How to play Space Invaders online
- Move the laser cannon: left and right arrow keys
- Fire: Space bar
- Player 2 (two-player games): F and H to move, A to fire
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Choose a game variation: F11 (the consoleās Select switch)
- Cannon size: F4 toggles the Player 1 difficulty switch, F9 the Player 2 switch
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0ā9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0ā9 loads it
Gameplay
A block of 36 invaders, six rows of six, moves side to side across the screen and steps down each time it reaches an edge. They drop bombs as they go. Three shields near the bottom give you cover, but they get worn away as the fight goes on. You can only fire again once your shot hits something or leaves the screen. Now and then a command ship flies across the top for bonus points.
Each row of invaders is worth a different amount, from 5 to 30 points, so a full wave is worth 630 points. The command ship is worth 200 points in most games. You have three lives, and the game ends when you lose them all or when the lowest invaders land at the bottom of the screen. (The arcade had 55 invaders and four shields.)
112 variations and two-player modes
The cartridge has 112 variations, built by combining a few options: moving shields that slide back and forth, zigzagging bombs that are harder to predict, fast bombs, and invisible invaders that only flash into view when you hit one. The difficulty switch sets the size of your cannon: position B gives a smaller cannon that is harder to hit, position A a bigger one.
The two-player options are unusually varied. Players can take turns, or play at the same time and compete for the same invaders, earning points for hitting each other. There are also team modes where both players share one cannon: in one, each player can move it in only one direction; in another, they swap control after every shot; in a third, one player steers while the other fires.
Tips
- Thin out the edge columns. The block only steps down when its outer column reaches the side of the screen. Clearing the outside columns gives you more time before they land.
- Make every shot count. A miss leaves you waiting to fire again, so aim at an invader directly above.
- Leave the difficulty switch on B while learning. The smaller cannon is noticeably harder for the bombs to hit.
The story behind Space Invaders
Rick Maurer had made games for the Fairchild Channel F before joining Atari. He started the port on his own after being impressed by the arcade machine, and drew the invader graphics himself on graph paper because no artist was free. His first version took about 7 KB, and it took months of work to squeeze it into a 4 KB cartridge.
The cartridge came out in March 1980 and changed the fortunes of the console: sales of the 2600 roughly quadrupled, and the game is often called the first ākiller appā for a home system. It sold more than a million copies in its first year. Atari also ran a national Space Invaders tournament in 1980 with around 10,000 players; the winner, Rebecca Heineman, later became a game developer. Maurer himself left Atari soon after.
