Original Space Invaders Retro Arcade Machine

How to Play Space Invaders?

Repetitive and addictive, Space Invaders is a classic that remains popular through the decades, but how is it played?

The object of the game

This fast paces shooting game involves using your laser to fire at a wave of descending alien armies. Move through the levels and don’t get caught!

Gameplay & Rules

This single-player game involves controlling a gun at bottom of the screen to shoot alien enemies that descend in rows from the top. Each game screen loads with 5 rows of invaders, 11 aliens across each row. Each row is worth a different number of points.  The player can move the laser shot horizontally across the screen, but not vertically.

Sounds easy? Not when the aliens also fire back! Take cover with buildings, making your quest a little easier – but don’t hesitate, these structures won’t last. They are susceptible to enemy fire and will eventually be destroyed!

The player’s goal is to clear the level of the aliens and move to the next stage.

1. You have 3 lives, lose them all and it’s GAME OVER.
2. There are 3 Waves of difficulty to progress.
3. The first 2 rows of invaders are larger and worth 10 points each when destroyed.
4. The middle 2 rows are worth 20 points each.
5. Top row aliens are worth 30 points.
6. The total number of points for each screen is 990.

First Stage:

Firstly, a wave of enemy ships fly horizontally back and forth across the screen in formation. They fire one bullet at a time and leave themselves vulnerable to attack! You have to have super-fast reaction times to survive the first wave!

Stage Two:

At the next level, numerous enemies shoot directly at you as well as drop bombs that fall to the bottom of the screen. Players must be careful not to let too many bombs land or they will lose a life.

The third stage:

Finally, the last stage involves enemies that fly diagonally and fire multiple bullets at once, which are much harder to escape! Are you fast enough?

The history of Space Invaders

It was designed by Toshiro Nishikado, inspired by the likes of War of the Worlds and Star Wars. Nishikado built a custom microprocessor from discrete logic chips without the help of a hardware designer. He eventually finished the design in November 1974 and received a patent for his work in 1978. It was released the same year by Taito. The game was an instant success.

On May 15, 1978, Taito first released the game throughout Japan. The same year it was exported to Europe and the United States where the game became even more popular. It quickly became a cultural phenomenon in America where people would take days off work just to play Space Invaders at their local arcade parlour.

The game changed slightly over the years, but the basic premise stayed the same. The player controls a laser cannon attached to the bottom of the screen by a movable lever. Using this lever, players can move the cannon left and right along the bottom of the screen in order to avoid enemy fire and counterattack.