Blaster weapon
Fast, straight shots - one stream, then two, then three as it levels. Your starting gun, and the one you never lose.
games / cosmic salvo
Cosmic Salvo
An arcade space shooter in the spirit of classic Asteroids. Fly six sectors from Earth orbit to Andromeda, collect weapon capsules, level up your ship, and take down three alien bosses.
- genre
- Arcade space shooter
- players
- Solo
- plays on
- Desktop and phones
- install
- None - it runs in your browser
- sectors
- 6, then it loops
- bosses
- 3
- weapons
- 5, up to LV 12
- upgrades
- 33 abilities and auras
The story behind it
I built the first Cosmic Salvo years ago with MonoGame, as a game for phones. Recently I dug the project back up and brought it back to life with AI: a rebuilt engine that runs right in the browser, and a pile of new options along the way. Everything you see and hear - the ships, planets, music, and sound effects - is generated in code.
It's a hobby project, made purely for fun. Enjoy!
01 how to play
- Clear the sector. Destroy every asteroid to warp to the next sector. Rocks split into smaller rocks when you hit them, so a sector gets busier before it gets quieter.
- Firing is automatic. Your guns fire on their own whenever an enemy is on screen, so you can focus on flying and dodging.
- Grab what drops. Enemies leave capsules behind: new weapons, shields, nukes, repairs, and extra ships. After a sector is cleared you get a moment to collect them, and stragglers fly to you.
- Survive the loop. After Andromeda the route starts over as Loop 2, and every loop is tougher. There's no final level - it's about how far you get and how high you score.
Keyboard and mouse
| WASD | Fly in that direction (arrow keys work too) |
| Right mouse | Hold to fly toward the cursor |
| Mouse | Aim - otherwise you face the way you're flying |
| N | Nuke (or E) |
| QTab | Next weapon (or 1-5, the mouse wheel, or click a slot) |
| Shift | Hyperspace to the safest spot nearby |
| ZXCVB | Abilities |
| G | Switch aura |
| U | Open a saved upgrade pick |
| PEsc | Pause |
| M | Mute |
| T | Next music track |
Touch screens
- A floating stick appears where you put your thumb. Inside the dashed ring it only aims; push past it to fly.
- NUKE, SWAP (weapon), AURA, and your ability buttons sit on the other side.
- Tap a weapon slot to switch to it, or the glowing XP row to open a saved upgrade.
- Phones ask whether you're left- or right-handed before the first game, so the stick lands under your dominant thumb.
Settings
- Steering: Direct (fly the way you press) or Classic (rotate with A D, thrust with W, brake with S).
- Regenerating shield: off, slow (25 s), or fast (12 s).
- Music: a mix, or just techno, synthwave, chiptune, or drum & bass.
- Clock: off, time of day, or a run timer. Plus stick side and sound on/off.
02 power-ups
Capsules are glowing letter badges that drift around for 14 seconds before they vanish. Fly into one to collect it. The colors below match the game.
Spread Shot weapon
A short-range fan of 3, 5, then 7 shots (9 at Mk IV). Great for crowds of rocks and drones.
Piercing Laser weapon
An instant beam with no travel time that cuts through 3, then 5, then everything in its line.
Machine Gun weapon
A very fast, slightly scattered stream of bullets.
Homing Missiles weapon
Slower missiles that steer themselves into targets and explode - one, two, then three per volley.
Shield defense
Absorbs one whole hit, whatever it is.
Nuke bomb
Adds a nuke to clear the screen with N. Every third nuke capsule upgrades the bomb itself, up to Tsar Bomba.
Repair hull
Restores 40% of your hull, or 500 points if it's already full. Below half hull, drops are more likely to be repairs.
Extra ship life
One more ship, up to 9. At 9 ships it fully repairs your hull instead.
Leveling up your guns
Picking up a weapon you already own levels it up, all the way to LV 12. Early levels take one capsule each; from LV 3 they take two, and from LV 6 three. Past LV 3 every level adds 15% damage and a little fire rate, and every third level unlocks a new Mark:
- Mk II LV 4 - shots pierce
- Mk III LV 7 - hits splash, gold shots
- Mk IV LV 10 - a bigger volley
Losing a ship costs the weapon in your hands one level, or the whole weapon if it was at LV 1. The Blaster is never lost.
03 enemies
Points are per kill. Enemies get tougher every sector, every loop, and as your ship levels up, so hit counts change as you go.
Asteroids
20 / 50 / 100Large rocks split into medium, medium into small. From the Orion Nebula on, large rocks split into three. They wrap around the screen edges.
every sectorRadioactive rocks
x2Worth double, but they explode instead of splitting and leave a toxic cloud for 5 seconds. Don't fly through it.
from sector 2Comets
250A warning marker flashes, then a comet streaks across the screen. Two out of three drop a capsule.
every sectorSaucers
300Cross the screen side to side, firing aimed shots at you.
from sector 2Drones
150Fragile, but they arrive in squads of 3 to 5 and chase you down.
from sector 3Egg rocks and Lurkers
400Glowing egg rocks hatch Lurkers that circle you and spit a three-shot acid spread.
as your ship levelsGunships
600Heavily armored. They strafe past and fire three-shell bursts.
from sector 2Lancers
500Stop, draw a warning line, then fire a beam along it. Move off the line.
from sector 3Elite squadrons
x5Two or three bigger Gunships, Lancers, or Lurkers with six times the armor and faster fire. Each drops a repair plus a random capsule.
from sector 304 bosses
Sectors 3 and 6 end in a boss fight, and the bosses take turns: the Mothership first, then the Battlecruiser, then the Hive Queen, and around again on later loops.
Mothership
5,000 points- Three-shot aimed volleys
- Rings of 12 bullets (18 once it's below half health)
- A double spiral of shots below 65%
- Launches drones below half health
Battlecruiser
6,000 points- Five-shell heavy broadsides
- Four homing missiles at a time
- A sweeping beam below 75% - watch the warning line
Hive Queen
6,000 points- A nine-shot fan of acid
- Lays three egg mines
- Calls in drones - more below half health
- Lunges straight at you
Every boss
- Can't be hurt while it's flying in, so use that time to get into position.
- Sheds armor plates as it takes damage, and every plate drops a capsule: repairs, shields, a nuke, and random picks.
- Below 30% health, every attack comes 35% faster.
- Drops a random weapon, a 1UP, and a repair when it goes down, and scores more on every loop.
05 the route
- 01
Sol system
Earth Orbit
Four big rocks and comets. A gentle start.
- 02
Sol system
Asteroid Belt
More rocks, plus saucers, gunships, radioactive rocks, black holes, and solar flares.
- 03
Sol system
Saturn's Rings
Drone squads, lancers, elite squadrons, and electrical storms join in.
boss - 04
Deep space
Orion Nebula
Seven big rocks that now split into three, and comets more often.
- 05
Exoplanet system
Kepler-442
Eight big rocks and everything you've met so far.
- 06
Neighbor galaxy
Andromeda
The full gauntlet, then the next loop begins.
boss
Clearing a sector pays a bonus of 1,000 points times the sector number and repairs 35% of your hull. You can start a new game at any sector you've already reached.
Space weather
Black hole
Grows, then feeds on whatever comes near. Shoot it until it collapses for a big bonus - if it feeds too long it bursts into a swarm of drones.
Solar flare
Waves of fire sweep the screen, each with a gap to fly through.
Electrical storm
Sixteen seconds of lightning. Strike spots are marked just before they hit.
Toxic cloud
Left behind by radioactive rocks. Drains your hull for as long as you're inside.
06 leveling and upgrades
Your score is your XP
- Every point you score counts toward your ship's level, up to level 50. Each level repairs 10 hull.
- Each level-up offers a draft of three cards: a new ability, or the next rank of one you own. Pick with 1-3.
- Not happy with the cards? Press R to reroll. You earn a reroll every 5 levels.
- In the middle of a fight? Leave the pick for later and open it with U or the glowing XP row.
- Some levels guarantee a rare card: an Epic or better at levels 10, 20, 25, 35, 40, and 50, and a Legendary at 15, 30, and 45. A run can hold up to three Legendaries.
- Your ship earns a new title every 5 levels: Scout > Striker > Vanguard > Warden > Dreadnought > Paragon > Ascended > Titan > Celestial > Mythic > Eternal.
Three kinds of upgrade
- Actives
- Abilities you trigger with Z X C V B or the touch buttons, each on its own cooldown.
- Passives
- Always on once you have them: tougher hull, faster guns, escort ships, orbiting orbs, and more.
- Auras
- Offered from level 8. Only one runs at a time; switch with G or the AURA button.
Rarity, from most to least common: common · uncommon · rare · epic · legendary
Every upgrade (33)
actives
- Afterburner common A burst of speed; rams don't hurt your hull. Leaves a fire trail at rank 3.
- Mine Layer common Drops proximity mines. At rank 3 they drift toward enemies.
- Warp Jump uncommon Warps you forward, tearing through everything in the path.
- EMP Burst uncommon Freezes nearby enemies for 2 seconds and erases their shots.
- Bazooka rare A rocket blast. Adds bomblets at rank 3.
- Aegis Barrier epic A bubble that absorbs every shot, repairing your hull with each one.
- Gravity Well epic Throws a singularity that drags enemies and shots in, then collapses.
- Chrono Field legendary Everything except your ship slows to 30% speed for 4 seconds.
- Starfall legendary Twelve meteors rain down over 3 seconds.
passives
- Reinforced Hull common +20 max hull per rank.
- Overcharged Guns common +10% weapon damage per rank.
- Rapid Cyclers common +8% fire rate per rank.
- Thrusters common +10% speed and turning per rank.
- Tractor Beam common Bigger pick-up range; nearby capsules drift to you.
- Splash Rounds common Kills burst into damaging shrapnel.
- Nano Repair uncommon Repairs your hull after 4 seconds without taking damage.
- Critical Targeting uncommon A chance for any hit to deal double damage.
- Nuke 'em, Rico! uncommon Carry more nukes and recharge them faster.
- Salvager uncommon +15% power-up drops per rank.
- Plasma Orbs uncommon Orbs circle your ship and damage anything they touch.
- Flux Capacitor rare Shorter cooldowns on abilities and nukes.
- Wingman rare An escort ship fights beside you. Two of them at rank 3, shooting down enemy bullets too.
- Arc Chain rare Some hits arc lightning to nearby enemies.
- Reactive Plating rare When your hull is hit, shards fly out at everything around you.
- Missile Pods rare Homing missiles launch at enemies every few seconds.
- Siphon epic Kills repair your hull - a lot for a boss.
- Phoenix Core legendary Once per sector, a fatal hit restores half your hull in a burst of fire instead.
- Carrier Group legendary Every 12 seconds, three interceptors launch and hunt.
auras
- Bulwark Aura rare Take up to 35% less hull damage.
- Fury Aura rare Up to +35% damage from everything you do.
- Vitality Aura rare More max hull and steady repairs when you're out of the fire.
- Haste Aura rare Up to +20% fire rate and speed.
- Deflector Aura epic Up to 35% of shots that hit you bounce back at the shooter.
07 difficulty
Pick it on the title screen, right above LAUNCH. High scores are kept separately for each one.
| Relaxed | Normal | Hard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ships | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Nukes | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| First bonus ship | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| Enemies | Fewer, slower, weaker | As designed | A full loop tougher from the start |
| Power-up drops | x1.5 | x1 | x0.75 |
| Hull damage taken | x0.6 | x1 | x1.3 |
08 scoring and tips
Scoring
- Kills score the points listed under Enemies and Bosses. Radioactive rocks are worth double.
- Clearing a sector adds 1,000 times the sector number.
- Shooting a black hole until it collapses is worth 2,500 points, more on later loops, plus a capsule.
- Bonus ships arrive as your score climbs, and the gap doubles each time: 25k, 75k, 175k, 375k... on Normal. You can hold up to 9 ships.
- Your best score for each difficulty is saved in your browser.
Tips
- Your guns handle the shooting - spend your attention on where you're flying.
- Keep capsules flowing: a weapon you already carry levels up when you grab it again.
- Save a nuke for a boss fight or a sector that gets out of hand.
- Hyperspace (Shift) picks the safest spot nearby, and recharges in 3 seconds.
- Watch for warning markers: comets and Lancer beams always telegraph first.
- Running low? Drops lean toward repairs when your hull is below half.
Ready for launch?
Free, no install, and it runs on your computer or your phone. Good luck out there.