How to play
Ion Descent is a RetroArcade original wave shooter — our homage to the golden-age fixed shooters that put descending alien formations on every arcade floor, rebuilt from scratch with original code, canvas art, and WebAudio bleeps. Slide your ship along the ground line with the arrow keys or A/D (touch buttons appear on mobile) and fire with the spacebar. A 32-ship formation marches side to side above you, dropping bombs and stepping closer with every edge it touches.
The fewer invaders remain, the faster the survivors march — the last few move at a sprint. Four teal shields soak up fire from both sides, eroding cell by cell until nothing is left. Watch for the coral bonus saucer streaking across the top: it is worth up to 300 points if you can lead the shot. Clearing a wave starts the next one lower and meaner. Three lives, bonus ship at 10,000, and a local top-five high-score table with initials.
Tip: carve a narrow firing slot through one shield and snipe through it. Back to the RetroArcade Arcade, or explore the real history of the genre in the Golden Age of Arcade Games encyclopedia.