Unblocked Action Games

Action games ask for quick hands and quicker decisions. The eight on Totally Science cover a lot of ground, though. One is played with a single finger, one asks you to aim with a mouse while flying with the keys, and one turns every lost ship into a ghost teammate. Use this guide to match a game to your device and your mood.

Action Games With the Simplest Controls

If you are new to this kind of game, start with Stolen Sword. You press, pull back like a slingshot and let go to dash and slash through enemies. Time nearly freezes while you aim, so it never feels frantic. It was made for the js13kGames contest in 2020, and it needs only a mouse or a finger.

Emoji Survivors is another easy start, because you never aim or shoot. Your gear fires on its own, and you just walk: away from the emoji crowd, toward gems and around trouble. Pick from four heroes with different first weapons, such as Wizard with Fireball or Cat with Fish Orbit. A fifth hero, Vamp, unlocks after you survive ten minutes, and a boss waits at the 15-minute mark.

Shooters for Keyboard Players

River Strike sends your jet up a curving river that never stops. Brush the shore and the run ends. Shoot red boats and blocks, and fly through yellow fuel depots, because your gauge drains the whole time. Push up to go faster and down to slow down.

Protector scrolls sideways over a planet that loops around. Alien landers try to grab ten people walking on the ground, and a lander that carries someone all the way up becomes a faster mutant. A radar bar maps the whole world, and you carry a laser, smart bombs and a risky hyperspace jump.

Egg Time Rewind fits on an 84 by 48 pixel screen in two shades of green. When you lose a ship, time loops back to the start, and your old attempts fly beside you as ghosts that repeat their shots. You get three ships per game, so each loop adds a helper.

When You Want Mouse Aim

Radius Raid splits the job between your hands. W A S D or the arrows fly the ship while the mouse points the gun, so you can flee one way and shoot another. Hold the left button to fire, or press F for autofire. Each level brings in a new kind of enemy.

Tank Combat also aims with the pointer while W A S D drives. Its trick is that shells can bounce off stone once, and a red guide line previews the path. That lets you hit tanks hiding behind cover. Waves rotate through four maps and grow to as many as eight enemy tanks.

Explore and Break Things

Pixel Platformer is the pick if you like exploring more than surviving. It is one big alien level of purple rock, crates and ladders. You can jump, wall-slide, dodge roll, shoot with Z and throw grenades with C, and most of the rock can be blown apart. If a coin is buried in a wall, dig your way in. The scroll wheel zooms the camera.

Which Ones Fit Your Device

Stolen Sword feels most at home on a phone, since the whole game is one drag. Emoji Survivors, Tank Combat, River Strike, Protector and Pixel Platformer also take touch.

Radius Raid and Egg Time Rewind belong on a laptop. Radius Raid needs a keyboard plus a mouse to aim, and Egg Time Rewind is built for keys or a controller.

Only have a trackpad? Games that aim with the pointer can feel clumsy on one. Turn on autofire in Radius Raid so you only have to steer and point.

Tips That Work Across the Genre

1. Keep moving. In Emoji Survivors and Radius Raid, standing still lets the swarm close in. Circle the edges of the crowd instead.
2. Watch your supplies. River Strike’s fuel and Protector’s smart bombs both run out. Plan when you need them rather than using them the moment you can.
3. Trust the preview lines. Tank Combat and Stolen Sword both show where your move will go. Read the line before you commit.
4. Learn one hero first. In Emoji Survivors, sticking with one starting weapon for a few runs teaches you which upgrades suit it.
5. Pause when the bell rings. Esc pauses most of these, including Tank Combat, Protector, River Strike and Emoji Survivors.

Related Picks

Shorter score-chasers with simpler rules live in the arcade games. If exploring Pixel Platformer was your favorite part, the adventure games have dungeons, a heist and a layer-switching platformer.