Frequently asked questions

Yes. The game is free to play in your browser. The site may show ads to cover the cost of running it.

A recent version of Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox on a computer, tablet or phone. The game uses WebGL for its 3D graphics, which almost every device made in the last several years supports.

No. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to install.

Your best score, messages delivered, furthest sector and settings are saved in your browser on your device. They are not sent to us. Clearing your browser data, or playing in a private window, resets them.

By default you swipe: one swipe moves you one lane or one level. In Settings you can switch to Drag, where your ship follows your thumb square by square, or Pad, where you tap the square you want on a 3 × 3 pad.

You fly in a 3 × 3 grid of three lanes and three levels, and levels work just like lanes: the ship stays where you put it until you move again. That makes every obstacle a question of which square is open.

Watch the flight-path marker, the four corner brackets ahead of your ship. It flashes red when something is about to enter your square. You can turn it on or off in Settings.

Yes. Every sector is based on a real place, from Earth and the outer planets to the Pleiades, the Pillars of Creation and Sagittarius A*. The scenes are stylised and the distances are squeezed so you can fly them in minutes, but each place has a page with real facts.

Wormholes are allowed by Einstein's equations but have never been observed, and they may not exist. In the game the wormhole is the story's shortcut across the galaxy.

If you survive the whole route and deliver the message, a loop takes a few minutes of flying. After each delivery you return to Earth and the next loop runs faster.

Pip and Kestrel are available from the start. The Hauler unlocks when you deliver your first message, the Skiff when you reach the Pleiades, the Lodestar after 500 fuel cells in total, and the Wraith after five deliveries. Each ship has one strength and one trade-off.

Earth has received a signal from beyond the centre of the galaxy, and your courier carries our reply. Each delivery decodes another piece of it, five in all. Read the pieces you have decoded in the Signal log on the home screen of the game.

Yes. Press P or Esc on a keyboard, or the pause button at the top of the screen. The game also pauses itself when you switch to another tab or app.

Yes. Press Training on the game's home screen for nine short lessons at a slow speed. Crashes don't count; the lesson just replays.

An app for phones is planned. For now, the browser version works on phones and tablets.