Scrap Toss: Bruto Vale's knock-down game

About Bruto Vale — Scrap Toss

The Executive's thugs have perched themselves on the junkyard scrap piles, and Bruto Vale, the big guy of Steel Flames, isn't climbing up after anyone: he brings the pile down. In this one-finger landscape game you drag on the screen (or click and drag with the mouse) to aim — pulling back like a slingshot or dragging forward; the longer the drag, the harder the throw, and a dotted line shows the path. On a keyboard the arrows set the angle and J holds the power. Bruto throws a tire (light and bouncy), a fuel can (it blows up on first contact and blasts everything around it) and, from the third level on, the iron wrecking ball, held by the ring of its chain: super heavy, it flies shorter and it's what shifts an old car or a steel beam on impact. A thug goes down from a hard hit, from a pile collapsing onto him or from a long fall when his footing disappears — and that's where the thinking comes in: sometimes the best shot is the block at the bottom. Light blocks move with little, barrels need more, cars and steel beams only budge for the iron ball or a can exploding close by. Throws are counted per level: the first five give you two to spare while you learn; 6 to 10 leave a single spare (a tire); from 11 on it is the exact minimum (never fewer than two: a one-throw level gives you two of the same object) — each level is worked out to close with what you get, no free chain reactions and each one left over is worth 300; two or more knocked down with a single throw multiply the points. Every five levels a villain closes the stretch — the Tamer, the Driver, the Warden and the Executive — and they shrug off direct hits: you have to bring their pile down. Every level is generated and checked by a solver before it goes in: you never get one that can't be cleared with the throws on offer. Out of throws with someone still standing, you lose a life and replay the same level (3 to start, up to 5; extra life every 100,000 points and from the fruit crate hidden in the piles). The scenery changes every five levels (workshop, highway, scrapyard, radio tower) and your score goes to the site's Top 5 when the lives run out.

One of Selminha's ideas

“Bruto is pure strength, and I wanted to see that without a fight: him hurling whatever's at hand at the junkyard piles and the scrap crashing down on whoever hid up there. One finger, aim, physics — and that little thrill of watching the tower fall.”

How to play Bruto Vale — Scrap Toss, and tips for a higher score

1. Drag on the screen (or click and drag with the mouse) to aim: pull back like a slingshot, or drag forward. The longer the drag, the harder the throw; the dotted line shows the start of the path. Let go to throw. On a keyboard: arrows set the angle, J (or K/Space) holds the power — it swings up and down — and releasing launches. On a gamepad: the stick aims, A or X holds and releases.
2. The tire is light and bouncy; the fuel can blows up on first contact and blasts everything around it; the iron ball (level 3+) is super heavy, flies shorter and knocks old cars and steel beams over. The HUD shows how many throws are left and which one is in hand.
3. A thug goes down from a hard hit, from a pile collapsing onto him or from a long fall when his footing disappears. Light blocks (tire, can) move with little; a barrel needs more; a car or a steel beam only budge for the iron ball or a can exploding close by.
4. Every five levels a villain closes the stretch (Tamer, Driver, Warden, Executive). They shrug off direct hits: take out the footing or drop the pile on them.
5. Leftover throws are worth 300 each; two or more knocked down with one throw multiply the points. Out of throws with someone still standing: you lose a life and replay the same level (3 lives to start, up to 5; extra life every 100,000 points and from the fruit crate).
6. P or Esc pauses; M toggles sound; F toggles full screen on a computer. The full instructions live in the pause menu. When the run ends, put your name on the game's Top 5, saved on the server.

What Bruto throws and what it knocks down

Tire

Light (mass 1) and bouncy: good for hitting thugs head-on and for knocking tires and cans off the piles.

Fuel can

Blows up on first contact (block, thug or ground) in a 130 px radius — shoves light and medium blocks and floors anyone nearby. Great against tight piles.

Piles

Tires and cans move with little; barrels need more; old cars and steel beams only budge for a strong impulse. A block with no support falls, and whatever lands on someone knocks them down.

Thugs

Smelter, agent, biker, shooter and Shield: every one of them drops from any clean hit, first level to last — toughness never grows; what grows is how hard they are to hit. A long fall or a pile on the head does it too.

Iron ball (level 3+)

A wrecking ball (mass 3.4) held by the ring of its chain: flies shorter than the tire and it's the only thing that topples an old car or a steel beam with a direct hit.

Battery (level 12+)

On first contact it zaps a 95 px radius and floors the thugs (villains only up close) — without moving a single block. Perfect for whoever hides behind a barrier.

Fruit crate

The same one from the main game, hidden in some piles: touch it for +1 life (or 500 points at 5 lives).

Throw speed runs from 520 to 1,180 px/s; gravity is strong and the dotted line shows the start of the path (bounces not included).

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Mouse: click and drag (pull back like a slingshot or drag forward) and release · Arrows or W/S set the angle · J, K or Space hold the power and release · P or Esc pause · M toggles sound · F full screen · gamepad supported: stick aims, A or X hold and release, Start pauses, Back toggles sound.

Touch

Phone sideways and in full screen. Touch anywhere and drag to aim; let go to throw. Pause and sound sit in the top-right corner.

Levels, villains and points

Levels

Built fresh every run from templates (column, car, bridge, wall, pyramid, concrete gate, lean-to) and signed off by a solver: a level only ships if it can be finished with the objects you're handed, in some order, from that level's throwing spot. Then it gets measured. The game opens the hit window around the throw that solves it — how many degrees of aim and how much power you can be off by and still drop the same thug, chain reactions counted — and every level has a window it is supposed to land in, with a floor and a ceiling. Too roomy and the level gets tightened: the pile backs off from Bruto, a hanging beam closes the high arc, the wind picks up. Too tight and it gets loosened the same way in reverse. That floor is what keeps a level from being unwinnable. The aim line shows the whole arc only on the first three levels; from 4 on it shows just the start of the arc — and, when the arc leaves the screen, two dots where it comes back, so you can judge the release without seeing the rest. From level 3 on, barriers show up in front of the piles (tires, then barrels, a container and, from 11, concrete) and thugs hide under bridges, behind containers and between windshields: a flat throw goes nowhere, you have to read the arc and pick the object. Scenery changes every five levels.

Villains

Every five levels: the Tamer, the Driver, the Warden and the Executive. They have a health bar: 3 blows to bring down — a clean hit counts 1, a pile on the head or a lost footing counts 2. All four take the same, and every boss level hands you enough objects for every blow, one by one.

Points

Thug 500 (Shield 750), villain 2,000, block knocked loose 25; two or more knocked down with the same throw multiply (×2, ×3…); level cleared 200 × level number + 300 per leftover throw.

Lives

3 to start, 5 at most; extra life every 100,000 points and from the crate. Running out of throws with someone standing costs a life and repeats the same level.

At 0 lives the run ends and your score goes to the site's Top 5.

Obstacles that keep coming

Pallets (level 4+)

Flimsy wooden shelves between can columns: any knock takes them out and drops whoever stands on them.

Steel plates (level 6+)

A row of upright plates; the first one topples and takes the rest down like dominoes — whoever is on the far side goes down.

Windshields (level 6+)

Glass around a thug: shatters at any touch (or from a nearby blast).

Concrete block (level 11+)

A real barrier: nothing moves it. From level 11 the front wall of the pits is concrete (from 16, both walls) and 3–4-block concrete walls stand in front of the piles — the only way through is the right arc over the top. A concrete level never has wind.

Container (level 9+)

Never moves. Whoever hides behind it only goes down from a lob over the top, an exploding can or the battery's zap.

Crane magnet (level 11+)

Holds an old car above the pile. Hit the magnet (or blow something up nearby) and the car comes crashing down.

Tire trampoline (level 13+)

A tire stack in front of the pile: your throw bounces high and clears the wall.

Wind (level 10+)

On some levels the wind blows with you or against you (arrows, leaves flying by, note on the HUD). The dotted aim line does NOT allow for the wind: that's on the player. The lighter the object, the more it drifts — the tire drifts a lot, the iron ball barely at all.

Throwing spot (level 4+)

Bruto does not always throw from the same place: each level picks ground level (three positions), the top of one or two shipping containers (level 8+) or a 6- to 9-foot steel scaffold (level 8+). From up high the throw carries farther and clears barriers; the platform is solid (whatever falls back lands on it).

Picking the object

The tray in the bottom corner shows the objects of the level; the player taps one (or uses ◀ ▶) to choose what to throw next, in any order. Objects can repeat; each one is good for a single throw and leaves the tray once thrown.

Rail cart (level 16+)

Rolls back and forth on the rails carrying a can and a thug: a moving target — pick your moment.

Each new element gets a level of its own and then mixes with the rest — the Angry Birds idea: something new every few levels so it never gets old.