Asteroids

Asteroids is the 1979 Atari arcade game that defined the vector-graphics era. Designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg, it sold over 70,000 cabinets and became Atari’s most successful arcade title. A small triangular ship floats in inertia-physics space; large asteroids drift in random directions; shoot them to break them into smaller asteroids, then into debris. A flying saucer occasionally arrives to shoot back. The game’s relentless physics, infinite playfield wraparound, and crisp vector visuals made it a defining game of its era.

How to play

• Press Start to begin.
• Left / Right arrows (or A / D) — rotate the ship.
• Up arrow (or W) — thrust forward (inertia keeps you moving).
• Space — fire bullets (up to 4 on screen at once).
• Shift / X — hyperspace (random teleport, with a 1-in-20 chance of self-destruct).
• Shoot large asteroids to break them into 2 medium asteroids; mediums break into 2 small asteroids; smalls vanish on hit.
• Clear all asteroids on screen to advance to the next wave. Wave 1 starts with 4 large asteroids, wave 2 with 6, and each wave after adds one more, up to 11.
• A UFO appears every 15–25 seconds or so and shoots back. Worth bonus points if destroyed.
• Screen wraps — exit one side, enter the other.
• 3 lives. Crashing into an asteroid or the UFO, or being hit by a UFO bullet, ends a life. Your best score is saved in your browser.

Scoring

• Large asteroid → 20 points.
• Medium → 50 points.
• Small → 100 points.
• Large UFO → 200 points.
• Small UFO → 1,000 points.
• There are no bonus lives in this version: your 3 lives are all you get. (The original arcade game awarded an extra ship every 10,000 points.)

Beginner strategy

• Stay near the centre. The screen-wrap can save you, but the centre gives you the longest reaction times to incoming asteroids.
• Don’t thrust unnecessarily. Inertia is fatal. Every thrust commits you to a trajectory that takes time to reverse.
• Shoot, don’t dodge. Asteroids are predictable in trajectory. Always prefer shooting an incoming asteroid over evading.
• Hyperspace is a panic button. Use only when about to die. Each jump has a 1-in-20 chance of destroying your ship, and you can land next to an asteroid — don’t use it as a strategy.
• Save score for UFOs. UFOs give 200 or 1,000 points. They arrive on a timer regardless of the wave, roughly every 15–25 seconds. Position yourself to one-shot them.

Intermediate strategy

• Bullet management. This version, like the arcade original, limits you to 4 bullets on screen at once. Don’t spray — make each shot count.
• Asteroid prioritization. Shoot the closest threat first. The asteroid drifting away is not urgent; the one heading at you in 2 seconds is.
• Cluster control. Breaking a large asteroid into mediums increases the on-screen count from 1 to 2. Mediums into smalls = 1 → 2 again. A wave that started with 4 large asteroids can momentarily have 16 small ones. Manage the explosion.
• Saucer behavior. Large saucers fire in random directions. Small saucers only start appearing once you pass 5,000 points, and they aim at you. Kill small saucers first.
• Use thrust as a position swap. Need to be on the other side of the screen? Brief thrust upward + screen wrap = a teleport without the hyperspace risk.

Advanced strategy and the “lurking” technique

• The “lurker” technique. Late in the original Asteroids ROM, expert players would clear most asteroids but leave 1-2 small asteroids alive. They’d then “lurk” — waiting in a safe spot for UFOs to spawn — and farm UFO points, which the arcade bonus-life system rewarded heavily. In this version UFOs also keep arriving while asteroids remain, but there are no bonus lives to earn.
• UFO baiting. Position your ship in a predictable corner. Small saucers will lock onto you, then you rotate at the last moment and fire.
• Marathon records. Scott Safran scored 41,336,440 in 1982, a record that stood until John McAllister passed it in 2010. Atari revised the ROM after release so that small saucers would hunt down lurking players.

The vector graphics era

Asteroids used a vector display (Quadrascan) instead of a raster (pixel) display. Vector displays draw lines between coordinates rather than filling a grid, giving the crisp, glowing geometric look characteristic of late-1970s arcade titles. Vector arcade games (Asteroids, Battlezone, Tempest, Star Wars) had a unique aesthetic — but vector hardware was fragile and expensive. By the mid-1980s, raster displays dominated and the vector era ended.

Asteroids in pop culture

• 1979-80 first year: Asteroids outsold Space Invaders in the United States and became Atari’s best-selling arcade game.
• 1981 — Atari 2600 port: the home version became one of the console’s biggest sellers.
• Compilations: Atari has re-released Asteroids on many retro collections across platforms.
• 2021 — Asteroids: Recharged: modern update with local co-op and modernized visuals.
• Cultural footprint: the triangle-ship-and-rocks aesthetic became shorthand for “retro game” for decades.

Common mistakes

• Spamming thrust. Inertia builds up; you can’t stop on a dime. The most common cause of death.
• Shooting recklessly into clusters. Breaking large asteroids near other asteroids doubles the on-screen threat instantly.
• Lingering in the wrap zone. Edges look safe — until an asteroid wraps in behind you.
• Using hyperspace early. The teleport-into-asteroid risk is real. Save it for last-second escapes.

Variants and successors

• Asteroids Deluxe (1981). Replaces hyperspace with a shield and adds a killer satellite that splits into small wedge-shaped ships that hunt the player. Harder; less popular than the original.
• Space Duel (1982). Two-player Asteroids with cooperative or competitive modes.
• Blasteroids (1987). Asteroids with two-player co-op, power-ups, a ship that switches between three forms, and a boss called Mukor.
• Sinistar (1982). Williams’ similar-genre game with a hunting boss enemy.
• Modern indie successors: Geometry Wars, Beat Hazard, Resogun all owe heavy debts to Asteroids’ physics and screen-wrap mechanics.

FAQ

• Q: What’s the highest score recorded? A: Scott Safran’s 41,336,440 from 1982 stood for decades as one of arcade’s most enduring records, until John McAllister beat it in 2010.
• Q: Can I play Asteroids without thrust? A: Yes — pure rotation-and-fire is a valid (and easier) strategy for survival, though it slows scoring.
• Q: Why does the ship wrap around the screen? A: Asteroid simulates “space” with no walls. Both your ship and asteroids wrap, creating constant 360° threat.
• Q: Was Asteroids the first vector game? A: No — Cinematronics’ Space Wars (1977) came first, and Lunar Lander (1979) was Atari’s first vector game. But Asteroids defined the vector arcade format commercially.

For other arcade classics, try Space Invaders, Galaga, Centipede, or Pacman.