Total Recoil

🔫 Total Recoil: Retrograde Propulsion Mechanics

Total Recoil is a top-down arcade shooter that flips the standard control scheme on its head. In traditional games, movement and shooting are independent variables. Here, they are coupled via Newton's Third Law. The weapon is your engine. Every shot fires a projectile forward and pushes the character backward. This mechanics is known as Retrograde Propulsion.

The strategic depth comes from this limitation. To move forward (towards a coin or power-up), you must shoot backward (away from the objective). This creates a constant cognitive dissonance. Players must instantly calculate vectors: "If I shoot the enemy to my North, I will be propelled South into a spike trap." Success requires situational awareness of what is behind you, not just what is in front of you.

🌊 Wave Survival & Economy

The game operates on an endless wave system:

• Enemy Aggro: Robots swarm the player. Since you cannot run away without shooting, and shooting consumes ammo (or pauses DPS), you can easily get cornered. The strategy is to use the recoil to "bounce" off walls, maintaining momentum.
• Coin Collection: Coins drop from enemies. You need them to upgrade weapons. However, collecting them is dangerous because you have to shoot away from the coin to move towards it, leaving your back exposed to the enemy spawn points.
• The Arsenal: Upgrading weapons changes the physics. A Pistol has low recoil (low movement speed). A Shotgun has high recoil (high dash speed). A Minigun acts like a jetpack, providing continuous thrust.

⚠️ Environmental Hazards

The arena is filled with spikes and saws. The recoil mechanic makes these static hazards lethal. A panic shot to kill a robot might save you from the enemy but launch you directly into a buzzsaw. Precision, not spray-and-pray, is required.

❓ FAQ