Arcade

ASCII Space Invaders

Shoot down a descending grid of aliens before they reach the ground, dodging the bombs they drop.

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Controls

Left and Right arrowsMove the cannon along the bottom.
Space or EnterFire a shot straight up.
Fire buttonFire a shot, on a touch screen.
PPause and resume.
RStart a new game.

How to play

  1. Press R, or press an arrow, to start. The grid of aliens begins marching across and down.
  2. Move the cannon along the bottom with the arrow keys, and fire straight up with space, Enter, or the fire button.
  3. You fire one shot at a time, so pick your targets. Aliens nearer the top are worth more points.
  4. The fewer aliens remain, the faster they move. Dodge the bombs they drop by standing in a hollowed-out column.
  5. Clear a wave and a lower, faster one arrives. The game ends if an alien reaches the ground or a bomb hits the cannon three times.

About Space Invaders

Space Invaders works because the enemy is a single organism. The whole grid of aliens marches together, steps down a row each time it reaches an edge, and - this is the clever part - speeds up as you shoot its members away, so the last few are frantic while the first few were sedate. The tension is a countdown you control: every alien you remove brings the rest down on you faster.

Your cannon slides along the bottom and fires one shot at a time straight up, so you have to pick targets rather than spray. The aliens drop bombs back at you, and a column you have hollowed out is a safe lane to stand in. Clear a wave and the next arrives lower and quicker. There is no winning, only a higher wave and a higher score, and that score is saved on this device.

Frequently asked questions

The whole grid moves on a timer that is tied to how many aliens are left, so each one you destroy makes the rest step a little faster. The opening is slow and the final few are frantic, which is the signature rhythm of the game.

No. You have a single shot on screen at a time and must wait for it to hit something or leave the top before you can fire again. That is deliberate: it turns the game from spraying into aiming, and it means a wasted shot genuinely costs you.

It ends if any alien reaches the ground, or if the bombs the aliens drop hit your cannon three times. Clearing a wave does not end the game; it brings on a new wave that starts lower and moves faster, so the game is a run for the highest score rather than a finish line.

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