Play the classic rock blaster arcade game free in your browser. Shoot rocks and survive in space. No download required.
Rotate your ship left and right using the arrow keys or A and D. Thrust forward with the up arrow or W. Fire with the spacebar. The ship drifts in open space due to simulated inertia, so momentum carries you after releasing thrust. Large rocks split into medium pieces when shot; medium pieces split into small ones; small pieces are destroyed completely. Avoid contact with any rock size, as all collisions are lethal.
The inertia-based movement is the defining challenge of the genre. You cannot stop instantly: plan your thrust in short bursts and rotate to counter unwanted drift. When the screen fills with fragments after a large rock splits, clear space by destroying the nearest smaller pieces first before targeting remaining large rocks. Never thrust blindly toward the center of the field when rocks are dense. Use the screen wrap, where exiting one edge brings you in on the opposite side, to escape tight situations.
Rock Blaster is a direct homage to the 1979 arcade classic that became one of the best-selling games of the early video game era. Its vector graphics and physics-based movement were technically innovative for their time. The game spent years as the highest-grossing title in its catalog and its design influenced virtually every subsequent space shooter. The inertia mechanic, which distinguishes it from simpler shooters, remains the key challenge that gives the genre its enduring appeal.
You start with five large rocks and three lives. Shooting a large rock (40 pixels wide) splits it into two medium rocks and awards 20 points. Each medium rock (22 pixels) splits into two small rocks for 50 points, and each small rock (12 pixels) is destroyed outright for 100 points. Smaller fragments move faster than their parents, so the field gets quicker and more crowded as you break things apart. Counterintuitively, the smallest pieces are worth the most, so clearing the screen fully rewards finishing fragments rather than only hunting big rocks. Clearing every rock wins the round. Your bullets inherit the ship's current velocity and live for about one second before vanishing, and a short cooldown between shots prevents continuous fire, so aim deliberately rather than spraying.
On a phone, three on-screen buttons replace the keyboard: a thrust button, paired rotate-left and rotate-right buttons, and a dedicated fire button. They map to the same physics as the arrow keys, so holding thrust still builds momentum you must counter. After any collision you lose a life, the ship recenters, and you gain roughly two seconds of invincibility shown by the ship blinking. Use that window to clear nearby fragments before they can hit you again, rather than thrusting into the densest cluster. Remember the screen wraps on all four edges: flying off the right edge brings you back on the left, which is the fastest escape from a tightening swarm. Tap rotate in short pulses to line up shots, since the ship keeps drifting even while you aim.
Rotate with the left and right arrow keys or A and D, thrust forward with the up arrow or W, and fire with the spacebar or down arrow. On mobile, use the on-screen thrust, rotate, and fire buttons. The ship keeps drifting after you stop thrusting.
The smallest rocks score highest. Large rocks give 20 points and split in two, medium rocks give 50 and split again, and the small fragments give 100 each when destroyed. Fully clearing tiny pieces, not just big rocks, maximizes your score.
You lose one of your three lives, your ship resets to the center, and you become briefly invincible while it blinks. Use that grace period to shoot nearby fragments. When all three lives are gone, the game ends and shows your final score.
Destroy every rock on screen, including all the medium and small fragments that appear when larger rocks break apart. Once the field is completely clear, the win screen appears. Because each rock splits into two, expect to fire far more shots than the five starting rocks suggest.
A short cooldown of about ten frames sits between shots, so holding fire produces a steady but limited stream rather than a wall of bullets. Each bullet also disappears after roughly one second, so close-range, well-aimed shots land far more reliably than long-distance spraying.