Fullscreen Mode

Get to Know About Stick Soldier

Have you ever jumped into a game that’s so bare-bones you wonder how it keeps you hooked? That’s exactly what Stick Soldier does with its minimalist stick-figure style and straightforward side-scroll shooter action. You control a lone stickman with a rifle, darting left and right across a sparse battlefield, picking off enemy soldiers as they spill onto the screen. There’s no hand-holding tutorial or flashy cutscene—just you, your gun, and wave after wave of foes.

What really grabs you is the weapon variety, even though the visuals stay simple. One moment you’re mowing down grunts with a basic rifle; the next you’re hurling grenades, locking on with a sniper rifle, or launching rockets into the horizon. Ammo and health drops litter the ground, so you’ve always got to juggle moving around to stay alive while scooping up that next grenade pack. Controls are intuitive—usually arrow keys or WASD to move, spacebar or mouse click to shoot—which means you can hop right in and start fragging enemies without memorizing complex combos.

Despite its stick-figure roots, the game nails that old-school “just one more run” vibe. Every wave feels like a fresh challenge, and there’s a weird satisfaction in watching a cluster of enemies collapse from a well-placed rocket blast. Even when you’re wiped out in the later waves, the quick restart button makes it almost too easy to dive back in and go for a new high score. Stick Soldier isn’t trying to reinvent the shooter wheel, but it doesn’t have to—its simplicity is exactly what makes it such a fun little time-killer.