Galaga — Play Free Online

A Flash take on Galaga

The Galaga on this page is a Flash recreation of the arcade space shooter, credited inside the file to Robotube Games, and its score file is named after "Galagon". Flash Player no longer exists in browsers, so the original SWF is loaded through Ruffle, an emulator that runs Flash content in a normal web page. You need nothing beyond the browser tab.

Controls

This is a keyboard game. The left and right arrow keys move your ship sideways across the lowest row of the playfield, and the Space bar fires; Space is also the key bound to the menu buttons, so it starts a game and moves you past the results. The file contains no on-screen pad, so a phone or tablet without a keyboard is not a good fit.

How a wave plays out

Each stage begins with aliens flying in along curved paths before settling into a formation at the top of the screen. From there, individual enemies peel off and swoop down at you, sweeping to the left or the right and shooting as they come. Clear every alien to move on to the next stage. You have a stock of reserve ships, and the game awards an extra one as your score grows; when the last ship is destroyed, the game is over.

Capture and the double fighter

The feature that sets Galaga apart is in this version too. The large boss aliens, which need two hits to destroy, can lower a tractor beam. Drift into it and your fighter is pulled up and held captive by the boss, costing you that ship. Shoot the boss while it is carrying your captured fighter and the ship is released, then joins up beside your current one. Flying as a double fighter means two guns firing at once.

Results and high scores

When a game ends, a results screen shows how many shots you fired, how many aliens you hit and your hit-to-miss ratio, alongside the score. The file also includes a high-score screen titled the Hall of Heroes.

Tips

• Watch the formation for the next alien to break away, and move out from under its path before it reaches the bottom.
• Take down bosses early in a wave; they soak up two shots and are the ones that use the tractor beam.
• Only let yourself be captured when you have a spare ship and the boss is easy to reach on its next pass.
• Do not hold Space and spray. Every miss lowers the hit ratio shown at the end.