One Player, Everyone Watching: How to Organize Tank Avenger as a Family Night

Short version: Tank Avenger has no multiplayer mode, and it still works great for an evening with the whole family. The trick is to treat the game like a round of bowling: one person plays, everyone else watches, cheers them on, and then takes their turn. In this guide, we’ll show you how to pull that off without arguments and without anyone tripping.

Why it made the parcel

A family game has to do three things: be quick to explain, work in short rounds, and be adjustable for different age groups. Tank Avenger checks all three boxes.

• Quick to explain: Level 1 includes a three-step tutorial: drive, aim, shoot. The left stick drives, the right controller aims with a beam on the floor, and the trigger fires.
• Short rounds: The game is split into 202 individual levels. Each one ends with a results screen showing stars, rank, and points. That’s exactly where the headset gets passed along.
• Adjustable: There are three difficulty levels. EASY deploys about 65 percent of the intended enemies and limits enemy fire more than STANDARD does. You can switch the level right on the results screen, so you can even do it between two players.

Then there’s the age rating: according to the store, the game is rated PEGI 7, with the notices “Mild Violence” and “Fear.” The visuals are cartoonish and toy-like.

Step 1: Prep the room

Every time you start, Tank Avenger shows a safety briefing with five rules. For a family night, rule four is the most important one: no one else in the play area. Whoever is playing does see the surroundings through passthrough, but they’re focused on the little tanks on the floor.

Here’s how to set up the room:

1. Clear the floor. Cables, toys, shoes, and bags all go away. That’s rule two of the briefing.
2. Mark the play space. On the Recon screen, you see your floor as 25-cm tiles. You need at least 24 lit tiles (1.5 m²) plus a clear area of 0.6 × 0.6 m; about 2 × 2 m is recommended. The area has to be contiguous.
3. Set spectator spots outside the tiles. Best on the sofa or on chairs against the wall, well outside the lit area. If you need to, tape a line on the floor with painter’s tape that nobody crosses while someone is playing.
4. Keep pets out of the room. Rule one. Dogs and cats can’t see the battle, and the player won’t always see them in the heat of the moment.

Step 2: Set a turn order

Arguments usually don’t start during the game — they start over who’s next. Three variations that have worked well:

• One level per person. Simple and fair. Whoever loses gets one retry, then it’s the next person’s turn.
• A star duel. Everyone plays the same level one after another. Whoever ends up with more stars (one per remaining heart, three max) wins the round. A tie goes to the score.
• Youngest first. The littlest ones play on EASY and get to go first, so they don’t have to wait too long.

Because progress in the game is saved locally on the headset, the family shares one campaign. You can see that as a plus: every victory moves everyone forward. If you’d rather have separate saves, you’re out of luck, since the game doesn’t describe per-person profiles.

Step 3: Get the spectators involved

Watching is more fun when you can see what’s happening. The Quest can cast its picture to a smartphone or a compatible TV. Then everyone on the sofa sees what the player sees.

Give the spectators jobs instead of just letting them wait:

• The radio operator calls out when an attack helicopter shows up. Enemy gunships circle below head height and fire homing missiles.
• The drone watcher yells “Cable!” when an attack drone launches. The only way to stop the drone is for the player to swing the controller through its cable.
• The scorekeeper writes down stars and rank on a piece of paper for the star duel.

Important: all the shouting comes from the sofa. Nobody walks into the play area to point something out.

Tips for younger kids

For kids putting on a headset for the first time, the rule is: start short. One or two levels are plenty for the first evening. Set EASY before the child starts. Before they put the headset on, explain that they can walk around in the game, but only on the lit tiles. And as an adult, stay within earshot.

One note about the atomic bomb: in some levels, the battle freezes and an atomic bomb sinks toward the tank. You have to grab it and throw it out of the play area. It’s a big moment, but it can get hectic. Tell younger kids ahead of time not to run when it happens — just throw with their arm.

Best for / Skip if

Best for: Families with one Quest and kids of elementary school age who want to take turns playing for an evening.

Skip if: You’re looking for a true multiplayer game where everyone plays at the same time. Tank Avenger is a single-player title with no co-op or online mode.

Price and platform note

Tank Avenger – Mixed Reality cost £9.99 in the UK Meta Horizon Store on Oct 10, 2026. According to the store, it runs on Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3, and Quest 3S, is played with Touch controllers, and requires an internet connection. Check the current price in the store before buying.