Pixel Invaders

A retro fixed-shooter, original design

A descending formation of aliens speeds up as you clear them out and as you advance through waves — shoot them down before they reach your row, and use the shields for cover since they take damage from both sides.

An original game inspired by the classic fixed-shooter genre, with its own monochrome look and mechanics — not a reproduction of any specific trademarked title.

A strategy tip

Clearing from one side of the formation rather than picking off aliens at random keeps the descending group's edges more predictable, which matters because the whole formation speeds up as it thins out — a lopsided remaining group swings unpredictably side to side in a way a cleanly-cleared edge doesn't. Ducking behind a shield costs you offense for a moment but is almost always worth it once alien fire gets dense, since shields regenerate no advantage by being saved for later.

Why the formation gets faster as it thins

The speed-up as aliens are cleared isn't a bug or a random escalation — it's the genre's signature tension mechanic, dating back to the fixed-shooter games that established the format: fewer aliens should logically mean an easier board, but the formation moving faster with fewer targets left keeps the last few kills of any wave feeling more dangerous than the first, not less. Understanding that the game is deliberately built this way changes how you should play the early, safer part of a wave — clearing efficiently while it's still slow matters more than it feels like it does in the moment.

Managing shield health across a wave

Shields take damage from both alien fire and your own shots passing through them, which means firing wildly through your own cover actually costs you defense over time — aiming around a shield rather than through it, once the formation is close enough that a shield is actively useful, preserves cover for the more dangerous, faster-moving final stretch of a wave.