Everything You Want to Know

Morse Command is an iOS game that teaches Morse code through 80 levels of tactical asteroid-style gameplay. Players decode incoming Morse audio transmissions and type the correct character to destroy enemy ships and defend their base.

The game is built entirely around the Koch Method — the same approach recommended by experienced CW operators and amateur radio communities worldwide. It also features an adaptive AI that tracks your per-character accuracy and adjusts gameplay in real time to target your weakest characters.

It's published by AWILLTO LLC and is currently available on TestFlight, with the full App Store launch forthcoming.

Morse Command is currently available on iOS only. It is available now on TestFlight for pre-launch testing. The full App Store release is coming soon — sign up for launch notifications to get pinged the moment it's live.

Android is not currently planned.

Morse Command is free to download on TestFlight during the pre-launch period. Pricing for the official App Store release has not yet been announced. Get on the launch notification list to be the first to know.

Morse Command is developed and published by AWILLTO LLC, a solo development shop based in Seattle, WA. The game was designed from the ground up with the ham radio and CW operator community in mind — not as a novelty app, but as a genuine training tool wrapped in a game that's actually fun to play.

Little Kid Mode is a family-friendly setting where every input registers as a correct hit, regardless of what was typed. The visual and audio feedback — explosions, score ticks, sound effects — fires on every tap, so young players get the full dopamine loop without the frustration of incorrect answers.

The practical effect: kids sitting with a parent or grandparent who plays the game get repeated exposure to real Morse audio in an exciting, low-pressure environment. Subconscious familiarity starts forming without any formal instruction. When they're ready to play for real, the sounds are already familiar.

The Koch Method is a Morse code learning technique developed by German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930s. The core insight: Morse code should be learned at full operating speed from the very first session.

Here's how it works: a learner starts with just two characters — traditionally K and M — played at full speed (typically 20 WPM). Once they achieve 90% accuracy on those two characters, one new character is added. This continues progressively until the full alphabet, numbers, and punctuation are mastered.

The method prevents the most common mistake new learners make: starting slowly and mentally "counting" dots and dashes to decode each character. At slow speeds, the brain has time to count. At full speed, it cannot — so it's forced to learn to recognize the entire character as a single sound pattern, which is exactly how experienced operators hear it. Learners who start slow often plateau and have to unlearn their counting habit, which is painful and time-consuming. Koch skips that entirely.

Want the full deep-dive? Read our Koch Method explainer.

Because it's the method that actually works long-term. Operators who've been on CW for decades consistently point to character recognition as sound patterns — not dot-and-dash counting — as the key to operating at speed. The Koch Method builds that pattern recognition from day one.

It also explains why tools like LCWO, G4FON Koch Trainer, and Morse Code Ninja — all built around the Koch Method — have become the standard recommendations in the amateur radio community. They work. Morse Command brings the same methodology into a format that's easier to practice consistently.

LCWO and G4FON are excellent tools — browser and desktop-based, they deliver structured Koch Method sessions with per-character accuracy tracking. They have active user communities and are the backbone of how most successful CW learners have trained in the last two decades.

Morse Command covers the same core methodology but wraps it in an asteroid-style game with enemies, boss battles, combo chains, and a 80-level campaign. The gameplay loop is specifically designed to maintain daily session engagement — the biggest challenge most learners face is simply doing it every day for months.

The honest recommendation: Use multiple tools. Morse Command for daily engagement and gamified reinforcement. LCWO or Morse Code Ninja for structured character drills and word/call-sign practice. They complement each other.

Morse code is the encoding system — the pattern of dots (dits), dashes (dahs), and spaces that represent letters, numbers, and punctuation.

CW stands for Continuous Wave, referring to the radio transmission mode used to send Morse code. The operator keys a radio transmitter on and off, creating a carrier wave that turns on and off in the pattern of Morse code.

In amateur radio usage, the terms are often used interchangeably. "Learning CW" and "learning Morse code" refer to the same skill. The distinction is mostly technical: the code is Morse, the radio mode is CW.

No. The FCC eliminated the Morse code proficiency requirement for all US amateur radio license classes in 2007 (under Part 97 rule changes). Most other countries eliminated requirements around the same time, following the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference decision.

That said, CW remains widely used on the air — and valued by the community — for good reasons:

Efficiency: A CW signal can be copied at a fraction of the bandwidth of voice, and punches through interference and noise in conditions where voice (SSB) fails completely.

Low power: QRP (low power) operators routinely make intercontinental contacts at 5 watts using CW. The same contact via SSB would require significantly more power.

Community: CW has a large, active operating community worldwide — DX expeditions, contesting, POTA/SOTA activations, and casual ragchews all happen daily on CW-exclusive portions of every HF band.

There is no minimum speed requirement to operate CW on amateur radio bands. In practice:

10–13 WPM — Functional baseline for casual two-way CW QSOs. Most operators will slow down to match you if asked (dit dit = "end of transmission / acknowledged"; QRS = please send slower).

13–20 WPM — Comfortable ragchew speed for most HF operators. This is the target range for new-to-CW hams getting on the air.

20–35+ WPM — Contesting, DX pileups, and serious CW operators. Speed comes with operating time; don't worry about this bracket until you're comfortable on the air.

Morse Command's Koch Method engine is calibrated to build toward the 13 WPM threshold as a natural progression through the game's zones.

With consistent daily practice of 15–30 minutes using the Koch Method:

4–8 weeks: Most learners can recognize the full alphabet at 5–10 WPM.

3–6 months: Reaching comfortable conversational speed (13–20 WPM) for on-air use.

Years: Operators who push beyond 25–30 WPM have typically put in years of regular operating time. High-speed CW is a long-term skill like touch typing or a musical instrument.

The biggest variable is consistency. Daily 15-minute sessions outperform weekly 2-hour sessions significantly. The brain consolidates Morse code patterns during sleep — frequent short exposure is how the skill solidifies. Morse Command is designed around daily short sessions for exactly this reason.

Yes — with a caveat about what "learning" means here.

Morse Command delivers real Morse audio at real speeds. Every enemy ship is associated with a Morse character. When it spawns, the game transmits that character's Morse sound. The player must recognize it and type the correct letter to destroy the ship. This is active auditory decoding practice, not a flashcard drill or a dot-and-dash memorization game.

The adaptive AI and Koch Method progression are the same methodology used in dedicated CW training tools. The game loop exists to maintain engagement over the months required to build the skill — not as a shortcut around the work.

What a game cannot fully replicate: live QSO copy (copying words and sentences at full conversational speed), call sign recognition, and the particular pressure of real on-air operating. Serious learners should supplement Morse Command with word-level practice on LCWO or Morse Code Ninja as they advance.

The game maintains a per-character accuracy profile that updates in real time throughout every session. Characters you decode correctly at a high rate appear less frequently in enemy waves. Characters you miss, hesitate on, or misidentify appear more frequently.

The result: every minute of gameplay is targeted at your actual weak spots rather than serving you material you've already mastered. This is functionally similar to spaced repetition systems — but integrated into live gameplay rather than a study queue you have to manually work through.

Each of the 8 zones covers a new set of Morse characters, introduced progressively in the Koch Method sequence. Zone 1 starts with the first two characters. Each subsequent zone adds new characters that players must decode under escalating tactical pressure.

By Zone 8, players are decoding the full Morse alphabet under fire — the equivalent of working through a complete Koch Method curriculum. Each zone ends with a boss battle that specifically tests mastery of everything learned in that zone.

Power-ups are unlocked by building combo chains — consecutive correct decodes without errors:

Slow Field (8x combo): Decelerates all enemies on screen. Buys time when the field gets overwhelming.

EMP Blast (12x combo): Stuns every enemy in range. The clutch play for clearing a packed field.

Repair Kit (15x combo): Restores base station health. Your lifeline when you're in the red.

Nuke (23x combo): Obliterates every enemy on screen. Save it for when it counts.