What is Space Invaders?
Space Invaders is the 1978 Taito arcade game that turned "shoot the aliens" into a genre. Fifty-five invaders in five rows of eleven march across the top of the screen, step down a line every time they reach an edge, and rain bombs on the laser cannon you slide along the bottom. Four shields stand between you and them, and they crumble from both sides. The fleet speeds up as it thins out.
The version on this page is a Flash original from the mid-2000s, running in the Ruffle emulator. Rows, points, the four-note march, the bonus saucer, the extra life for a cleared wave: it is all in there, and every number below was read from the game file itself.
How to play
You start with three lives and an empty score. Clear the whole fleet and a fresh one drops in a little lower than the last, up to eight waves down. Lose a life when a bomb reaches the cannon; lose the game outright if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen, whatever your life count says.
- Press Play above and wait a moment for the Flash file to load.
- Click the game's own Play button on its title screen — the menu is mouse-driven, the game itself is keyboard-driven.
- Move with ← and →, fire with Space. Only one shot is in the air at a time, so aim before you press.
- Press P to pause; the fleet fades while paused. Q asks whether you want to quit — answer Y or N.
- After a game over you can type a name (letters, digits, dots and dashes) and press Enter, then click New game to go again.
Controls
Click inside the game once if the keys seem dead. No gamepad support, no on-screen pad.
| Action | Keyboard | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Start a game | mouse click | the Play button on the title screen |
| Move cannon left / right | ← → | stops at the screen edges |
| Fire | Space | one laser on screen at a time |
| Pause / resume | P | bombs freeze in place |
| Quit to the title screen | Q, then Y / N | the game pauses while it asks |
| Half-size screen | S | shrinks the playfield to 50%; press again to restore |
| Confirm your name | Enter | on the game-over screen |
| Fullscreen | button under the game | — |
Scoring
- Top row — 40 points per alien.
- Second and third rows — 20 points.
- Fourth and fifth rows — 10 points.
- Saucer — a random 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 or 300 points. In the first wave it stays away until the fleet has stepped down at least once.
- Wave cleared — 1,000 bonus points and one extra life, up to the eight cannons the life bar can show.
Tips and strategy
- Work the columns from the outside in. The fleet only reverses when its outermost alien touches an edge, so trimming the end columns lets it travel further before each step down.
- Never fire at nothing. A missed laser has to leave the top of the screen before the next one loads, which is most of a second against a fleet that gets faster with every kill.
- Shoot through a hole, not a shield. Each block takes four hits from either side, and your own laser counts. Punch one gap early and fire through it; keep the rest of the shield intact for bombs.
- Watch the bomb count. At most four bombs are in the air at once, from random columns. When four are already falling nothing new can drop — the safest moment to step out from cover.
- Take the saucer when the fleet is slow. Up to 300 points early in a wave is free money; chasing it with your only shot while the last five aliens sprint is how games end.
- Bank lives, not points. A cleared wave gives an extra life every time; a slow, safe wave is worth more than a risky saucer.
A brief history
Space Invaders was designed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released by Taito in Japan in 1978, with Midway distributing it in North America. The way the aliens accelerate as they die began as a hardware quirk — the board drew fewer sprites faster — and Nishikado kept it because it made the ending tense. The 1980 Atari 2600 port was the first licensed arcade conversion for a home console, and the descending-fleet formula was borrowed by Galaga and every fixed-screen shooter that followed.
About this version
This is a Flash file, not a JavaScript remake: a 500-by-410 pixel browser version built in the 2000s by web developer Paul Neave, whose name is still inside the file, in the green-on-black look of the arcade overlay. It runs in Ruffle, a Flash player compiled to WebAssembly, so nothing installs and it works on a Chromebook. Sound is included: the firing crack, the four-note march and the saucer's warble.
What is not included: a two-player mode, touch controls, and the online leaderboard the game was built around. It posted scores to the developer's own server, which no longer answers, so the scoreboard screen after a game over comes up empty or reports that it could not access the scores. Your name is remembered between sessions; your best score is not. For more of the era, see our retro collection.
Frequently asked questions
Is Space Invaders free to play here?
Yes. The game runs on this page in your browser — no download, no install, no account. Press play, wait a second for the Flash file to load, then click the Play button on the game's own menu.
What are the controls?
Left and right arrow keys move the laser cannon, Space fires. P pauses and resumes, Q asks whether you want to quit (Y or N), and S toggles a half-size screen. The game starts with a mouse click on its Play button, and it needs a keyboard to play.
How does the scoring work in this version?
The top row of aliens is worth 40 points each, the two middle rows 20 and the two bottom rows 10. The saucer that crosses the top is worth a random 50 to 300 points in steps of 50, and every wave you clear adds a 1,000-point bonus plus an extra life.
Why do the aliens speed up?
Two things drive it. Every time the fleet reaches an edge and reverses it steps a little faster, and every alien you shoot shortens the delay before the next step. The last few aliens sprint, exactly like the arcade original, and their bombs come faster too.
Can I shoot more than one laser at a time?
No. There is one shot on screen at a time, and Space does nothing until it hits something or leaves the top of the screen. Missing costs you time, and against a fast fleet time is what runs out.
Do my own shots damage the shields?
Yes. Each block of the four shields takes four hits from either side before it disappears, and your laser erodes it just as an alien bomb does. Shoot around the shields or through a gap you have already made, not through a fresh one.
Is there a high-score table?
The Flash file was built around an online leaderboard on the original developer's server, and that server no longer answers. After a game over you can still type a name, but the scoreboard screen comes back empty or reports that it could not access the scores. Keep track of your own best; the score is on screen throughout.
Does it work on a phone or a Chromebook?
It works on a Chromebook and on any laptop or desktop browser, because the Flash player is Ruffle, which is WebAssembly and needs no plugin. On a phone the game loads and the menu responds to taps, but there are no on-screen buttons, so you need a physical or Bluetooth keyboard to move and fire.
