Player's guide · 2-minute read
Sixth Wing — how to fly
Sixth Wing is a vertical shoot-'em-up flown over full-3D terrain. It's easy to jump in but has a few tools that are easy to miss — here's all of them, and the controls for phone and desktop.
The one thing to know: you fire automatically. There's no shoot button — your guns are always blazing. The whole game is dodging, and using the four tools below at the right moment.
Controls
📱 On a phone or tablet
| Fly | Drag anywhere on the screen — your craft follows your finger (held a little above it, so your thumb never hides it). |
| Shoot | Automatic — always on. |
| Mode | Tap the Mode button (bottom). |
| Bomb | Tap the Bomb button. |
| HYPER | Tap the Hyper button when the bar is full. |
🖥️ On a desktop
| Fly | WASD or the arrow keys — or just steer with the mouse. |
| Shoot | Automatic — always on. |
| Switch mode | X or Shift |
| Bomb | Space (or middle-click) |
| HYPER | C (or left-click) |
Not sure? Leave Controls on Auto on the title screen and the game picks touch or keyboard for you. 2-player (one desktop): Player 2 flies with the arrows, Right Shift bombs, / fires HYPER. Top-right of the screen: mute, fullscreen and pause.
Camera — press V, or the 🎥 button top-right, to cycle bird’s eye → chase → cockpit. Bird’s eye shows the most incoming fire and is the easiest to survive; the other two trade that away for the view. Your choice is remembered.
Your four tools
- Switch mode — every craft has two firing modes. One is fast and wide; the other slows you down for precise, concentrated fire (great for bosses and threading through bullets). Flip between them any time.
- Bomb — your panic button: a big blast that clears the screen of bullets and hurts everything. You start with 3; grab indigo ◆ pickups for more. Spend them — don't die holding them.
- HYPER — a super-shot that doubles your damage for a burst. You charge it by grazing (see below); fire it when the HYPER bar is full.
- Grazing — the skill most people miss: fly close to enemy bullets without getting hit. Near-misses charge your HYPER and build your score. Brave, tight flying is rewarded.
Your craft also locks on automatically — get near ground convoys or aircraft and it fires homing shots at them on its own. The AH-77 helicopter has the strongest lock-on.
Pickups
| Drop | What it does |
|---|---|
| green ▲ Power | Levels up your main guns — heavier fire. |
| violet ◯ Wingman | Adds a drone escort that flies alongside and adds fire. Collect several. |
| indigo ◆ Bomb | +1 bomb in reserve. |
| gold ● Medal | Points, and it feeds your chain. |
Kill enemies in quick succession to build your chain multiplier — the faster you clear, the more every kill is worth.
Boss fights
Bosses are built to be taken apart, not out-damaged. Four things the screen is telling you:
- The white dot is you. Your craft is drawn much bigger than the part of it that can actually be hit — that little dot at its centre is your hitbox. Bullets that look like they clipped a wing missed you. Fly by the dot and the gaps are far wider than they appear.
- Notches on the health bar are phases. A boss armours up at each one and cannot be blown straight through — even a full HYPER. Expect three or four rounds, and expect it to get angrier each time.
- ◈ next to the name means pods. Some bosses carry glowing weapon pods, and while those are alive the core shrugs off almost everything you fire at it — you'll see the hits ring off. Kill the pods first; the core opens up and the fight goes four times faster.
- A thin red line is a beam charging. It is drawn exactly where the beam will fire, and it hums while it charges. Get off that line — and if it sweeps, run the way it is sweeping, or slip in close to the boss where the sweep is slowest.
When a boss flashes cyan, it has just finished a big attack and is wide open — that's your window. Everything you land there counts double. Surviving the signature move is the reward.
Pick your craft
Four to choose from on the "Choose your prototype" screen — pick by feel:
- VX-6 Ghostwing — the all-rounder fighter; fastest airframe, wings morph between a wide spread and a piercing beam.
- AH-77 Stormkestrel — attack helicopter; steady heavy guns and the best auto lock-on.
- BX-9 Sledge — strike bomber; slow and tanky, lobs explosive shells that burst with splash, and packs a double-strength bomb.
- DR-3 Wisp — attack drone; fastest and twitchy but fragile, sprays homing micro-missiles that curve onto targets.
Free · no account · no ads · EN/中文 · plays in portrait or landscape · credits & licensing