Space

Background[]

Space is a combat simulation where the player controls a ship that must shoot as many enemy ships as possible. Money is accumulated whenever a ship is destroyed, which leads to the player being able to purchase certain ability power-ups for their ship.

The game was created by Dylan Kay and was released in May, 2016.

Gameplay[]

At the beginning of a game, the player faces one lone enemy ship. If the ship gets shot by the player, they will graduate to round two, which has two enemy ships. With each completed round an additional enemy ship is added.

Players only get one shot at a time (with a second shot a couple of seconds later), which must either hit a target or expire before they can shoot again.

Each destroyed enemy is worth money, which can be used to purchase special abilities for the player’s ship. Each ability, when activated, lasts for several seconds, although it will be several seconds before the ability can be used again. Only one ability can be used per game and they can be changed in between games if the player wishes.

If a player gets hit by an enemy ship or its firepower then the game will end. Colliding with an enemy ship does not count as a hit.

Abilities[]

The following abilities can be purchased.

Cloak–allows players to disappear from the enemy.
Through shots
Shield–makes players’ ships invulnerable to fire and allows enemy ships to pass through them unharmed.
Reload
Spreadshot–fires three shots simultaneously.
Pixie dust–adds a colorful trail to the player’s ship exhaust.

Controls[]

Start game–Return key or clicking on Play button
Pause–P key
Move ship forwards–W key
Backwards–S key
Turn ship left–A key
Turn ship right–D key
Shoot–spacebar
Ability–E key

Trivia[]

Space was remade into Space 2 and had many improvements, which included sound/music, the game pace was slightly sped up, firing control was tightened, special abilities were expanded from six to 15, rather than only having stars, planets and the Death Star from the Star Wars movies appeared onscreen (which also changed with every new game), the dollar amount for abilities was changed, no ability was included for free with the game, controls became remappable, the interface was changed and expanded, two player options were included, a Base could change players’ ships’ colors and their fuel trails and a Prism feature was also added. Enemy ship behavior was also changed, as with Space the enemy would stop at times, seem to lose interest in the player, and change their course. With Space 2, enemy ships would pause after several seconds of pursuit, then continue following a player, rather than turning away and continuing on a different course.
Space is set to be discontinued soon in favor of Space 2.