How to play
Your mining probe sits in the middle of a rock field. Turn it, fire the thruster and blast the rocks: every big rock you hit splits into two medium rocks, every medium rock into two small ones, and small rocks turn to dust. Clear the field and the next wave drifts in with one rock more. The field wraps around: fly off the right edge and you come back on the left, and so do the rocks and your shots.
- Keyboard: ← and → (or A and D) turn, ↑ (or W) thrusts, Space or Enter fires. P pauses.
- Gamepad: the stick turns and thrusts, A fires.
- Touch: drag the stick on the left to turn, push it up to thrust, tap ● on the right to fire.
- The game waits until your first input, so take a second to look around.
Scoring
- Big rock: 20 points. Medium rock: 50. Small rock: 100. Small rocks are worth the most because they are fast and hard to hit.
- Wave bonus: 100 times the wave number when the field is clear.
- Pirate pod: 200 points.
- An extra life every 10,000 points, up to five.
Thrust, drift and shots
The probe keeps drifting after you let go of the thruster and only slows down gradually. Short taps of thrust are easier to control than long burns. Your shots inherit half of your speed, so firing while flying forward makes them faster and firing while flying backwards makes them slower. At most four shots can be in flight, and there is a short pause between shots.
Lives and respawning
A rock or a pirate shot destroys the probe and costs a life. You restart in the middle of the field with a shield for about two and a half seconds; the game waits until the middle is clear of rocks before putting you back. You start with three lives. When the last one is gone, the game is over, and once per game you can watch a rewarded ad to carry on with one more life on the same wave.
Pirate pods
From the second wave on, a pirate pod crosses the field every so often. It fires at you roughly once a second, with a little scatter, and its shots can be dodged. Shoot it for 200 points, or just keep moving until it leaves.
Strategy
- Stay near the middle and keep the probe slow. Chasing rocks across the wrap-around edges is how most lives are lost.
- Shoot the big rocks first while there is room, then clean up the small ones one at a time. Shooting into a crowd of small rocks is risky because they are fast.
- Use the wrap-around for shots too: a shot aimed at a rock near the far edge can reach it faster by crossing the edge.
- Leave one small rock alive if a pirate pod is on screen and you need a breather; the next wave does not start until the field is clear.
- Turn, then fire, then thrust: the probe turns quickly, so aim before you move.
