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Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

playstarfling.com

91–100 of 163 posts

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#91
post #36

Reminds me a little of an old game called Slingshot[0], I think it implemented the idea much better as you actually had to slingshot and consider gravity. Someone should turn it into a browser game, would be much more fun than this. [0] https://sourceforge.net/projects/slingshot-game/

I implemented a very rudimentary copy of it at https://fac3.org/slingshot.html

Drag on the red circle to set angle and velocity, let go to launch it, try to hit the green circle, avoid the blue circles (planets with gravity). To try again hit "r" or reload the page to create a new random set of planets. Doubt it works at all on mobile, only tested it in desktop firefox.

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#92
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately it doesn't let you skip planets.

I tried it, but it doesn't make for good gameplay, it just gets too easy. Could maybe subtract points, but that also feels strange. I updated gravity to do things, but orbiting isn't permitted.

i love the gravity. but sometimes the orbital speed is to fast to be able to make the next jump. that's frustrating.

a slow mode, or an option to hit the brakes might be nice. or going slower as the orbit decreases. smaller orbit is harder but slower speed is easier. you just have to find the right moment

the quick bonus should not be more than one point. maybe an extra point for hitting 5 quick jumps in a row.

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#93

Hey HN, I built STARFLING, a simple hyper-casual space game you can play right in your browser. You orbit a star with a ball. Tap anywhere to release and sling it through space. Catch the next star to lock in orbit and keep going. Miss and it's game over. The whole thing is just one HTML file with vanilla JS, Canvas, and Web Audio. No frameworks, no build step. Loads in under 2 seconds on phone or desktop. There's a…

Nice work! Really low frame rate on Firefox on Android (pixel 10), might be something worth checking.

On a Pixel 10 Pro with Firefox it's not too bad but it's definitely a touch less responsive than on Chrome also on that same phone

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#95
I like it! One complaint is that if you are going fast it starts to display a "Quick!" (or something like that) message on top of the middle of the screen. This makes me want to continue going quickly, but the message is blocking me from properly seeing the orbit, so I end up trying to keep the streak going and most often launch and miss cause I can't see. Maybe display it off to the side in empty space?

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#96
post #80

I would make restarting much much faster than it is now. That's the most annoying part and it breaks the satisfying chain completely for me. I miss and then have to watch it slowly fall, or struggle to find the reset button. And even if I hit the reset, I have to go through the menu. At the very least, put the reset and play again buttons in the same spot, so I can just keep tapping/clicking there. Super Meat Boy is…

Tampermokey userscript -- to launch and restart to give up

```javascript

   // ==UserScript==
   // @name         StarFling Spacebar
   // @namespace    https://playstarfling.com/
   // @version      2026-04-11
   // @description  Spacebar to launch and restart StarFling
   // @author       Claude Code
   // @match        https://playstarfling.com/*
   // @icon         https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?sz=64&domain=playstarfling.com
   // @grant        none
   // @run-at       document-idle
   // ==/UserScript==

   (function () {
     'use strict';

     document.addEventListener('keydown', function (e) {
       if (e.code === 'Escape') {
         e.preventDefault();
         // During play, click give-up to trigger the death/restart screen
         const giveup = document.getElementById('giveup-btn');
         if (giveup) giveup.click();
         return;
       }

       if (e.code !== 'Space') return;
       e.preventDefault();

       // If the game-over screen is visible, click retry
       const gameOver = document.getElementById('game-over');
       if (gameOver && !gameOver.classList.contains('hidden')) {
         const retry = document.getElementById('retry-btn');
         if (retry) retry.click();
         return;
       }

       // Otherwise simulate a tap on the canvas (start from menu / release orb)
       const canvas = document.getElementById('c');
       if (canvas) {
         canvas.dispatchEvent(new PointerEvent('pointerdown', {
           bubbles: true,
           clientX: window.innerWidth / 2,
           clientY: window.innerHeight / 2,
         }));
       }
     });
   })();
```

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#97
I've been looking for a game from the "flash era" that's incredibly similar to this one! It was "fling-this-wad-of-duct-tape-to-clog-the-black-hole" as a metaphor, but I forget the name. It had similar "orbit" dynamics, but the entire game was setting the initial angle/velocity and then the orbits just 'did their thing' from there. This looks really cool! I'm already up to 11 as my best!

If you like this, you will for sure love the game "12 Orbits"!

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#99

Hey HN, I built STARFLING, a simple hyper-casual space game you can play right in your browser. You orbit a star with a ball. Tap anywhere to release and sling it through space. Catch the next star to lock in orbit and keep going. Miss and it's game over. The whole thing is just one HTML file with vanilla JS, Canvas, and Web Audio. No frameworks, no build step. Loads in under 2 seconds on phone or desktop. There's a…

I cannot express to you how much fun this simple little game is! I'm really enjoying it!

If I got to work on this game for 90 seconds, I would move the "bonus text" down to the bottom. It gets in the way of tviewing the literal most important thing SO MUCH!!!

Re: Starfling: A one-tap endless orbital slingshot game in a single HTML file

#100
post #70
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

19:50 Put codex and claude (thinking high) to work in parallel to see who could come up with the better physically accurate mindless tapping orbital mechanics sandbox. 20:10 Both codex and claude finish pretty much at the same time, but my kids say claude's version is more fun. 20:50 Claude runs out of its 5h session limit while finetuning some things, while Codex has 80% left (!). https://coezbek.github.io/orbital-t…

It's still pretty far physically accurate because there is infinite acceleration the moment a ship reaches the target orbit.

That sounds like it would be a completely different game and probably not as fun since you'd have to use some very fiddly controls to manually get into orbit. If you eliminate orbit entirely then it's just a slalom race. "Hitting" each star/planet is the immediate feedback that makes it fun.
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