☄️ Asteroids

How to play Asteroids

Asteroids is the vector-graphics classic where you pilot a spinning, drifting spaceship through a zero-gravity field of rocks. Shoot the big asteroids and they split into mediums; shoot the mediums and they split into smalls; shoot the smalls and they disappear. Don't get hit.

Controls

• ← → — rotate your ship
• ↑ — thrust forward
• Space — fire
• Shift — hyperspace (random teleport, sometimes fatal)

Tips & strategy

• Thrust sparingly. Asteroids has real momentum — once you start moving, you keep moving. Tap thrust, don't hold it.
• Clear the small chunks first. Small fast-moving fragments kill more often than the big slow ones. Pick them off as they appear.
• Use the screen wrap. The playfield wraps left-right and top-bottom. A shot that misses can still hit if it wraps back around.
• Hyperspace is a last resort. Random teleport — you might land safely, you might land inside an asteroid. Only use it when there's no other escape.

About Asteroids

Asteroids shipped in 1979 from Atari, designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg. It was the company's top-grossing arcade game and one of the first major hits to use vector graphics — sharp lines drawn directly by the electron beam rather than a raster grid. The original cabinet would store the top-10 high scores between players, an arcade-cabinet first.

Frequently asked

How do I play Asteroids? Use the arrow keys to rotate and thrust your ship, and Space to fire. Big asteroids split into smaller chunks when hit — clear them all to advance.

Is Asteroids free? Yes — no signup, no downloads, no installs.

What does hyperspace do? Hyperspace teleports your ship to a random spot on the screen. Usually safer than the danger you were in — but not always.

Does my high score save? Yes — your best Asteroids score is stored locally in your browser.

More arcade games

• Space Invaders
• Defender
• Missile Command
• All arcade games →