How to play ricochet: how do bank shots work?

ricochet is a free bank-shot puzzle you play in the browser. A ninja hangs on a rope near the top of a room full of paper lanterns and throws a shuriken. The shuriken cuts through every lantern in its path and bounces off steel, so one good throw can clear half the room.

No download, no account, no app. It runs on a phone and keeps working with the network switched off.

The goal, in one sentence

Pop every lantern in the room before you run out of throws.

Aiming and throwing

On a phone or tablet, press the room, drag to aim and let go to throw. A tap without a drag only aims, so a stray touch never wastes a throw.
With a mouse, point to aim and click to throw.
On a keyboard, the left and right arrows (or A and D) turn the aim, Shift with an arrow turns it finely, and Space or Enter throws. H asks for a hint and R restarts the room.

The dashed aim line shows where the throw will go, and every lantern on the shown part of the path gets a ring around it.

What the shuriken does

Lanterns are paper globes. The shuriken cuts straight through them, so it can pop as many as it passes in one throw.
Steel bars and the room walls bounce it. Hitting a side flips its direction on that side; hitting a corner flips it both ways and sends it straight back the way it came.
Wood stops it dead. The shuriken sticks there for the rest of the room, and that throw is over.
Glass is a clear, hatched pane. It bounces the shuriken once and then shatters, so later throws, and the same throw on its way back, pass through.
Portals come in a pair of spinning rings. Fly into one and the shuriken comes out of the other moving in the same direction. Straight after a jump it ignores portals for a short distance, so it never ping-pongs.
Barrels are dark drums with a red band. Touch one and it explodes, popping every lantern and breaking every piece of wood within the blast and setting off any other barrel in reach. The shuriken keeps flying.

A throw bounces at most four times and travels a fixed distance, then drops.

How much the aim line shows

Easy shows the path through two bounces and gives two spare throws.
Medium shows it up to the first bounce and gives one spare throw.
Hard shows only where the throw first lands, and you get exactly as many throws as par.

Past the shown part a short faint tail points the way it is heading, and the rest is up to you.

Par and stars

Every room is checked by a solver before you see it, so it can always be cleared. The solver keeps taking the throw that pops the most lanterns, and the number of throws it needs is par. Because it never plans ahead, you can sometimes do better.

Clear the room at par with no hints: three stars.
Clear it in fewer throws than par: three stars and a beat par badge.
Within one throw of par with at most one hint: two stars.
Any other clear: one star.

Your throw budget is par plus your spare throws. Run out with lanterns left and you can restart the room; hints you already used stay used.

Hints

A hint aims for you at the best throw from the room as it stands now, and shows that throw’s whole path in yellow, however many bounces it takes. Easy gives three hints per room, medium two and hard one.

Endless levels and themes

The levels never run out. As you climb, rooms get more lanterns, more steel and more lanterns that no straight throw can reach. Glass, portals and barrels each appear from a set level on every difficulty, and the first time one shows up the message under the room explains it.

Every ten levels the room changes theme: night dojo, red temple, bamboo rain, snow roof and gold vault, then round again. Each difficulty keeps its own level progress and your best stars on every level.

The daily room and challenges

The daily room is the same for every player on each difficulty, based on the UTC date. Your first clear on each difficulty is the scored one, ranked by fewest throws, then fewest hints, then time. Later attempts are practice.

After a clear, press challenge a friend. The link opens the exact same room for your friend and shows how many throws they have to beat.

Frequently asked

How do you aim in ricochet? Drag on the room and let go to throw on a touch screen, point and click with a mouse, or turn the aim with the arrow keys and throw with Space. A tap without a drag only aims.

What do steel, wood and glass do? Steel and the room walls bounce the shuriken. Wood stops it and it stays stuck. Glass bounces it once and then breaks, so later throws pass straight through.

What do portals and barrels do? A portal sends the shuriken out of its partner in the same direction. A barrel explodes when touched, popping lanterns and breaking wood in the blast and setting off nearby barrels.

How far does the aim line show the path? Two bounces on easy, one on medium, and only up to the first thing it hits on hard. Lanterns on the shown path get a ring. A hint shows the whole path in yellow.

How are par and stars worked out? Par is how many throws the solver needed. At par with no hints, or under par, earns three stars. Within one throw of par with at most one hint earns two. Any other clear earns one.

How do hints work? A hint aims at the best throw from the room as it stands now and shows its full path. Easy gives three per room, medium two and hard one.

Do the levels end? No. Levels are endless, get harder as you climb and change theme every ten levels, cycling through five rooms from night dojo to gold vault.

Is the daily room the same for everyone? Yes. It comes from the UTC date and the difficulty. Your first clear on each difficulty is scored and later attempts are practice.

How do I challenge a friend? Clear a room and press challenge a friend. The link rebuilds the same room and shows your throw count to beat.

Is the ninja based on a character from somewhere else? No. The ninja in the black suit with the chrome visor and the red stripe is our own character, drawn for ricochet.

Where ricochet sits

ricochet is the portfolio’s game about seeing the whole path before you let go. Its siblings test other kinds of nerve. graze is about how close you dare let a shot pass; updraft is about how little input it takes to stay steady; outbound is about reading the order of things under a clock; wreck is about pushing forward under fire; cornered is about thinking two steps ahead of the hunters; deadband is about not overcorrecting; filter is about asking better questions; overload is about spending a limited hand; closure is about which move you are forced to make next; tint is about the cost of correction; and bridge is about blocking and winning with the same move.

Every one of them is free, runs in a browser, and works offline.

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