Cave Blast — Play Free Online

Cave Blast is an action and shooting game that drops you into an underground setting and asks you to move, aim and fire your way forward. It is listed under Action & Shooting and published through Poki, and it runs directly in the browser, so there is nothing to install before you start.

The pace is different from the vertical hopping that Doodle Jump is known for. Instead of tapping left and right to climb, you steer yourself with the keyboard and use the mouse to point where your shots go. That makes it a good change of rhythm if you have been playing a lot of jumpers: the same quick, one-more-try habit, but with aiming as the skill that matters.

How to play

Movement uses the arrow keys or WASD, whichever hand position you prefer. The mouse handles aiming and also selects things in the menus. On a phone or tablet the game takes touch input instead, with taps and swipes standing in for the keyboard and mouse.

Because aiming and moving are on separate controls, it helps to keep one hand on the movement keys and the other on the mouse from the very first screen, rather than reaching for the keys only when you are in trouble.

Tips

• Keep moving while you aim. Standing still to line up a shot is usually the easiest way to get hit in any shooter.
• Spend the first minute getting used to how far the mouse has to travel for a given turn, then stick with one mouse position so your aim becomes automatic.
• If the game feels cramped on a laptop trackpad, a real mouse makes a noticeable difference for aiming.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

If you like the quick-restart feel but want something closer to the headline game, Helix Jump and Bird Jumper are about timing and positioning rather than shooting. Ovo 2 and Fireboy and Watergirl lean toward platforming and puzzle-solving, while Bloons Tower Defense 2 is a more strategic take on popping things from a distance.

Cave Blast suits short sessions at a desk with a keyboard and mouse, though the touch controls mean it can also be tried on a phone when that is all you have to hand.