Space Invaders
ArcadeHow to play Space Invaders
I slide my cannon with the left and right arrow keys and fire with the spacebar. On a phone I hold the on-screen left, right, and FIRE buttons. I can hold FIRE to keep shooting.
I shoot every alien before the formation drops down to my level. The aliens speed up as their numbers thin out, and dodging their return fire keeps my three lives intact. Clearing a wave spawns a faster one, so I push for a high score across as many waves as I can.
About Space Invaders
Space Invaders, designed by Tomoo Nishikado and released by Taito in 1978, is the game that turned video games into an industry. In Japan it was a phenomenon so large that legend claims it caused a national 100-yen coin shortage; worldwide it established the shooter, the high score, and the very idea of a gaming icon in the shape of its pixel alien.
One famous accident defines it: as you destroy aliens, the hardware had fewer sprites to draw, so the survivors sped up, and Nishikado kept the bug as the difficulty curve. The formation marches, drops and accelerates, your shields crumble, and the last alien crosses the screen like a missile. Few games have ever escalated so honestly.
Space Invaders formation craft
- Clear columns from the edges inward, narrowing the formation delays its descent and shortens its march.
- Never let your shot count go idle; you can only have limited shots on screen, so fire with a target, not in panic.
- Carve a narrow firing slit in one shield and shoot through it; whittling whole shields away wastes your cover.
- Track the UFO's rhythm across the top, its bonus is the difference between good and great scores.
- Pre-aim for the endgame: the last few aliens move fastest, so camp their path instead of chasing them.
FAQ
Why do the aliens speed up as I kill them?
Originally a hardware artifact, fewer sprites meant faster rendering, that the designer deliberately kept as the game's difficulty curve. It remains one of gaming's most elegant accidents: the better you play, the harder the game gets, automatically.
What is the best way to use the shields?
As doorways, not walls. Drill a thin notch through one shield and fire through it while ducking behind the solid part. Both your shots and alien shots erode shields, so a shield you shoot through carelessly stops protecting you exactly when the formation gets low.
Is there a trick to hitting the UFO?
The flying saucer crosses on a timer and its value in the arcade original depended on your shot count, dedicated players learned exact firing rhythms for the maximum bonus. Practically: keep your lane clear, lead it slightly, and never chase it into the formation's fire.
How does the game end?
It doesn't, waves repeat, starting lower and meaner, until the invaders reach the ground or your last cannon dies. Like all the great arcade originals, the only victory is the high score, which this version saves locally in your browser.
