HOW TO PLAY

CONTROLS

WASD or Arrow Keys to move. Mouse to aim. Click to shoot. E drops a bomb that clears all enemies. SPACE to dash (brief invincibility). P to pause.

OBJECTIVE

Survive endless waves of letter enemies. Kill enemies to increase your score and combo. Every 6th wave is a boss fight. After each boss, choose 1 of 3 upgrade cards. You also get +1 life and +1 bomb.

COMBO SYSTEM

Every kill without dying increases your combo. Higher combos give damage, speed, fire rate, and score bonuses. Your character visually evolves:

• COMBO (1-24) — Green V, normal bullets
• STREAK (25-74) — Orange ▼, aura ring appears
• RAMPAGE (75-149) — Yellow ✦, star bullets
• FRENZY (150-299) — Blue ◈, diamond bullets, double rings
• ULTRA (300-449) — Indigo ◆, heavy bullets
• GODLIKE (450+) — Magenta ☆ → ≡, star then DNA spiral body + bullets, triple rings + orbiting sparks

Combo resets on death (shield absorbs don't count). Bullet width grows up to +10% at max combo.

ENEMIES

• Letters (A-Z) — Basic wanderers and chasers
• W Splitters — Split into 2 fast V chasers on death
• S Snakes — Multi-segment serpents, split when killed
• C Shooters — Orbit at distance, fire bullets at you
• Chinese Dodgers — 龍鬼神 — dodge your bullets sideways
• Word Fusions — Nearby enemies merge into multi-letter words with combined abilities

BOSSES (every 6 phases)

• BOSS 67 — Charges, spins, 360° bullet bursts. Wind-up telegraph before charges.
• JET — Strafing runs, afterburner dash, missile lock, spin-shoot
• TANK — Fortify mode (invulnerable barrage), mines, slow but tough
• CAT — Neon color-cycling body. Eye lasers, pounce attack, landing burst
• SKULL — Animated expressions. Homing skulls, SCREAM 360° burst
• UFO — Spinning laser beams that pulsate on/off
• VOID — Blackhole boss. Spits enemies when hit. Reconsumes them after 10s to regain HP. Nova attack shoots blackhole bullets in a ring with strong gravity.
• SERPENT — Giant snake. Splits into smaller snakes at 66% and 33% HP. Shared health pool.

BLACKHOLES

Appear after 50K score. Gravitational pull bends your bullets (inverse-square). Must shoot from close range. They consume nearby enemies and evolve: at 10 consumed they chase you, at 15 they shoot, at 25 they become mega blackholes.

UPGRADE CARDS (20 total)

• ⚡ RAPID FIRE — Fire rate +20%
• ↑ FAST BULLETS — Bullet speed +15%
• 🏃 SWIFT — Move speed +15%
• ✦ SPREAD SHOT — +1 bullet stream
• 💥 POWER SHOT — Bullet damage +1
• 💨 POWER DASH — Dash farther + shorter cooldown
• ➳ PIERCING — Bullets pass through 1 enemy
• 🧲 MAGNETISM — Attract nearby pickups
• 💣 CHAIN BLAST — Enemies explode on death
• 🛡️ SHIELD — Shield absorbs +1 extra hit (max 5 upgrades)
• ⇅ REAR GUARD — Also fire backwards
• ☢️ MEGA BOMB — Bombs deal damage to bosses
• ⏳ TIME WARP — Slow-mo lasts 50% longer
• 🎯 HOMING — Bullets gently track enemies
• ≡ LASER GUN — Hold fire for continuous beam
• ❄ SLOW FIELD — Blue aura slows enemies + bullets near you (stacks 5x)
• 💫 CLUSTER BOMB — Auto-burst every 10s
• ↯ RICOCHET — Bullets bounce off edges + split (3 levels)

SHIELD & CARE PACKAGES

Shield starts with 1 hit absorb. The SHIELD upgrade card increases max absorb by 1 (up to 6). Shield care packages (◇) drop periodically and restore 1 shield hit. Slow-time packages (◈) also drop and slow everything for 5 seconds. Picking up a shield when already full does nothing — save it for when you need it.

SLOW FIELD

PVP ARENA

Fight another player or AI on maps with destructible ASCII walls. Collect upgrade pickups (spread, fire+, dmg+, pierce, bounce, heal, etc). Walls break when shot — each letter block has 5 HP. Color shifts blue→yellow→orange→red as they break. Debris floats and temporarily blocks bullets.