Invaders

Invaders is a fixed shooter in the arcade tradition, rebuilt from scratch for the browser. Five rows of eleven alien craft slide sideways above you and drop a step lower every time they touch the edge of the screen. The fewer of them are left, the faster the whole formation moves, so the last few sweep past at a speed the first fifty never had — and the bass pulse underneath them speeds up to match.

Your cannon has a single shot in the air at any moment, which is what makes every miss expensive. Three kinds of bomb come back down at you: a straight drop, a zigzag that wanders across half a lane, and a fast dart that gives you almost no warning. Four shields stand between you and the formation, and they erode block by block from both sides — your own shots chew holes in them from below just as readily as the bombs do from above. A bonus saucer slips across the top from time to time and pays anywhere from 50 to 300 points if you can catch it.

The rows are worth 30, 20 and 10 points from the top down, and clearing a wave pays a bonus before the next one starts lower and faster. You have three cannons. Arrow keys or A and D on desktop with Space to fire, drag and tap or the on-screen buttons on phones and tablets, and your best score is saved in your browser. Press P to pause, M to mute.