NockTrail

The power meter never waits for you. From the moment your finger touches the range it rises and sinks on its own, so the only things you decide are where the bow points and the instant you let go. Dragging swings the aim left, right, up or down while a dashed line marks where the shot is heading, and the meter's height at release sets how far the arrow carries on its short, dropping arc. Rings nearer the middle pay more, from 2 points at the outer edge to 10 for a bullseye, and hits in a row build a combo that doubles the ring value on the second arrow and triples it from the third on, until one miss sends it back to the start. Twelve levels hand out five, six or seven arrows apiece, and the target gets a little smaller as you move through them: the first two stand still, most of the rest slide sideways or bob up and down at rising speed, and levels nine and twelve carry the board around an oval. Each level sets three score marks for one, two and three stars, a single star opens the next level, and a third miss finishes the attempt on the spot with nothing unlocked, however many arrows remain in the quiver. Your best star count per level, your highest score from any single level and a running total of every point you have landed are all remembered between launches. The difficulty choice leaves those star marks untouched and changes the help instead: Easy grows the target by a tenth, draws the aiming line at full length and slows the meter, while Hard trims the target, cuts the line to sixty percent and quickens the meter. Sound effects and music each have an on-off control and their own loudness setting, vibration can be turned off, and scores and stars are written to the phone itself, with no account to create and nothing in the build able to reach the internet. Past the wooden fence the lake lies flat under the mountains, and the level one target stands in the middle of the grass, not moving at all.