Play Galaga Online Free

About Galaga

Galaga is the sequel that outgrew its parent. Namco released it in 1981 after Galaxian, and its addition was one of the best ideas in arcade history: the boss aliens can capture your ship with a tractor beam, and if you shoot the captor while your ship is being held, you get it back — flying alongside you as a dual fighter with twice the firepower.

Everything else is precision: a formation of insect-like aliens assembles at the top of the screen, peels off in diving attacks, and you move left and right along the bottom shooting them down. Between stages there are Challenging Stages — bonus rounds where nothing shoots back and a perfect run is worth 10,000 points.

How to play Galaga

Move

← →

Fire

Space

Start

Enter or 1

1. Aliens fly in and assemble into a formation at the top. Shoot them as they arrive — they're worth more in flight.
2. Once assembled, they dive at you in ones and twos. Move out of the line of the dive and shoot upward.
3. A boss Galaga will try to capture your ship with a tractor beam. Let it, then shoot that boss on its next dive to fly a dual fighter.
4. Clear the stage to advance. Every few stages is a Challenging Stage with no enemy fire.

Galaga tips

• Sacrifice a ship to the tractor beam deliberately when you have spares — the dual fighter is worth far more than one life.
• Only two of your shots can be on screen at once, so don't spam; time them.
• During Challenging Stages, stay near the centre and sweep; a perfect 40/40 is 10,000 points.
• Shoot the diving aliens, not the formation, once the wave has assembled — the divers are what kill you.

Galaga — questions