue. If the short second segment is heading roughly toward your target's area, the rest is usually a matter of nudging. If you need two bounces, line up the first segment so the second heads toward the wall you'll use next.
Look for shots that do two jobs
The best shot often passes through one bad guy on the way to a bounce that catches a second. Since bullets don't stop at targets, the line from your gun to the first bounce and the line after it can both do damage. On harder rooms, this is the only way to clear the room with the bullets you're given.
Save barrels for the crowd
A barrel's blast covers a good radius, but the bullet stops when it hits the barrel. That means a barrel shot should be the end of a path that has already done its work, or a shot at a barrel surrounded by bad guys. When two barrels sit close together, hitting one sets off the other, and the second blast can reach targets the first one couldn't.
Mistakes that cost bullets
- Shooting the easy target first. If a bad guy in the open could be hit as a bonus on the way to a harder one, shooting him alone wastes a bullet.
- Hitting a barrel too early. The bullet stops at the barrel, so anyone further along the path survives.
- Forgetting the bounce limit. A path that needs five bounces will never arrive. Find a shorter route.
- Aiming in a rush. The window for some trick shots is narrow. Move slowly and watch the laser.
How the levels develop
Every level has a name shown at the top, and that name is the idea it's built around. The opening ten go in order: "Take the shot," "Line them up," "Bank shot," "Bank & pierce," "Boom barrel," "Bank into the barrel," "Around the pillar," "Chain reaction," "Trick shot," and then the first "Boss room." Bank shot levels hide at least one bad guy where no straight shot can reach. Pillar levels add tall columns in the middle of the room. From level 4, the room is sometimes mirrored, so your agent may be standing on the right side instead of the left.
After level 10 the ideas cycle with more bad guys, more slabs and pillars, and more barrels. Every tenth level is a boss room with up to six targets, and the level after it is a little easier. In the early levels you get one spare bullet beyond what the best plan needs. Later, most rooms give you exactly enough, so the shots that hit two or more targets stop being a bonus and become required.
FAQ
What does the hint show?
It draws the full path of a good next shot in yellow, every bounce included, and turns your gun to that angle. Releasing a fresh drag fires wherever you aim, so you can fine-tune it.
Why didn't the bullet stop when it hit a bad guy?
Bullets pass through bad guys on purpose. Only walls, after the bounce limit, and barrels stop them.
Is there an undo?
No. A wasted bullet stays wasted, but you can restart the level or use skip. If you like this kind of angle work, Bubble Shooter uses wall bounces too, and Portal Gun is another puzzle where you hit targets indirectly.