Space Snakes, Rare Rewards & a Rebuilt Fleet

Something much bigger is moving through the swarm. This update introduces Space Snakes, rare bonus cores, new bounty drones and a rebuilt player fleet, alongside more rewarding active combat and a livelier orbital hangar.

Meet the Space Snakes

Fourteen species. Connected armoured bodies. Very bad intentions.

From Sector 6 onward, rare encounters can bring a Space Snake into your run. These creatures coil, sweep and weave across the battlefield, changing their movement as they hunt. Each species has its own appearance, proportions and voice, from monstrous growls to piercing screeches.

• Tougher encounters that grow with your progress, with aimed attacks and multiple movement patterns.
• Break their bodies apart section by section, then finish the hunt for a satisfying destruction cascade and bounty.
• Discover all fourteen in a dedicated Threat Codex category, complete with backstories and combat tips.

Eclipse Dragon on the hunt. Gameplay captured in a test build.

New things worth chasing

• Ten rare bonus cores offer score and collection rewards, with distinct designs, movement and pickup sounds. These are separate from powerups and will not replace your combat effects.
• Fifteen additional bonus drones bring the shootable bounty roster to nineteen. Each has its own design and score reward, with new Codex entries and sharp artwork.
• Clearer rewards: the displayed score bounty is the number you receive. Bonus drones appear less often, while cores stay rare and unpredictable.

A fleet with more personality

• All thirty player ships have been rebuilt as solid 3D models, with individual hull shapes, colours, materials, weapons and engine lighting inspired by their original artwork.
• Rotate the ships in the showroom and fly matching artwork in combat. Ship stats, traits and hitboxes are unchanged.
• A cinematic orbital hangar, animated Play and Other Modes buttons, richer help screens and a pulsing Codex button for unread discoveries give the menus a new look.
• Layered sci-fi ambience carries through the menus, with a smooth transition into gameplay. Menu voices default to off and can be enabled in Audio settings.

More reward for active flying

• Grazing: a wider graze margin makes deliberate close passes more practical. Distinct bullets count individually while you are vulnerable; protected flight keeps its existing limit. Your collision hitbox is unchanged.
• Phase Reactor: your next normal volley gains 50% damage when fired within 1.8 seconds of phasing, in addition to the immediate reload.
• Rift shards: damage scales with weapon power and sector depth, and clears from innate dodge pulses now contribute correctly.
• Boss support matters: fuel ships deliver substantially more healing, but cannot refill a boss above 60% health. Intercepting them is worth the detour.

Bigger moments, clearer information

• Space Snakes, arriving waves, bosses and bonus core pickups have richer sound feedback. Boss voices evolve through the fight.
• Overrun milestones and personal bests have stronger celebrations, new artwork and fresh fanfares.
• Cabinet Wonders have a larger luminous presentation without the opaque card frame or extra waiting time.
• The sector display is more prominent, HUD spacing is improved, and the Lives display uses your ship portrait.
• Settings has clearer controller focus and LB/RB tab switching. Unlocked ships retain their unlock requirements in the Hangar.
• Repaired missing Codex artwork and corrected the Hyper Rail icon.

Thank you for the reports, screenshots and thoughtful feedback. They have helped shape this update. See you out there!