PLAY

FAQ - Astro Miners Guide

Welcome, Astro Miner!

Your goal is simple: Survive as long as possible against endless waves of enemies and hazards in space! Collect resources, upgrade your ship, and achieve the high score!

Controls

  • W/A/S/D or Arrow Keys: Move ship
  • Mouse: Aim
  • Left Mouse Button: Fire primary weapon
  • Right Mouse Button: Fire secondary weapon
  • Spacebar (hold): Activate warp drive (boost)
  • ESC: Pause / Resume game
  • Q or F: Show/hide FAQ (in game or pause menu)

The Gameplay Loop

  1. During the Wave:
    • Fight increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
    • Destroy meteorites for resources and XP.
    • Collect resources (Units) and experience points (XP).
    • Dodge projectiles, debris, explosions, and other hazards!
  2. After the Wave:
    1. Level Up & Upgrades: If you've gathered enough XP, you'll level up. For each level gained, you can choose a permanent upgrade for your ship.
    2. Item Shop: Use collected Units to buy randomly offered, unlocked items in the shop, granting permanent bonuses.
    3. Next Wave: Start the next, tougher round well-equipped. Your health, shields, and warp energy are fully replenished at the start of each wave.

The game has no fixed end – survive as many waves as you can!

Key Game Mechanics

  • Unlocks: Not all ships and items are available initially. Reach specific milestones (e.g., survive waves, defeat enemies, collect resources) to unlock new options. Your progress is saved automatically.
  • Warp Drive: Allows short, quick boosts (Spacebar) for dodging or repositioning. Consumes energy that slowly recharges.
  • Upgrades: Permanent improvements chosen after leveling up.
  • Items: Permanent enhancements bought in the shop. View your inventory in the pause menu (ESC).
  • Enemy Behavior: Enemies act differently (aggressive, defensive, fleeing, protective, swarming). Some enhance allies (auras) or try to avoid hazards like meteorites.

Hazards in Space

  • Meteorites: A direct collision is deadly! However, they can also collide with enemies and *other meteorites*, destroying them. They drop resources and XP. (Note: Bosses are immune!)
  • Debris: Destroyed ships and meteorites leave behind small pieces of scrap. These fly slowly and deal minor damage to *all* ships (including you!). Avoid them!
  • Explosions: Rockets, mines, destroyed ships, etc., cause area-of-effect damage. Keep your distance!
  • Anomalies: Temporary zones with random positive or negative effects on your stats, game mechanics, or visuals.
  • Black Holes: These dangerous phenomena appear on the map and relentlessly pull *everything* (player, enemies, meteorites, projectiles, resources, debris) towards them.
    • The closer you get to the center, the stronger the pull.
    • Objects reaching the innermost core (Event Horizon) are destroyed.
    • If your ship enters the core, it's Game Over!
    • You can try to escape the pull with high speed or the warp drive, but be careful!
    • Black holes announce their arrival with a brief visual effect (flash) before exerting their full gravitational force.

Boss Waves

Prepare for a major challenge! At regular intervals, a powerful Boss will appear.

  • During a Boss Wave, the normal wave timer is disabled.
  • Your sole objective is to defeat the Boss to proceed to the next wave.
  • Bosses are exceptionally strong with massive health, shields, and devastating weaponry.
  • They often have unique behaviors and attack patterns.
  • Different types of Bosses may appear randomly, keeping you on your toes!
  • Important: Bosses are immune to collisions with meteorites! You can't use asteroids to easily defeat them.
  • Defeating a Boss yields a significant XP reward.

Good luck, Miner – you'll need it!

Tips for Astro Miners

  • Use the warp drive tactically for evasive maneuvers or quick repositioning.
  • Upgrade the tractor beam to collect resources faster and from further away.
  • Watch your surroundings! Dodge not only projectiles but also debris, explosions, meteorites, and black holes!
  • Use the environment to your advantage: Lure enemies into meteorites or the pull of black holes (except Bosses!).
  • Experiment with different ships and item combinations once you've unlocked them.
  • Focus your fire on particularly dangerous targets like large battleships, bombers, or the Boss itself!

Statistics & Saving

  • In the main menu, you can view your global achievements and statistics for each ship.
  • Your progress (unlocks, stats) is saved automatically.
  • If you pause the game (ESC), your current progress in the wave (player stats, enemy positions etc.) is saved. You can resume later using the "RESUME" button in the main menu.

Version 0.6.2