Star Warden

Star Warden is a fast, polished vertical space shooter built for quick sessions and big comebacks. You command the last guardian ship at the edge of a glowing nebula. Wave after wave of alien raiders pour down the screen in sweeping lines, snaking weavers, diving darts and heavily armed gunships, and your job is to survive, destroy them and protect the gate.

Controls are effortless. Slide a finger or move the mouse to fly; your cannons fire automatically, so every ounce of attention goes into dodging glowing bullets and lining up shots. Shot down raiders drop credits and power-ups. Multi-shot widens your fire into a deadly fan, a shield soaks up three hits, and the magnet pulls every credit on screen straight to your hull. Chain kills quickly to raise your score multiplier, and clear a wave without taking damage for bonus credits.

Between waves you dock in the hangar and spend credits on permanent upgrades: stronger plasma cannons, a faster reactor, extra hull plating, a longer-reaching magnet, a tougher shield generator and a salvage rig that boosts every payout. Upgrades carry over between runs, so each attempt takes you further. Every fifth wave a colossal boss arrives with its own attack patterns and angry phases that you have to learn and beat.

If your hull gives out you may watch an optional short video to revive once per run, or double the credits from a cleared wave. Star Warden saves your best score and best wave on your device, plays on phones, tablets and desktop browsers, and includes a pulsing soundtrack you can mute at any time. How many waves can you hold?