Alien Fall

space shooter

A fixed shooter where time works against you in the most awkward way: the invader formation steps down towards your line, and the more of them you shoot the faster the survivors move. The last dozen sprint, and the final invader is a blur. Four bunkers stand between you and their fire, but it is your own shots that chew them apart — hide through a whole wave and you reach the next one with no cover left. Each level cleared brings the formation back in full, quicker than before.

Play Alien Fall

How to play

The goal is to shoot down every invader before they step all the way to your line. You have three lives against a formation eleven columns wide and five rows deep. The top row is worth thirty points, the two middle rows twenty, the two bottom rows ten — the valuable ones are the furthest away, the ones you reach last. The formation marches sideways in steps; when it touches an edge it drops one rank and reverses, and at each drop it recalculates its speed from how many are still alive, so it speeds up as you win, and every level starts quicker than the one before. A hit costs a life and grants a few seconds of immunity to find cover again; the run ends when the lives are gone, or instantly if a single invader reaches your line. The four bunkers stop shots from both directions: each block takes four hits, and firing up through your own cover is the quickest way to demolish it. They are not rebuilt between waves. Your best score stays on the device. Controls: on a keyboard ← and → or A and D move, Space, ↑ or W fire, P or Esc pauses, Enter resumes or replays. On touch, drag your finger to steer and fire runs automatically while you hold.

How it works

Fifty-five invaders, in eleven columns and five rows, march sideways across the top of the screen. Each time the formation reaches an edge, it drops half a row and turns back. Your ship moves along the bottom behind four bunkers. Shoot every invader to clear the wave, and the next one starts again from the top, with the bunkers rebuilt. You have three lives.

The formation moves in steps, not smoothly, and all the invaders step together.
Only the lowest invader in a column shoots. Every time the formation takes a step, there is a 40 percent chance that one column, picked at random among those that still have invaders, fires a shot straight down.
Bunkers stop shots from both sides. Each bunker is built from 22 blocks, and each block absorbs four shots before it disappears, getting darker as it wears. Your own shots eat into them exactly as the invaders' shots do.
Getting hit costs a life. Your ship stays where it is and blinks for about two and a half seconds, and nothing can hurt it while it blinks.
If the invaders get down to your ship, the game is over at once, however many lives you have left.
Hold fire for a steady stream, about one shot every third of a second. Each shot destroys one invader.

On a keyboard, A and D also move the ship and W also fires. With a mouse, hold the button and drag: the ship follows the pointer and fires by itself, as it does with a finger.

How the pace builds

On level 1 the formation starts at about one step a second. Each new level starts a little faster, up to about six steps a second from level 8 onwards.

The pace is recalculated every time the formation drops a row, and it depends on how many invaders are still alive. On level 1, half the formation left means twice the pace, and on higher levels the same count moves faster still. The last few invaders can take a dozen steps a second. Because the chance of a shot comes with every step, a faster formation also fires more often. Their shots fall a little faster at every level too.

Nothing in the game sets a last level: waves keep coming until you run out of lives or the invaders reach you.

Scoring

Invaders are worth more the higher their row:

top row, red: 30 points
second and third rows, orange: 20 points
two bottom rows, green: 10 points

A full wave is worth 990 points, on every level. Your best score is shown as BEST under the current one and kept in this browser.

Strategy that actually helps

Clear the outer columns. The formation turns and drops when its outermost surviving invader reaches the edge. With the end columns gone, it has further to travel before each drop, and that buys you time.

Do not shoot through your own cover. Firing from underneath a bunker wears it away from below. Step out to shoot and step back in to wait.

Watch the lowest row, not the highest score. The game ends when any invader gets down to your ship, and the green rows at the bottom lead the way. The red row pays best, but when the formation is getting low, the bottom rows are the ones to clear.

Be ready for the end of a wave. The shot is always fired by a column picked at random among the columns still standing. With only a couple of columns left, every one of them fires far more often, and they move faster too.

Common questions

Is it free? Yes. It runs in your browser, with no signup and nothing to download.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. Drag your finger to steer the ship, and it fires automatically for as long as your finger stays on the screen. It works in portrait and landscape.

Do the bunkers come back? Yes, all four are rebuilt at the start of every wave, but never during one.

Can I pause? Press P or Esc, and Enter to carry on. The game also pauses by itself when you switch to another tab.

Can I install it? Yes. Bananai can be installed as an app from the browser, and a game you have already opened usually keeps working when the connection drops.

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Also available in: Italiano