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Hwacha Fortress
Steer a giant wheeled Joseon castle across the battlefield. Ram and crush bandit infantry, carts, palisades, and watchtowers under your wheels, and bolt on Singijeon rocket batteries, Cheonja cannons, and Dragon-Head flamethrowers every time you level up. Keep rolling to build steam pressure for up to +45% bonus firepower, and hold out for 10 minutes to face the Imperial Colossus.
Play Now (Free)
Some sprites were created with generative AI and curated by the JWorld team. See the FAQ below for details.
How to Play
- Steering: Drag anywhere on the screen (or use WASD / Arrow keys on PC) to turn your wheeled castle. Heavy fortresses carry momentum and turn wide.
- Auto-Fire Turrets & Cavalry: Every block bolted onto your deck fires or deploys cavalry automatically—you focus on steering, positioning, and crushing.
- Steam & Crushing: Driving without stopping for ~3.4s fills your steam gauge, boosting all damage by up to +45%. Enemies and buildings at or below your Crush Class (marked with a green ring) are flattened on contact!
- Steam Charge (SPACE): Vent collected steam to surge forward for 2.4s at 1.6× speed and raise your Crush Class by +1 so you can flatten heavier carts head-on.
- Barrage (E): Instantly reloads all turrets on deck for a simultaneous volley and calls down 4 heavy siege bombs (10s cooldown).
- Workshop Upgrades: Earn coins after each run to unlock 8 permanent workshop upgrades (free to refund and respec anytime).
Castle Crush Classes (4 Tiers)
Your fortress physically grows across 4 tiers as you bolt on more blocks, allowing you to crush larger enemy vehicles and fortified camps.
| Crush Class | Blocks Installed |
|---|---|
| Class 1 · T1 Cart Fort | 1–3 blocks |
| Class 2 · T2 Siege Wagon | 4–5 blocks |
| Class 3 · T3 Engine Castle | 6–8 blocks |
| Class 4 · T4 Mountain Fort | 9–13 blocks |
3 Playable Fortress Hulls
| Fortress | Traits | How to Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Hwacha Fortress Skirmisher | Singijeon Rockets. Speed +15%, steam charge +50%, reload -10%. Hits, runs and sweeps up. | Unlocked |
| Land Turtle Ship Rammer | Dragon-Head Flamer. Ram damage +100%, armor +100, but speed -6%. Crushes its way in. | Last 3 minutes in one run |
| Bigyeok Siege Castle Artillery | Cheonja Broadside. All damage +10%, range and blast +20%, but armor -30. Wrecks from afar. | Destroy 500 enemies and buildings in total |
Fortress Blocks & Masterwork Evolutions (★)
Each block upgrades to Lv.5 and can then be reforged into a Masterwork (★) via level-up or Master Blueprint Chests.
| Block | Function | ★ Masterwork |
|---|---|---|
| Singijeon Rockets 신기전 화차대 | Rocket cart fires homing fire-arrow salvos at nearby targets. | ★ Great Singijeon Battery Fires 9 explosive great rockets at once, setting castles ablaze. |
| Cheonja Broadside 현측 천자총통 | Fires heavy iron shells that burst on nearby castles and camps. | ★ Thunderclap Cannon Volleys giant Jincheonroe bombs that chain-explode on impact. |
| Dragon-Head Flamer 용두 화염방사기 | A dragon's maw breathes fire, melting foes and palisades ahead. | ★ Turtle Ship Blue Flame Sweeps a wide cone with blue goblin fire that melts heavy armor. |
| Dokkaebi Ram 도깨비 충각 | Boosts ram and crush damage and sends shockwaves ahead. | ★ Chiwoo Iron Horn Just driving sends golden shockwaves plowing through all ahead. |
| Crossbow Squad 성벽 연노 궁수단 | Crossbowmen on the towers snipe nearby foes and fleeing wagons. | ★ Divine Bow Tower Sprays 6 steel harpoon bolts like a machine gun, piercing armor. |
| Cavalry Gate 출격 기병 진영 | Iron cavalry sally out to charge nearby castles and camps! | ★ Gaema Heavy Cavalry Five riders in burning barding tear through enemy castles. |
| Whirling Sawblades 풍차 톱날 바퀴 | Steel saws circle the castle, shredding whatever they touch. | ★ Fire-Wheel Saws Seven golden fire saws ring the castle and grind all who near. |
| Thunder Catapult 벽력거 투석포 | Lobs powder kegs high to bombard camps and giant castles. | ★ Heavenfall Bombard Four huge powder kegs fall with lightning and scorch the field. |
| Mine Dropper 화약 지뢰 투하구 | Drops gunpowder mines in your tracks to blast pursuers. | ★ Black Powder Chain Mines Your whole trail becomes a golden minefield that melts pursuers. |
| Jang Yeong-sil Engine 장영실 증기 기관실 | More speed, steering and auto-repair, plus steam shockwaves. | ★ Armillary Perpetual Engine Endless steam speeds the castle and sets off earth-shaking blasts. |
Battlefield Enemies & Rival Fortresses
Enemies range from Class 1 (footmen) to Class 5 (final boss). Anything at or below your current Crush Class can be run over.
| Enemy | Class | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Bandit Footman (산적 보병) | Class 1 | Infantry / cavalry |
| Raider Rider (약탈 기병) | Class 1 | Infantry / cavalry |
| Musketeer (화승총 포수) | Class 1 | Infantry / cavalry · Ranged (1 shot) |
| Shield Cart (방패 수레) | Class 2 | Wheeled siege cart |
| Battering Cart (돌격 충차) | Class 2 | Wheeled siege cart · Enrages below 50% HP |
| Cannon Wagon (화포 장갑차) | Class 2 | Wheeled siege cart · Ranged (2 shots) |
| Iron Turtle Tank (철갑 거북전차) | Class 3 | Heavy armored turret tank · Ranged (2 shots) |
| Twin-Gun Siege Tank (쌍포 중장 공성전차) | Class 4 | Heavy armored turret tank · Ranged (3 shots) |
| Black Dragon Fortress (흑룡 이동요새) | Class 4 | Heavy armored turret tank · Ranged (4 shots) · Summons 2× Shield Cart every 15s |
| Red Tiger Ironclad (적호 철갑성) Boss | Class 3 | Rival moving fortress at 2m 30s · Ranged (3 shots) · Summons 6× Raider Rider every 13s |
| Black Iron Citadel (흑철 공성 거성) Boss | Class 4 | Rival moving fortress at 5m 40s · Ranged (5 shots) · Summons 3× Battering Cart every 14s |
| Imperial Colossus (태산 황제성) Boss | Class 5 | Rival moving fortress at 10m · Ranged (7 shots) · Summons 2× Iron Turtle Tank every 12s · Enrages below 50% HP · Defeat to clear the run |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. Hwacha Fortress runs directly in your mobile or desktop browser, and your save data stays in your browser storage.
- How long is one run?
- Up to 10 minutes. Rival moving-fortress bosses appear at 3:00, 6:00, and 10:00. Topple the 10-minute Imperial Colossus to clear the run!
- What can I crush by ramming?
- Any enemy or camp whose Class is equal to or lower than your castle’s Crush Class is crushed on contact, dropping XP, coins, and repair timber. Full steam or Steam Charge raises your Crush Class by +1. Boss fortresses cannot be crushed and must be defeated with firepower.
- What is the Daily Siege?
- A daily seeded challenge where every player deploys with the same castle hull and battlefield layout, with workshop upgrades disabled for a pure skill contest.
- How was the artwork made?
- Some sprites (enemies, buildings, fortress blocks, terrain) were generated with Google Gemini and selected and refined by our Js. Explosion and smoke particles build on Kenney’s CC0 particle pack.