Nova Swarm

THE ARCADE CLASSICS, REBUILT FOR 2026

Read the next wave, find the gap and learn the boss pattern that stopped your last run. Nova Swarm is a vertical shoot 'em up rooted in the golden age of the arcade: swarms hold formation, then peel off and dive, tractor beams grab and drag your ship, and captured fighters rescued from enemy convoys fly beside you as an escort wing.

After each boss, the Tactical Draft lets you choose an upgrade. Your choices stack, evolve and fuse into Fusion protocols, shaping your build as you go. There are 30 ships with their own weapons, handling and traits, 50 bosses that each fall in their own way, endless sectors and seven ways to play. It all comes in a 2026 look of painted worlds and light-drenched firefights, carrying The Last Salute, a ten-chapter story told across the first 100 sectors, with Story Echoes that break into the middle of a fight.

Slip through a closing wall of bullets. Break the weapon pinning you down. Watch a towering fortress collapse around its reactor. Then turn the lessons from your last defeat into your next personal best.

CHASE THE NEXT REAL PILOT

Read the wave, close the gap and pass the name ahead of you. The rival ladder puts real Steam leaderboard scores in your sights during a run. Pass one pilot and the next target moves up. Overtakes get a moment you can see and hear, with a chase announcer calling the big ones. Your next rival can even fly into the fight as a Nemesis ship: shoot it down for a score bonus, or watch it get away.

If someone passes your score between flights, the menu shows who it was. Choose Take it back to start a run on that board and chase the place again.

BUILD YOUR SHIP. SHAPE YOUR RUN.

Defeat a boss in Arcade Tactical and choose one of three upgrades for the rest of your run.

Strengthen your weapons, improve handling, reinforce your defences or build around support drones. Upgrades can stack, evolve and combine into Fusion protocols. Combine the right drone upgrades, for example, to add converging crossfire to your support wing.

Your starting ship provides the foundation. Your choices shape what it becomes.

Three upgrade choices after a boss victory; Blink Drive completes the Rift Crossfire Fusion.

CHANGE THE BATTLE WITH YOUR SHOTS

Free captured fighters and bring allies into the fight. Destroy a rival’s guns to silence its attacks. Break shield projectors, cut dangerous machinery loose and expose vulnerable cores.

Face strange Veilborn visitors and segmented Space Snakes. Learn their movements and attack patterns, and choose when to press your advantage.

Take on Planetfall, a colossal orbital fortress. Dismantle its outer structure or strike the core when its shutters open, and bring it down in a rolling collapse of armour and machinery.

The player ship faces Planetfall, a vast orbital fortress with shielded anchors surrounding its reactor.

30 SHIPS TO DISCOVER AND MASTER

Begin with three ships and unlock the rest of a 30-ship fleet as your pilot career develops.

Explore precision cannons, sweeping spread fire, drone specialists and nimble interceptors. Different weapons, handling and traits give each hull its own strengths and tradeoffs. Find your favourite, then try a ship that makes you approach the swarm differently.

CHOOSE YOUR CHALLENGE

Arcade Tactical: Start from the beginning and build your run through boss victories and upgrade choices. Onslaught Tactical: Face immediate pressure. Choose six starting upgrades and launch into Sector 51, with a separate Steam leaderboard to climb. Arcade Pure and Onslaught Pure: Test your flying and shooting without drafted upgrades. Daily Signal: Fly the same daily ship with the same route theme and rules as every other pilot. Scout Run: Learn patterns and experiment at a gentler pace. Sector Run: Practise deeper encounters from earned checkpoints.

SAVE YOUR RUN. CHASE THE LIST.

Any run can be saved mid-flight and picked up later. New pilots learn the ropes in Swarm School, a short tutorial sector with a live instructor. Then climb separate Steam leaderboards for Arcade and Onslaught and work through 100 Steam achievements.

A GALAXY WITH PERSONALITY

Between the firefights, cosmic creatures drift past and unexpected scenes unfold around you.

Discover 60 Cabinet Wonders: strange sights with stories to uncover, from ghost fleets to living constellations. Explore the mystery of The Cabinet, an arcade machine that watches your career.

Advance pilot ranks, complete Pilot Orders and expand your Threat Codex. Detailed Run Reports help you understand what happened and prepare for the next attempt.

CONTROLS AND COMFORT

Play with a keyboard or controller. Adjust interface size, Reduced Motion, screen shake and flash intensity, with separate controls for music, voices and sound effects. Voice commentary can be turned down or switched off.

Another ship. Another build. Another pilot to pass.