How to play Gorillas
Gorillas is the artillery game that shipped with MS-DOS QBasic. Two gorillas stand on city rooftops and take turns lobbing exploding bananas at each other.
Set your angle and power, account for the wind, and be the first to win 3 rounds.
Rules
- Hit the other gorilla to win the round. Hitting yourself hands the round to your opponent.
- Each round has a new skyline and new wind. The wind is shown at the top and stays the same for the whole round.
- Bananas blow craters in buildings, and later throws can fly through them.
- Play against the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard, or against a friend on the same device.
- Against the computer, each round you win scores more the fewer throws you needed, multiplied by difficulty. Winning the match adds a 500 × difficulty bonus.
Controls
- Drag & release
- Pull back from the target like a slingshot: direction sets angle, length sets power
- ↑ ↓ / W S
- Change angle
- ← → / A D
- Change power (hold Shift for steps of 5)
- Space / Enter
- Throw
- P / Esc
- Pause
Tips
- Your last throw stays on screen as a dotted line, so adjust from it instead of guessing again.
- A strong headwind needs a higher, more powerful throw; with the wind behind you, ease off.
- Throwing at an angle above 90° sends the banana backwards — handy when you are boxed in by a taller building.
About Gorillas
Gorillas (GORILLA.BAS) shipped with MS-DOS 5.0 in 1991 as a sample program for QBasic, alongside Nibbles. Microsoft included the source code, so it was many people’s first look at a program — and, because QBasic was on every office PC, a two-player lunch-hour fixture. The original asked you to type angle and velocity as numbers and had a sun that pulled a face when you hit it.
This remake keeps the rooftops, the wind and the exploding bananas, and adds a slingshot drag control, computer opponents at three difficulties and a score that rewards winning in fewer throws. Hot-seat play on one keyboard still works.
Questions
Is this the original QBasic Gorillas?
No. It is an original browser remake inspired by GORILLA.BAS from 1991, free with nothing to install — and no QBasic required.
Can I play Gorillas against a friend?
Yes. Pick two players and pass the keyboard or phone between turns. You can also play against the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard.
How do I throw on a phone?
Drag back from the target like a slingshot and release: the direction sets the angle and the length sets the power. On a keyboard, set angle and power with the arrows and press Space.
How is the score calculated?
Against the computer, each round you win scores more the fewer throws you needed, multiplied by the difficulty. Winning the match (first to 3 rounds) adds a 500 × difficulty bonus.