GUNTAI 3000 — Deep Dive Strategy Guide

Overview

GUNTAI 3000 is a free browser-based army-building action game by memez6dev, built for 🍪 Cookie Jam #4 (theme: "companions"). You play as Pokey Bub, a tiny pixel character who collects orbs to grow an army and defend a hometown against an invasion of Klaed robots. No grinding, no level gates, no microtransactions — pure army economy and tactical positioning at NES-era 256×224 resolution.

Platform: Browser (itch.io HTML5)
Price: Free
Engine: GDevelop 5.6 (build 272)
Resolution: 256×224 (pixel-perfect NES, nearest-neighbor scaling)
Release: June 2026

The game scored 2.5–3.0 out of 5 across 10 jam ratings. The pixel vibe and music got the most praise. Common criticisms: the zoom-out is blurry, maps feel oversized, and the on-screen arrow indicator confuses new players. This guide tackles all of those.

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Getting Started — First 15 Minutes

No tutorial screens. No explanations. You click "OnePlayerButtonStart" and Pokey Bub spawns on a top-down battlefield with zero soldiers. Here's what to do immediately.

Three mistakes that kill new runs:

1. Engaging enemies before 8 orbs. Your starting weapon is weak. Without soldiers, even a Scout overwhelms you. Collect first, fight later.
2. Right-clicking every enemy. Soldiers are your primary resource. Don't waste them on Scouts. Reserve for Battlecruisers and Dreadnoughts.
3. Staying at default zoom. The camera is tight. Scroll out to see off-screen spawn points and plan escape routes. This alone doubles your survivability.

The arrow indicator at the top of the screen points toward something — players in the jam weren't sure what. It tracks the nearest uncollected orb cluster. Follow it during the early game, ignore it during combat.

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Core Mechanics

Army Economy

Your army size is the single most important variable. It determines damage output, survivability, and structure-clearing speed.

The TiledUnitsBar at the top of the screen tracks army size and ammo count. The bar color shifts from gray (small army) to green (adequate) to red (near capacity).

Combat System

Your weapon has three hidden parameters:

Optimal rhythm: Fire 3 shots, pause 1 second, repeat. This keeps heat below 50% and maintains constant uptime.

Soldier AI

Soldiers use basic pathfinding with SoldierEnemyAvoidance — they won't intentionally walk into enemy fire, but they won't actively dodge either. They move as a group toward your right-click target and engage anything they encounter on the way.

Key behavior: Soldiers prioritize the nearest enemy. Right-clicking a distant target makes your army engage every enemy between their position and the target. Use this to clear a corridor.

Enemy Types — The Klaed Army

Each enemy has three animation states: Idle, Weapons (attacking), and Destruction (dying). Battlecruiser has 14 destruction frames (takes longer to die) versus Fighter's 8 frames. A longer destruction animation means more time to deal follow-up damage.

Wave System

Enemies spawn from off-screen edges via EnemyOutOfBoundsSpawner. The SpawnPeriod and SpawnerCapacity variables control timing and quantity. The MegaSpawner triggers large waves at set intervals tracked by the global Day variable.

Day progression: Day 1 is an easy tutorial. Day 3 introduces Fighter swarms. Day 5+ brings Battlecruisers and the first Dreadnought encounter. Each new day increases enemy count and aggressiveness.

The music credit goes to RagnarRandom and Waterflame — the soundtrack shifts with day progression as a subtle audio cue that difficulty has escalated.

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Progression Strategy — Day by Day

Day 1–2: Orb Phase

Objective: Build an army of 15+ soldiers.

• Move in a spiral pattern outward from spawn. Orbs cluster around map features (trees, rocks, destroyed structures). Learn the cluster positions — they're consistent across runs.
• Avoid all enemy contact. Scouts can be outrun with diagonal movement.
• Spot RobotBase locations but don't engage. Mark them mentally.
• By end of Day 2, you need 15+ soldiers. If you're below that, extend your search to the northeast quadrant.

Day 3–4: Outpost Phase

Objective: Destroy 2–3 RobotBases.

• With 15+ soldiers, engage RobotBases. Right-click your army onto the outpost, then stay at range and fire yourself.
• Each destroyed base gives +2–3 soldiers and reduces local spawn pressure.
• Prioritize bases near spawn first — they generate the most danger over time.
• Engage Fighters during this phase to keep army count stable. Don't chase Scouts.

Day 5+: Boss Phase

Objective: Survive Dreadnought encounters.

• The BossIcon appears on screen when a Dreadnought wave approaches. You have roughly 15 seconds to prepare.
• Pull your army back to a defensible chokepoint between map features.
• Position your army between you and the Dreadnought's approach vector.
• When the Dreadnought arrives, let your army engage first. Flank to the side and fire continuously.
• The Dreadnought's 60-frame weapon animation cycle is heavily telegraphed. Dodge by moving perpendicular to its attack direction.
• If your army is decimated, fall back and kite the Dreadnought while hunting for respawning orbs.

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Step-by-Step Strategies

1. Orb Rush Pattern

Optimal orb collection route, assuming a standard map layout:

1. Spawn point — 1–2 orbs within 10 pixels. Grab these immediately.
2. Northwest quadrant — Maps concentrate 5–8 orbs here. Move diagonally to collect faster.
3. Central area — 3–5 orbs in the middle. Be careful — enemies spawn here first.
4. Return to spawn — Collect respawned orbs and assess army count.

Target: 10 orbs within the first 60 seconds. Below 10? Extend to the northeast quadrant. Below 5? Restart — you spawned in a bad cluster position.

2. Army Command Protocol

Right-click is your most powerful tool. Use it with purpose:

Never right-click on Scouts. It wastes soldier kills on a non-threat.

3. Heat Management

The weapon sprite flashes red when heat exceeds 70%. If you see the flash, stop firing. The 2-second overheat penalty is longer than the cooldown time.

4. Kiting Large Enemies

Battlecruisers and Dreadnoughts have a turn-speed limitation — they can't change direction instantly. Exploit this:

1. Face the enemy directly.
2. Move diagonally (up-left or up-right) while firing.
3. When the enemy stops to attack, reverse direction.
4. Your soldiers engage from the flank while you maintain aggro.

5. Boss Encounter Framework

When the BossIcon appears:

1. T−15 seconds: Pull army to a defensible position. Identify the Dreadnought's approach vector (usually from the nearest active MegaSpawner).
2. T−5 seconds: Position your army in a line between the approach vector and your position. Right-click the ground in front of you.
3. Engage: Let your army absorb the first attack. During this 2-second window, flank to the side and open fire.
4. Sustain: Fire 3-shot bursts. Dodge telegraphed attacks. When the Dreadnought focuses on you, reposition behind your army.
5. Recover: After the Dreadnought falls, immediately scan for respawning orbs. RandomSoldier activations can replenish your army.

6. MegaSpawner Elimination

MegaSpawners are the highest priority target at any stage:

1. Detect the MegaSpawner by following the direction of incoming enemy waves. It pulses with a distinct visual effect.
2. Clear a path: Right-click your army along the safest route.
3. Once your army reaches it, join the attack. Fire at the MegaSpawner directly.
4. Destroying it takes about 5 seconds of sustained fire. Don't stop until it's gone.
5. A destroyed MegaSpawner stays dead for the rest of that day.

7. Desperate Measures

If your army drops to 5 or fewer soldiers:

1. Fall back immediately. Do not engage anything. Move away from spawn points.
2. Search for respawning orbs. Orbs respawn in the order they were collected. The first orbs you picked up are the first to come back.
3. Rely on RandomSoldier. Keep collecting — the random activation can grant 3–5 soldiers in a single burst.
4. Pick off isolated enemies. Once you have 5+ soldiers, right-click isolated Fighters only. Avoid clusters.
5. Return to outpost clearing only when army reaches 12+.

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Advanced Tips

Diagonal movement is faster than cardinal. The 8-directional system calculates speed on each axis independently. Moving diagonally covers more ground per frame. Always move diagonally for long-distance travel.

Orb respawn order. Orbs respawn in the order they were collected. The first orb you picked up is the first to respawn. Your starting area is always a reliable source of orbs during lulls.

SoldierEnemyAvoidance exploit. Soldiers won't path directly into enemy fire. Right-clicking behind an enemy cluster makes your army split and flank around the edges instead of charging through the middle. Useful for surrounding Battlecruisers.

The ZoomNumber variable. At max zoom (furthest out), enemy spawn indicators appear at the map edge as small dots. This gives you a 3–4 second warning before waves arrive. Stay zoomed out during lulls, zoom in during combat.

Day counter exploit. The Day variable advances when you destroy RobotBases. If you're struggling, delay base destruction. This gives you infinite time to build your army before harder waves arrive. The enemies that spawn are finite per day until you trigger the next day.

The arrow indicator. The on-screen arrow points to the nearest uncollected orb cluster. New players find it confusing — it's visible but unexplained. During the early game, follow it to find orbs faster. During combat, ignore it completely.

Map size awareness. Maps are relatively large for the resolution. The zoom-out view is intentionally blurry (pixel-perfect scaling artifact). Learn to recognize map features at zoomed-out distances: trees are dark green blobs, RobotBases are gray rectangles, orb clusters shimmer faintly.

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Controls Reference

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Enemy Threat Assessment

Army HP Cost = estimated soldiers lost in engagement. Each soldier has 1 HP. When hit once, they're gone.

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FAQ — Common Mistakes