Pilot a tiny triangle ship, crack rocks into ever-smaller pieces and duck saucer shots on a screen that wraps at every edge.
In Rock Blaster, you fly a small triangle ship through a field of spinning space rocks, all drawn in glowing vector lines. Each hit cracks a rock into quicker, smaller chunks, and the screen fills up before it finally clears. Now and then a saucer slides across and starts shooting at you.
Movement has real drift. Let go of thrust and the ship keeps gliding, and anything that leaves one side of the screen reappears on the opposite side.
Getting started
After you hit PLAY, the ship shows up mid-screen. It flashes briefly, and during that time nothing can hurt it. Large rocks drift in from the edges. Turn toward one, fire, and it cracks in half. Medium rocks split again, and a hit on a small one makes it disappear.
Wave one starts with four big rocks, and each later wave brings an extra one. To finish a wave, you must destroy all the rocks and any saucer still flying. Only five of your bullets can be in flight together, and each lasts roughly 1.5 seconds before fading.
Points and saucers
- Large rock: 20 points
- Medium rock: 50 points
- Small rock: 100 points
- Big saucer: 200 points
- Small saucer: 1,000 points
The big saucer fires in random directions. The small one leads its shots toward where you are heading, and its aim tightens as your score rises. Saucer bullets can smash rocks too, but you earn nothing for those. Every 10,000 points, a chime plays and you gain an extra ship.
Strategy notes
Short bursts of thrust are easier to control than one long push, because the ship keeps gliding well after you let go. Think of it like tapping the gas instead of flooring it.
Break big rocks one by one. Every hit turns one piece into two, so sweep up the little fragments before splitting another large rock, and the screen stays under control. Always watch the edges, since a chunk leaving on the right can come back and hit you from the left.
Small saucers are worth five times as much as big ones and get more dangerous as you score, so take them out quickly. Hyperspace drops you in a random spot away from the edges and makes you invulnerable for just over a second, but it can still land you near a rock. There is also a short cooldown before you can jump again. Save it for moments when a crash is coming anyway.
Good to know
Press Esc to pause. A gamepad works as well as the keyboard, and on phones the on-screen stick and buttons cover every action, including the jump.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn the ship | Left and Right arrows, or A and D | — | Push the on-screen stick left or right |
| Thrust forward | Up arrow or W | — | Bottom button |
| Fire | Space or Z | — | Left or right button |
| Hyperspace jump | Left Shift or X | — | Top button |
| Pause | Esc | — | — |
| Use the menus | — | Click PLAY, OPTIONS or HELP | Tap the menu buttons |
Rock Blaster FAQ
Can I play Rock Blaster on a Chromebook or phone?
Yes. On a Chromebook, turn with the arrow keys or A and D, thrust with Up or W, fire with Space or Z, and jump with Left Shift or X. Touch screens get a left-hand stick plus a cluster of four buttons for thrust, fire and the jump. To keep things smooth, the glow effect begins switched off on touch devices.
Does Rock Blaster keep my high score?
Yes. Your best score is saved in your browser and shown on the title screen. The options menu also has a volume slider and a switch for the glow effect.
How does the game end?
You begin with three ships, shown by the LIVES counter. Colliding with a rock, a saucer or a saucer's bullet costs one. If you crash while the counter reads zero, the game is over. A bonus ship arrives every 10,000 points to help you last longer.
