NebularNomad
A free space shooter that runs in your phone’s browser. Steer with one thumb, fire with the other, and see how deep into the nebula you can get.
Free to play, nothing to install. Make a pilot name when you launch and your best score goes on the leaderboard.
Drag to steerHow to play
- Steer
- Drag anywhere with your right thumb. The ship follows, just above your finger.
- Fire
- Hold the red Fire button with your left thumb. Let go to stop.
- Missile
- Tap the orange button above Fire. You start with one and can carry up to six.
- Collect
- Fly into the glowing orbs that defeated aliens drop to pick up power-ups.
For a full-screen game, add it to your home screen. On iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, tap Install app in the game menu when it appears. Sound and vibration can be switched on or off from the same menu.
Power-ups
Weapon power-ups run out after a set number of shots, then you’re back on the standard blaster. Every weapon sounds different, so you can hear what you’re firing.
Spread shot
Three bolts in a fan, so you cover more of the screen.
Rapid fire
A fast stream of single bolts.
Mega gun
Slow, heavy plasma that punches through every alien in its path.
Shield
Soaks up one hit from anything, then breaks.
Nova blast
Wipes out every alien on screen. Titans take heavy damage instead.
Missile
Adds a homing missile to your rack. The blast hits everything nearby, including enemy shots and mines.
The usual suspects
Every alien in the game, lined up for you. Tap one to read its file, then switch on Deep Space to see who carries a gun.
Swipe sideways to see all eight.
No. 1Case file · Suspect 1 of 8
Ironjaw aka The Titan
Wanted for: Being the face of the game
- First sighted
- Level 1
- Hit points
- 1 hit (2 if large)
- Worth
- 10 (20 if large) points
- Threat
Armoured, red-eyed and everywhere. Blown up to titan size, it is the boss that hovers at the top every fifth level and fires straight at you.
Deep Space: from level 21 it may wear a red ring. Gunners fire aimed shots at you, take two hits and score double.
What’s out there
The waves get tougher as you climb. Here’s when each new threat shows up.
- Level 1
Drones
Waves of drones drift down the screen. The bigger ones take two hits.
- Level 3
Brutes
Big, slow aliens that soak up several hits. Every one drops a power-up.
- Level 4
Mines
Shoot one and it bursts into a ring of shards. Keep your distance.
- Level 5
Planets and the first Titan
Planets tumble down the screen. Then the Titan arrives: it hovers at the top, fires aimed shots and always drops a power-up. Another comes every fifth level.
- Level 7
Laser gates
A wall of red laser with a single gap. Fly through the gap, not the beam. Gates are always spaced so you have time to line up the next gap.
- Level 9
Winged aliens
A new kind of alien joins the waves.
- Level 10
Gravity wells
A dark vortex that drags your ship towards its centre. Steer hard to get out.
- Level 12
Squid, mantis and wasp
Three new kinds of alien join the waves.
- Level 14
Molten planets
Bigger, hotter rocks join the field.
- Level 21
Deep Space
Some aliens now wear a red ring and shoot back. Titans fire in fans, and a chain multiplier lets you score up to four times as much.
- Level 24
Speed run
No aliens at all. Just rocks and laser gates rushing at you, faster than the last one. The next run comes ten levels later.
Every ten levels you enter a new sector. The sky rotates through the starfield, a red nebula and a green nebula full of saucers, and the view zooms in and out.
Beyond level 20
Reach level 21 and you’re in Deep Space. The waves get denser, and the game starts rewarding the pilots who take risks.
Gunners
Some aliens now wear a red ring. They fire aimed shots at you, take two hits and are worth double. The ring flashes white a moment before they shoot, and by the later levels as many as half the small aliens are gunners.
- x4
Chain and graze
Kill aliens, or skim past rocks and enemy shots, and you build a chain. Keep it going and your score multiplier climbs from x2 to x4. Near misses are worth 25 each, up to twelve a level. Lose a shield and the chain resets.
Angrier Titans
Titans now fire fans of three shots, then five from level 30, and fire faster once they are below half health. Beat one and you earn a shield, a missile and 500 bonus points.
- 12
Denser waves
Up to twelve aliens at a time, and more mines, laser gates and rocks. To help you through, a power-up drops at least every other level.
The sky fades to the next one every ten levels, then the cycle starts again. Each sector also zooms in or out by a different amount.
Speed runs
Every ten levels from level 24, the aliens clear out and it becomes a race. Rocks and laser gates rush down the screen, faster and faster, until the finish line.
- Always a way through. Every row has a gap you have time to reach.
- Gold orbs sit in the gaps and are worth 50 each. Rows you clear score 20, and near misses 25.
- Finish for a bonus, doubled for a clean run with no shield lost, and a free power-up.
- You start with a shield. Use it wisely, because a clean run is worth the most.
Each run is faster than the last
Top pilots
The ten best runs, pulled live from the game.
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