Pixel Horde

Pixel Horde is a fast arcade survival game drawn in chunky pixel art. You are a small repair robot stuck in a corrupted circuit board, and the glitches are coming for you in their hundreds. You never press a fire button: your weapons shoot on their own. Your job is to move, dodge, collect and choose. Hold out for ten minutes and beat the final boss to win the run.

How to play

• On a phone, put your thumb down anywhere and drag. A joystick appears under your thumb and your robot walks that way.
• On a computer, move with WASD or the arrow keys.
• Tap the lightning button (or press Space) to dash. A dash is a short burst of speed, and for a moment nothing can hurt you.
• Defeated glitches drop gems. Walk near them to pull them in. Fill the bar at the top to level up.

Level-ups and evolutions

Every level-up pauses the action and offers three cards: a new weapon, an upgrade for one you own, or a passive boost such as speed, armour, a bigger magnet or faster cooldowns. Each card shows the exact change before you pick it, so you always know what you are getting. You can carry six weapons and six passives. Golden elite glitches drop chests. If one of your weapons is at its maximum level and you own its partner passive, the next chest evolves it into something much stronger. The Zap Blaster and Overclock become the Storm Repeater, for example.

The glitches

Bitlings swarm, Flitters zigzag in fast, Blobbers soak up damage and split in two, Spitters stop to aim a shot along a dotted line, and Rammers flash red and paint their path on the floor before they charge. At five minutes the Corrupt Core arrives, and at ten the Null Tyrant, each with attacks you can learn and read. Arrows at the edge of the screen point at elites, bosses and chests you cannot see yet.

Tips

• Dash through a hit, not away from it. A dash that slips past an attack refunds half its cooldown.
• Keep moving in wide circles so the horde bunches up behind you, then turn and let your weapons work.
• Plan an evolution early: pair a weapon with its passive and keep upgrading both.

Coins, upgrades and characters

Coins you collect are kept after every run, win or lose. Spend them in the upgrade shop on small permanent boosts, or to unlock new robots early. Volt, a quick spark drone with chain lightning, unlocks when you survive five minutes. Rivet, a tough cargo loader with orbiting wrenches, unlocks after two thousand defeated glitches. Each run moves you a little further, so the next one goes longer.