Planes, Bullets and Vodka is described as an infinite bullet hell game where the player must continually keep destroying planes, in order to gain points that improve the score. It is a casual game and the player can have fun while spending some time. On the other hand, it seems it is a difficult game. According to Steam’s achievements database only 9,5% of players have achieved to score above 250k points on a single run (2018). This Guide provides an insight into the principles of the game, in hope that it will help the players understand its mechanics, improve their high scores and enjoy the game.

For the writing of this Guide empirical methodology is used. Due to the fact, that any other sources of reliable information about this game are almost nonexistent, the main source of information is the experience of the author from his direct observations of the game.

In this section of the Guide the Data are presented.

3.1 The Data

The Data section includes information about the enemies, the player’s own airplane, the power ups and the way the score and points mechanics work. In other words it contains the basic facts of the game.

3.1.1 The Enemies

The enemies the player has to deal with are … planes of course, specifically 8 other types of planes. Each of them got unique abilities and attacks. Some of them shoot bullets, others throw bombs and others are performing an aerial ramming attack. Their health points (hp) differ too. Larger planes like Grigoseyev and Mikoyevich have lots of hp and require many shots in order to be destroyed. Here are presented the 8 airplanes the player will face in the game, in the order they appear:

I. Stenovich

Threat: Low
Type of Attack: Aerial ramming
Damage: 25hp





II. Mikochkin

Threat: Low
Type of Attack: Bullets (1 shot)
Damage: 20hp





III. Grigoseyev

Threat: Medium
Type of Attack: Bullets (2 shots)
Damage: 20hp each shot





IV. Polikarnovich

Threat: Medium
Type of Attack: Bombs
Damage: 20hp





V. Sukhonev

Threat: Medium
Type of Attack: Aerial ramming
Damage: 25hp





VI. Mikoyevich

Threat: High
Type of Attack: Bullets
Damage: 30hp





VII. Tupoleyev

Threat: High
Type of Attack: Bombs
Damage: 20hp





VIII. Yakolovski

Threat: High
Type of Attack: Aerial ramming
Damage: 25hp






3.1.2 The Player’s Plane

The airplane that the player controls is the VDK-697 (Image 9). Unlike the other planes, that one can be upgraded with the power ups. There are 3 abilities that can be upgraded: Power, Gun & Ratio. Power increases the bullet size and damage, Gun increases the field of damage and Ratio the rate that the bullets are fired. The airplane’s health is 100hp. A shield can be acquired if Shield power ups are collected.


Image 9


3.1.3 Power Ups

Sometimes a Power Up can be found when a hostile airplane is destroyed. Power Ups can help significantly as the game progresses to higher levels, where stronger enemies appear. A list of power ups is depicted in Image 10. As we can see they can be divided to 3 main categories: Health kits, Plane upgrades and Shield upgrades.


Image 10

There are 3 types of Health kits, those that restore full health, those that heal 50hp and those that heal 25 points. The Plane upgrades improve the airplane’s general performance. To the left side of the game’s screen we can see a panel where the upgrades are displayed. There are 3 levels for each upgrade. When all the lights are on for an upgrade, then it has been maxed. Acquiring more Power Ups is pointless, because the ability cannot further be upgraded. Each Shield upgrade adds 50 points to the airplane’s shield. Unlike health points there is no limit of how many shield points that someone can acquire.

The Vodka can be considered a Power Up too as it, rarely, spawns when planes are destroyed. Unfortunately it seems to be of no use in the gameplay, as the only thing that does is to make the screen shaky for almost 4 seconds.

3.1.4 Points and score

The player gains points when enemy planes are destroyed. Each airplane type awards the player with a different amount of points. For example larger airplanes like Mikoyevich provide more points than the Mikochkin. We can understand the way that the score calculation works with the help of Image 11


Image 11

As we can see there are 2 kinds of points, those that have been already counted (100pts in the Image) and those that are not counted (30400pts). There is also a multiplier (9 in that case), which is increased with every 1000pts the player gains till it reaches the number 9 that it is the maximum. The uncounted points are multiplied with the multiplier when the player fails to destroy a plane that escapes. For example if the player in Image 11 misses an airplane he will gain 9 x 30400pts = 273.600pts.

4.1 Tactics

There are different tactics that a player can use while playing this game, most players don’t even wittingly use any kind of them. The most common tactics are summed up in the ideas: Better be Safe than Sorry & Leave No One Alive.

The first tactic is based on the idea you should not risk collecting Power Ups and destroying planes, if that means you will get damage. The second is based in the idea that you can amass lots of points when you are trying to destroy all the planes, using the multiplier bonus. In my opinion the best tactic in order to achieve a high score is being versatile while combining elements from both tactics.

During the early levels of the game the second tactic is a viable choice, because the enemies are few and their health low, but as the game progresses killing every single enemy becomes a lot harder. At some point the hostile planes are just too many and eventually the player must prioritize the survival of the airplane rather than the elimination of the enemy.

4.2 Advice

Stenovich and Mikochkin are easy targets, so the player should try eliminating as many as possible. That way the essential Power Ups can be easily acquired, before the stronger Grigoseyevs appear and the same time a good score achieved. If the player fails to acquire a Plane upgrade early in the game (first 15-20 airplanes) it is better to restart.

Unlike Stenovich, the Sukhonevs and the Yakolovskis head towards the player’s airplane trying to ram it, sometimes from angles that even the 3 level upgraded Gun can’t hit. Those targets and any existing Mikoyevichs must be neutralized first.

The bombs from the Polikarnovich and Tupoleyev can be destroyed with the player’s airplane gun.

Keeping the plane behind and firing nonstop, while constantly moving horizontally provides an advantage, especially if you already have Gun or Rate upgrades.

It is recommended that the Shield points are saved (if possible), because later on the game they can prove invaluable in a situation like the one presented in Image 12.


Image 12

It is likely for a destroyed player’s plane to get a second chance if while it is “dying” gets a health kit. So heading towards a kit while being damaged might actually save it, however the chances are slim.

Even having a bit of Shield points left can save health points from a hit that otherwise could cost lots of them. For example if the plane has 5 Shield points and gets a hit by a bullet it will still have 100hp left, not 85.

The route that the plane follows is different in every run, but the tactics in dealing with steep turns likes this one depicted in Image 13 are more or less the same. If you want to destroy all the planes you should head a bit forward and try to enter the turn before the enemies surpass you entering the corner, a place that you cannot shoot them. Of course you can try to ram them, but only if you have lots of hp or many Shield points.


Image 13

Even Touching the rocky edge of the route can damage the airplane, but sometimes it is possible to use a trick were you take a small sliding damage to avoid some shots that would otherwise kill your plane (Not Recommended)

The game can be paused with pressing the Esc key, but don’t forget to press Resume. Pressing again the Esc key just ends the current run and you will have to start again.

Last but not least try to avoid constantly looking the score panel and just enjoy the game.

Planes, Bullets and Vodka is a great casual game. Its achievements are quite... achievable. Like all games it requires from the player to spend some time in order to familiarize with the patterns and the game mechanics. Whatever tactics the player chooses to follow the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the game.


This guide depends on empirical evidence so its credibility is relative. The author acknowledges that he may have, unintentionally, overlooked some other important factors and variables of the game.