Space Arcade is a 3D space shooter in arcade style. Your squad protects an HQ in the middle of an asteroid field while enemy ships attack in waves. Each wave is a bit harder than the one before, and the run ends when the HQ is destroyed.

Combat

You fly with mouse and keyboard or a controller and fight with lasers and homing rockets. Hunters chase you, kamikazes dive straight at the HQ and bombers attack it from range. Every few waves a Boss joins the attack at the HQ.

Quick kills build a streak that raises the credits you earn. Kills also fill an overdrive meter, and when it is full your guns fire nonstop for a few seconds.

Upgrades

After each wave you get a short break to visit the shop. You can upgrade your lasers, rockets and hull, buy EMP blasts or pick perks such as an energy shield or an extra rocket. Upgrades last for the whole run, but perks are lost if your ship is destroyed. You can also buy drones and armor for the HQ, which help everyone in the squad. Every run starts from scratch.

Co-op

Up to 4 players can play in split screen on one PC. Online co-op technically supports up to 250 players in one session, though how many actually run smoothly depends on everyone's internet connection and on the host's PC.

When a ship is destroyed in co-op, it drifts as a wreck for 30 seconds and a teammate can repair it with a repair beam. Some waves also come with a squad mission, such as destroying meteors or keeping uplink pods online, which pays a bonus to every player.