Cowboy VS Martians
Why We Picked Cowboy VS Martians
Cowboy VS Martians keeps its distance short and its retries free, which is the whole of its generosity. Nothing here is padded, including the ending, which arrives exactly on time. It is generous with retries and stingy with hints, which is the better combination at this length. The reason it stayed is the route design: there is usually a faster way than the obvious one. On the record: 96 of 183 on the adventure shelf, 3.8 out of 5 from 108 ratings, and 3,890 plays.
How to Play
The game is small enough to explain in three lines:
- Point where you want it and click to commit; the cursor is the whole interface.
- Get through the route in one piece; the retry is cheaper than the detour.
- Retry is cheaper than caution here — the levels are short on purpose.
Editor’s Note
Playable with a single hand on a laptop, which is more than most platformers manage. A run here is a handful of screens rather than a world, which keeps the retries cheap.
Written by the UGFJD editorial team for this page. The publisher’s own description follows below, unedited.
Publisher Description
Supplied by the game’s publisher; reproduced as-is.
The Martians have landed, they are not here to make friends, and the only thing standing between them and the planet is one cowboy with a loaded revolver and a magnificent mustache. Cowboy VS Martians turns that gloriously absurd showdown into a shooting game where every bullet counts and every green invader has to fall.
Each stage places our hero on one side of the screen with a limited supply of ammunition, while the Martians position themselves around the level, often tucked behind cover or perched on platforms. You aim with the mouse or a touch, line up the shot, and fire. The trick is that bullets ricochet off hard surfaces, so a target hiding behind a wall is not safe at all; it is just a geometry problem waiting to be solved. Clear every Martian on the screen and the level is complete, but waste your shots and you will have to start the stage over.
As the game progresses, the layouts grow more elaborate. Obstacles multiply, angles tighten, and some Martians end up in spots that can only be reached with a double bounce off walls and ceilings. The limited ammo count turns each stage into a compact puzzle, where finding the one elegant shot that takes out two or three invaders at once feels enormously satisfying. Later levels reward experimentation, since the obvious direct line is rarely the efficient one.
The key skill is learning to think in rebounds. Before firing, trace the path of a ricochet with your eyes and aim for surfaces rather than for the aliens themselves. Metal and stone angles behave predictably, so a shot that looks impossible at first glance often has a clean solution one bounce away. Conserving bullets matters, so look for clustered targets and line them up along a single trajectory whenever the layout allows it.
It is a great pick for players who like physics-flavored shooting puzzles with a comic streak. Short levels, clever angles, and a rootin'-tootin' hero make it easy to lose an afternoon to.
