Armor Alley is a computer game for MS-DOS and Mac OS, with gameplay patterned after the Apple II game Rescue Raiders. Play is against either the computer or other humans in a LAN environment. The game supports cooperative multiplayer of up to two players per side.
The player controls a helicopter armed with limited munitions, such as missiles, bombs, machine guns, and napalm. As the player requisitions them, computer-controlled tanks, infantry, engineers, mobile missile platforms, and vans round out available firepower.
The objective is to destroy an opposing base at the opposite end of the play area. Various units are deployed for this purpose, which can be assisted by the player's helicopter. The enemy possesses the same arsenal as the player, so tactics and convoy composition are vital. Only the van, which contains electronic warfare equipment, can achieve victory by coming into contact with the enemy base. Its armor is quite weak, so these units must be protected at all times.
The two-dimensional battlefield is a long strip of ground, with the player's base on the left end and the enemy's base on the right. Every map has these two bases, but each map has a different pattern of fixed terrain features. The game ends when one of these two bases is captured.
The player's view is always focused on the central unit, the helicopter. The helicopter carries 2 guided missiles, 10 bombs and has a machine gun with 64 rounds of ammunition (at higher levels the machine gun is replaced by 6 unguided missiles). The helicopter's fuel is limited, so each player has to return to base before there's insufficient fuel left for the trip back. The helicopter is very vulnerable to enemy fire and so relies on its agility and the player's control to survive on the battlefield.
War funds slowly trickle into a spending account that allows purchase of units. Each unit has an associated cost. A helicopter costs 20, tanks 4, mobile missile launchers 3, vans 2, infantry and engineers 5. The player must spend carefully to ensure the purchase of equipment as needed. The farther the helicopter is from its landing pad, the higher the rate of funding. The more assets you have on the ground at the end of a battle the more funds you have to start the next battle.