Last updated on January 2nd, 2026 at 11:43 pm
Notebook Artillery – Action Game Review
Notebook Artillery is a Action/Casual game from Austin Ivansmith Games LLC, first launched in 26th June 2024.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 142+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Notebook Artillery Stand Out
Once upon a time in the late 20th century AD,
near the turn of the penultimate decade of the millennia,
a magical confluence occurred in Middle School computer labs across the globe…
Artillery!
Infamously known by teachers as the scourge of attention — countless students spending entire computer lab periods firing cannons at each other instead of writing English assignments. The temptation too great, no child could refuse the siren's call of the game's accurate physics model and competitive nature.
Notebook Artillery is a love letter to hours wasted playing video games in Middle School computer labs instead of working on class assignments. And sure, maybe if I would've spent more time paying attention in class and less time playing video games I wouldn't be making indie games as a means to pay off insane amounts of student debt. But hey, its 2024 and maybe this can be one last beacon of hope for myself and everyone who loves this kind of game.
Players choose their "firing angle" and "powder amount" to fire cannonballs at opposing player's towers, or break floating targets in a solo player target practice mode. The randomly generated stage layouts will change strategy from round to round, and wind strength has an effect on a cannonball's trajectory which players must account for. It's simple arcade-simulation-action, fun for all ages, with completely hand drawn game art. It's like you're looking directly into a Trapper Keeper and the imagination of every middle school kid. Whats not to love?
- Hand drawn game art.
- Unlockable stickers to showcase your progress and accomplishments.
- Play Solo target practice, against a CPU opponent, or challenge local friends and family in vs mode.
- 3 unique world styles fashioned after various wild west motifs.
- Stage layouts are randomly generated to make no two games the same.
- Fight the wind and dodge trees to destroy opponents strongholds.
This was such a fun game to make, and it's so much fun to play with my kids, I hope you find it as fun as I do. And for fans of the original Macintosh classic, I hope this fulfills the desire to play this game again.
Notebook Artillery is a solo indie developed game, with the help of:
Audio design by – Kevin Samuels
Additional programming and console ports – PolyCrunch Games
Art, Programming, and Design – Austin Ivansmith
Notebook Artillery is a superchill game inspired heavily from the computer classic Artillery.
The game was originally developed in the early days of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic in mid 2020. I had wanted to play Artillery with my kids but couldn’t find a version that matched the casual aesthetic of the original I grew up on, so I made one.
I had wanted to make a game from hand drawn art, inspired by artists like Dom2D (https://twitter.com/dom2d), and this felt like the perfect opportunity. I got a “Pencil” for my iPad, and a copy of Procreate, and doodled until I found my own style which became the look of the game.
Development was fairly quick, eating up most of my spare time in lockdown not spent huddled up with my family or scouring grocery stores for toilet paper, pasta, and flour dressed like a doctor going into surgery.
Other notes:
- No AI tools were used in the development of this product. Bleep that noise.
- Developed in GameMaker Studio.
- All art hand drawn in Procreate.
- The human head weighs between 10-12 pounds.
- Featured in the GameMaker showcase – November 2020
Features coming soon to a future update!
- Leaderboards and achievements (save data from this update will be valid when that update comes.)
- Sticker collection inventory – get a list of all the stickers collected
- More secret surprises!
This Action game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Notebook Artillery is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 28th January 2025
Recent improvements include:
- Reduced performance issues
- Less floating castles!
- Removed tracking and ads data.
Download & Availability
Notebook Artillery is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Notebook Artillery on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Our brothers and we love this game even though its new to us its still very entertaining and fun! Great job on this game.
This is the perfect game for us, no time limit, no shots limit, just endless relaxing gameplay, almost zen at times. Easy to pick up and able to quit any time. Thank you.
We really enjoy the play style and game mechanics. The game has modes for target practice, player vs CPU, and 2-player, which provides endless fun. This game is a breath of fresh air.
Very relaxing and requires some skill.
Ngl didnt even open the game yet. Description is solid gold and if the storys true we wanna help the dev out and if its all made up then you deserve the dollar. Or 70% or whatever Apple actually pays you out of it. May actually play the game sometime.
The sounds is sooooo engaging. Love it as a casual game on the iPad screen.
Notebook Artillery is a fantastic blend of strategy and skill, wrapped in a charming hand-drawn aesthetic. The games simple yet effective mechanics make it easy to pick up, but mastering the angles and power of each shot adds a satisfying layer of challenge. The variety of weapons, destructible environments, and strategic elements keep matches exciting and dynamic. Whether playing solo or against friends, every battle feels unique and engaging. If you enjoy artillery-style games with a creative twist, Notebook Artillery is definitely worth checking out.
Simply a blast.. No pun intended.
Its checking most of the boxes for casual gaming, but it feels a little incomplete. Theres no introduction for how to play and seemingly no advancement (so purely casual). There are stickers which are really fun and feel like awards during gameplay, but nowhere to view them afterwards. Im also not a fan of the black icons on dark blue text for the Home Screen. Little things that have nothing to do with game mechanics that would really elevate this to five stars.
There needs to be a way of saving ones progress. Starting from the beginning every time you play is becoming rather droll. Also, the display should be randomized and not be in the same order all the time.
If game saved progress itd be 5 star.
But id love it to be slightly more challenging or something. Its a lot of fun to play but it quickly becomes repetitive. And can you see the stickers that you unlock? We guess we just want more game to the game.
This is a fun game with good mechanics. However, when playing against other people, something felt off. We dont know if we were playing against recorded moves of other players, but it was easier than the CPU. They rarely adjusted their shots at all, and no matter how fast we shot our cannon, they always shot at the same time. We dont think we were really playing against others, so we think the game is misleading. Fun game, but it became rote very quickly.
The physics are not realistic. The cannon ball should go the farthest when fired at a 45d angle (given unchanged power and a flat surface). Allow us to use touch drag left/right up/down to control the power and angle instead of tap the button a bunch (this is 2025, even the 80s had joysticks).
Seems fun but the controls are way too close to the edge of the screen such that theyre in the dead zone where taps dont register. Its super annoying to do anything.
Very fine drawings – dynamite detail! Clean fine lines with realistic touch to detail is quiet appealing, Such a thought provoking game app! We really dig the opportunity to clear out the deadwood! Or lob that ball over everything to drop directly on target! From a military perspective, Im pleased to recognize the ability to minimize collateral damage by limiting the gun powder and keep the cannon ball close. Or, we can max out the gun powder and utterly destroy the printer on YOUR desk! A game with Self is our preference and youve met the mark, Austin! It challenges our engineering and military experiences in the basic ways – which exercises our aging skills and abilities! Thank you for that, Austin! Please note Im unable to hear sound or music. Please advise. God bless you and your family, Austin, for your awesome work! – Eric.
We just loaded it and started playing. You gotta get it and try it. Youll probably find yourself laughing at the memories it brings back if you were into these notebook paper games of old. We are impressed by the simple awesomeness of this game. Love destroying cactus and trees for some reason, heheheh. Finding the right angle and powder load is really a blast. Its $1 and $1 well spent. Thank you AI.
This is an absolutely awesome, fun game. The only complaint we have is, it is too easy, way too easy. It would be awesome to have the cpu either have different difficulty setting that can be changed or change based on the skill of the person playing. Or have the cpu make smarter decisions ie. If the ball lands right next to you the next shot the cpu takes is usually off the map or in the extreme opposite direction which makes it kind of pointless to try. Other than that, the sound, graphics, animation, and gameplay are top notch.
A fun little game that you can keep on playing, and playing, and playing. Love it! No Ads. Many thanks to the developers.
We hope this guy gets rich off of his doodles. Im in for a buck.
We first played a game like this decades ago. Recently Ive been wanting to play something like this again. Last time we searched we didnt find anything, but today Notebook Artillery was featured in the App Store! We bought it immediately and have loving the game! Thank you so much.
This game is really awesome! Its notebook drawings are really realistic, and look like something out of a bored-in-math doodle. One thing we would recommend is some more game modes (like a speed round or online – something cool like that), because it might get old with enough time.
This game hands down is the best game for a phone we have played in a while. This game will be legendary for long car rides with siblings. Some one is going to either dominate or be dominated. Thank you for all the work you put into this game.
Pls make it so that we can play with friends online.
Very nostalgic, reminds us of playing Scorched Earth or Gunbound as a kiddo. Future online capability would give it 6 stars.
This game is very cool and one of the very few games you can find that the developer actually writes the developer responses! A few issues though. It feels like the speed of the animations are going too fast, and the line of the land when you play is too pixely. When we compare it to the other parts of the game, the land line just stands out too pixely. Also, It would make the game more enjoyable to have the ability to save the game if you are playing against your friend and you want to save the score, you could hit the menu and there could be a button for saving the game and going back to the menu so you could play by yourself for a bit while your friend is doing something else, or you just have to stop playing. Other than that, this game is amazing and fun to play! We would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to sit down and relax and play a game.
This app doesnt ask much from us. We didnt pay for it, no ads (yet). And what we get is retro fun with a twist. Thank you.
Its really good game but one small thing. It only the same thing over and over again. You should make events for the holidays and other stuff. One thing you should add is NPC levels like hard, normal, easy, and insane. Other than that the game is awesome. Thanks for making it.
Can it be possible to save and continue on levels.
As an older person we can play this, not well good either!! It is very visually pleasing and kept us busy crossing the Atlantic for hours.
This is the second game on our phone (The other game we have is a vocabulary game). We HATE games on phones and computers AND we HATE THE PEOPLE THAT PLAY THEM. But we CAN play this FOR FRIGGING HOURS.
This is a fun game and a good time killer. Although you may end killing more time then youd think you would.
Such a simple , fun game! Glad we stumbled across this one.
We could really spend more time on this game if the buttons were able to be moved to the side of the battlefield for one hand operation. Also get rid of the up and down movement and the big picture of the canon and black powder.
We love this game, but our only problem is that it gets extremely repetitive, maybe more modes would help.
Very good, basic game. The graphics are charming. The physics makes sense. The controls are simple, but works. Reason we gave it 4 instead of 5 is cause it's a bit too basic. Would've liked some simple improvements like the option to type in the numbers as opposed to having to use arrows or speeding up the animation. Overall, very good game that we'll be playing for little 5-10 minute breaks in between work.
This game is awesome, from getting our buddies to go against us or us just going against the AI. But, we do get a badge Im not sure what it actually does, so why not a button to see all the badges and what they do. Maybe like the badges that you havent gotten are blacked out so you cant see what it does and what its called? Or maybe a hint on how to get them next to it? But otherwise, we absolutely love this game.
There isnt much depth to this game, its worth about five minutes of fun before getting boring. But considering its free, what do you expect.
The physics and artwork are solid but there is no scorekeeping and no real objective. After playing 4 or 5 rounds against the computer doing the exact same thing, you start to get bored. Not to mention the AI is kind of erratic; sometimes it goes way out and in the very next turn it will land 2 feet away, and the turn after that, it actually gets further away, not closer. A human player opponent typically uses previous turns to hone in on your position and make corrections that gradually get closer to you but not this AI. But more importantly, this game has no overarching objective besides blow up the other guy, ad infinitum. There's all sort of tricks that can be used to make it more interesting such as: weapon/defense upgrades, customization of tower/cannon, time-limited shots, trick shots (using ricochet), fog of war (limit visibility), weather effects, boss fights (moving targets/shields), natural disasters (volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.), storyline narrative with quests/objectives like protecting an ally's tower,etc. This game is a good start but a few well-implemented upgrades would make it a gem.
We think the visuals and the controls of this game are great, but we found ourselves bored within 5 min of playing. Theres no progression of the game at all. Its just shoot targets, fight a computer, or PvP but only on your phone. If the point of this was to make a nice GUI and gameplay style, Id say that goal was met. But any other reasoning eludes us. We prob wouldnt even write a review for this, but its a paid game and was very disappointed when we realized the mistake we made. Ive played tons of free games that held our interest for much longer. If the creator has plans for the future, great. Make it a paid app then. But it should be free now as all it amounts to is a pretty average shooting gallery.
Love the game – everything well done and fun. Only complaints is that its too easy. We can one or two shot almost every level. Also it definitely could use more varied levels as the fun wears off after playing several days. But want to stress – overall – a very well done and fun game!! Keep up the great work developer.
As a math lover this game is short and sweet and isnt brain dead. Gets our brain a little exercise during breaks.
Very good game, brings us back to when we would play similar to this quite literally in a notebook with a pencil. If we had to critique it, maybe a campaign mode and upgrading your cannon/tower in different ways and stuff. But for what it is currently and sets out to do, 10/10, no complaints.
Games good, for what it is. Functions fine, very simple; the description was hilarious and got us to download the game without a second thought.
Everything the game set out to do was succeeded. Brings us right back to those hours we wasted not doing the assigments we should have been doing. Fancy Pants, Papas -ria games, and everything we could find on Miniclip. It just needs.. That hook. The score is nice, but hard to see as we didnt notice it for almost 10 straight minutes of playing the game. Even after the fact, it felt so much like a useless statistic. Some more visually pleasing effects would get the addiction working. And milestones, like beating levels without missing or hitting 2 targets at once would be nice for the sole purpose of giving our brain affirmations; there would be no actual reward system, just a meter or check mark. These are spitball ideas and we dont make games, but to get an addiction working this is what we looked for.
Dont get us wrong, the game is really good, but not amazing, theres not much to keep people playing except the map rotation, a lot of the time you dont have to rotate your cannon at all and the AI is either brain dead or destroys your cannon first try. Maybe adding a gimmick for each level would keep us playing. It was fun while it lasted.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.3.0
- Size: 108.21 MB
- iOS: 12.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Austin Ivansmith Games LLC
Last updated: 28th January 2025 | Genre: Action, Casual | Developer: Austin Ivansmith Games LLC