Play Pendarrow • Free

In most archery games the archer stands still. In Pendarrow the archer stands on a swing, and the swing's motion is added to the arrow's. At the bottom of the arc the seat is moving fastest, so a shot loosed there leaves quickly. Near the top of the arc the seat slows right down, and a shot loosed there has only what the bow gave it.

That gives you a second thing to time as well as aim. You can pump to build speed, then wait for the right part of the arc to reach a distant target, or loose a gentle shot at the top of a swing for a close one. Some bows reward speed more than others: the Blossom Recurve doubles the swing bonus at full swing.

The wind pennant at the top of the screen flutters harder as the wind grows stronger, with chevrons for its strength. A tailwind blows towards the targets and a headwind blows back at you, and in gusty levels it swells and fades as the round goes on. Leaves and blossom petals drift on the same wind, so you can see it as well as read it.

The aiming dots follow the wind as well, so you can see where your arrow starts out and what the wind will do to it. Breeze Arrows ignore the wind completely, which makes them useful on the stormiest levels.

A painted board scores 10 for the bullseye, then 8, 6, 4 and 2 for the rings outside it. A bronze bell scores 12, a balloon 6 and a paper kite 8. Kites ride the wind, so they drift and dart with it.

Lanterns hang in a garland: light every one for a garland bonus, which doubles if you did not miss the garland while lighting it. A willow hoop scores when you fly an arrow through it, and the arrow turns gold, so the next thing it hits scores double. Pinwheels turn in the wind and score by petal, from 12 for gold down to 3 for cream, with the hub counting as gold. Brass sun discs spin: shoot one as it faces you for a SUN FLASH worth 14, half-on for 6, and an edge-on disc glances your arrow away. In Bloom Order levels, numbered blossoms must be hit in order, and each hit in a row adds more to the chain bonus, until a miss resets it.

Boards, discs and bells can be fixed on a post, slide along a rope, rise and fall on a mast, or hang from a gantry on a rope, sometimes swaying in the wind.

The Meadow Rows are the gentle start: boards on posts and a few balloons, in still air. The Petal Winds bring tailwinds, headwinds, gusts and the first paper kites. The Gantry Bells hang boards and bells from a gantry and add willow hoops and lantern garlands. The Balloon Fair is all balloons, bobbing, drifting and numbered for Bloom Order. The Dusk Medley mixes everything, with pinwheels and sun discs, and ends with a final level in the centre of the board that uses every kind of target.

Each level has its own quiver, its own wind and its own scores for one, two and three stars. When a level brings in a new kind of target, its banner says so before you shoot. The evening gets darker as your quiver empties, the sun sinks and fireflies come out, and a LAST ARROW chip tells you when only one is left.

Every round earns coins: about a third of your score, plus a bonus for each star you earn for the first time. Spend them at the Fletcher's Cart, a market cart under a striped canopy that you open from the Arrow Board. Three signs on the canopy switch between bows, arrows and swings, and each item shows its effect and three stat bars before you buy.

There are five bows. The Willow Bow is free. The Yew Longbow shoots about a quarter faster and flatter, the Moonstring Bow shows the whole flight path while you aim, the Blossom Recurve doubles the swing bonus, and the Triad Bow looses three arrows in a narrow fan for one arrow from the quiver.

There are six kinds of special arrow, and you carry one kind at a time, three for each round, on top of your quiver. Breeze Arrows ignore the wind and Glide Arrows fall only half as fast. Golden Arrows are loosed gold, so the first hit scores double. Split Arrows divide into three when you tap while they fly. Sunpierce Arrows fly straight through boards, pinwheels and discs, scoring each. Pollen Arrows burst into petals on impact and hit everything close by. Tap the chip at the bottom right, or press F, to nock one before you draw.

There are three swings. The Rope Swing is free. The Ribbon Swing kicks harder with every pump, and the Garland Swing keeps its height far longer.

Every target in Pendarrow is a painted board, a bell, a balloon, a paper kite, a lantern, a hoop, a pinwheel or a brass disc, set up on a meadow at dusk. There are no people, animals or blood in the game. A hit makes a pop, a ring or a shower of petals.

All the sound is made in code: the creak of the bow, the thunk of a board, bells, a breeze, crickets as the evening deepens, and music that changes with each set and eases down under the menus. The bell button or the M key turns it off, and the game follows the site's mute as well.

The levels you have cleared, your stars and best score for each, your coins, the gear you own and have equipped, and your sound setting are saved on Unihfy Games in this browser.