Score 0
Lives 3
Wave 1
▲ THRUST
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Arrows rotate & thrust, Space fires
Asteroids is the legendary arcade space shooter: you pilot a lone triangular ship in a wrap-around field of drifting space rocks, and your only tools are rotation, thrust, and a rapid-fire cannon. On desktop, rotate with the left and right arrow keys, thrust with the up arrow, and shoot with the spacebar. On a phone, play with two thumbs: slide the pad in the lower left to rotate — a small nudge turns slowly, a longer slide turns faster — and pull that same pad upward to thrust. Hold Fire with your right thumb. The playfield fills the screen, with those two controls over the lower corners. Everything wraps around the screen edges — fly off the right side and you reappear on the left, and asteroids do the same, so watch your back.
Shooting a large asteroid splits it into two medium rocks, and each medium splits into two small ones, so a careless volley can fill the screen with shrapnel. Smaller rocks are faster but worth more points: 20 for large, 50 for medium, 100 for small. You have three lives, and after each hit you respawn in the center with a brief shield of invulnerability while you get your bearings. The classic strategy is to keep your speed low — drifting slowly beats flying fast — pick off rocks one split-chain at a time, and never shoot a large asteroid that is close to you. Clear the wave and a bigger, faster wave arrives. Chase your best score in this free online asteroids game.