A vector space shooter where glowing ships meet molten, splitting asteroids.
Rock Drift is a vector space shooter in the spirit of the great 1979 arcade cabinets, rebuilt with modern lighting. You pilot a small ship in a field of drifting asteroids. Shoot a big rock and it cracks into two smaller ones; shoot those and they split again, until the last fragments burst into dust. Clear the field and a bigger, faster wave drifts in.
Your ship obeys real momentum: it turns on the spot, thrusts forward and keeps coasting when you let go, and every edge of the screen wraps around to the opposite side. Flying saucers drop in to hunt you, the big ones spraying shots at random and the small ones aiming with frightening accuracy. When everything goes wrong there is hyperspace: a short charge, then a jump to a random point in the field that might save you, or might not.
How to play
- Rotate your ship and thrust to move. There is no brake: to slow down, turn around and thrust the other way. A gentle assist slowly bleeds off speed, so you never drift forever.
- Fire to break rocks. Large rocks split into two medium ones, medium rocks into two small ones, and small rocks are destroyed. Smaller rocks are faster and worth more points.
- Everything wraps: fly off one edge and you reappear on the opposite side. Rocks, saucers and shots wrap too, so watch the edges.
- Hyperspace charges for a third of a second and then teleports you to a random spot. It can rescue you from a certain crash, but you might land somewhere worse, and jumping again quickly risks a malfunction.
- Clear every rock to finish a wave. Clear one without losing a ship for a Flawless bonus. Destroy things in quick succession to build a score multiplier up to ×4.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Touch | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotate | ← → or A D | Left stick (the ship turns to face it) | Left stick / D-pad, or aim with the right stick |
| Thrust | ↑ or W | Push the left stick all the way | RT / D-pad up |
| Fire | Space or K (hold to auto-fire) | Fire button (hold to auto-fire) | A / RB |
| Hyperspace | Shift, ↓ or S | ✦ button | B / LB |
| Pause / restart | Esc / R | Pause button | Start / Back |
Every action can be remapped in Settings.
Modes
- Classic
- Endless waves. Three ships, bonus ships at 10,000 points and beyond.
- Blitz
- Two minutes, unlimited ships, waves come thick and fast. Score all you can.
- Daily Drift Daily
- Today's seeded waves and saucers, the same for everyone. Three ships.
Tips & strategy
- Stay near the middle and let the rocks come to you. Flying fast across the field is the most common way to die.
- Break one large rock at a time. Splitting everything at once fills the screen with small, fast fragments that are hard to track.
- Shoot the small saucer first. It aims ahead of where you are going, so change direction when it appears and keep it in front of your nose.
- Tapping fire shoots faster than holding it. Hold for steady auto-fire when you need your thumbs elsewhere.
- Your shots wrap around the edges too: a rock just off the right side can be hit by firing left across the edge.
- Treat hyperspace as a last resort. One jump is a gamble; two in quick succession is a bigger one.
- The multiplier resets if you pause for more than a second and a half between kills, so keep a rhythm going when the field is full of small rocks.
- Bonus ships arrive at 10,000, 30,000, 60,000 and 100,000 points. A Flawless wave bonus helps get there sooner.
Achievements
- Deep FieldReach wave 5Locked
- Outer BeltReach wave 10Locked
- Close EncounterShoot down a flying saucerLocked
- MarksmanShoot down a small saucerLocked
- Escape ArtistHyperspace out of a near miss and survive the jumpLocked
- Chain ReactionReach a ×4 multiplierLocked
- UntouchableClear three waves in a row without losing a shipLocked
- Fifty GrandScore 50,000 points in one gameLocked
- Time AttackScore 20,000 points in BlitzLocked
A short history of the genre
Vector space shooters arrived at the end of the 1970s, when a handful of arcade cabinets used vector monitors: instead of a grid of pixels, an electron beam drew bright, razor-sharp lines directly on the screen. The look was unmistakable: glowing white outlines on pure black, with shots that shone like tiny stars.
The asteroid shooter became one of the defining games of the era, celebrated for its momentum-based flight, the tension of a screen filling with ever-smaller rocks and the desperate gamble of hyperspace. Its ideas live on in twin-stick shooters and modern arcade revivals. Rock Drift keeps the classic rules and adds a few modern touches: rocks that collide and bounce, a score multiplier, a timed Blitz mode and a daily challenge.
FAQ
Is Rock Drift free?
Yes. Rock Drift is free to play in your browser with no download or sign-up. The site is supported by unobtrusive ads that never cover the game.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. Use the left stick to aim the ship (push it all the way to thrust), the large button to fire and the ✦ button for hyperspace. Portrait and landscape both work; in portrait the field turns sideways to fill the screen.
Can I play with a gamepad?
Yes. Steer with the left stick or D-pad, thrust with the right trigger and fire with A. You can also aim directly with the right stick, twin-stick style.
What is the Daily Drift?
A seeded game where the waves and saucer schedule are identical for every player on the same day (it changes at midnight UTC). You have three ships; your best score of the day is saved and can be shared.
What is Blitz mode?
Two minutes with unlimited ships. Waves start bigger and follow each other quickly, so it is all about scoring fast and keeping your multiplier alive.
How does hyperspace work?
After a short charge your ship vanishes and reappears at a random point in the field. If that point is inside a rock, you crash. Each jump also has a small chance of malfunction, and the chance grows if you jump again within a few seconds.
Where are my scores saved?
In your browser on this device. You can export your profile from the Profile page and import it on another device.
Updates
- Rock Drift launched with Classic, Blitz and the Daily Drift.
