Starward: Space Pirate Shooter

Starward is a top-down space shooter in pixel art. You are a small-time space smuggler with a borrowed ship and a hold full of contraband. Ion storms seal the frontier into four sectors, and at the far end waits the Dread Crown: the oldest Scav Warlord in the Deep. Fill each sector's stake, punch through the storm wall, and go take its crown.

This space shooter keeps the controls simple: drag anywhere to fly and your guns fire on hostile ships on their own. Tap a ship to focus fire, or pick a fight with anyone you like and live with the consequences.

FOUR SECTORS, ONE CROWN
• Every job, kill and crate of fenced plunder builds the sector's stake. Fill it and the storm pilots open a lane through the ion storm into richer, deadlier space.
• Every three jobs raise your streak, up to x5, and every stake point counts that many times. Lose your ship and the streak drops back to x1, so every risky run matters.
• Each new sector opens with its own situation and two ways to resolve it. Steal the Crown's datacore or hunt its scouts, escort its approach convoy or burn its supplies: your choices weaken the Dread Crown before the final fight.
• Timed frenzies in every sector: kill packs, cargo grabs under fire, and Crown couriers racing for their exits.
• Beat the Dread Crown through its phases, then hunt Warlord Commissions for Mk III weapons and record times.

BUILD YOUR SHIP, SLOT BY SLOT
• A ship builder where every hull is a grid of weapon, engine and system slots. Drag a part into a slot and it appears on your ship.
• 19 parts: 7 weapons, 4 engines and 8 systems, from Pulse Blasters, Railguns, Beam Lasers and homing Missile Pods to Blink Drives, Deflectors, Nanite Bays and Combat Drones.
• Every part adds mass, so fit engines to stay fast and Reactor Cores to power it all.
• Upgrade parts to Mk II and Mk III, and move up from the little Sparrow to the Corsair, the Falcon and the seven-gun Leviathan.

LIVE THE SPACE PIRATE LIFE
• Raid Guild convoys, fence the plunder at a gang den and spend the take on bigger guns.
• Your kills can drop salvage crates with random ship parts, and the further out you fly, the higher the Mk.
• Climb six infamy ranks, from Smuggler to Dread King, to unlock new hulls and perks.

WORK FOR THE RIVAL GANGS
• The Red Talons, the Iron Syndicate and the Void Choir each hold their own turf, and each one has a rival.
• Earn respect and they hand out better jobs. Do a job for one gang and its rival remembers.
• Story missions from five bosses: Red Mags, Director Vance, The Cantor, Mama Pell and Inspector Hale.

SMUGGLE PAST THE NAVY
• Customs cutters sweep their scanners as you fly past. Break their line of sight behind a rock or get caught with contraband and you're wanted.
• Outrun the response squads or lie low at a gang den. Navy stations won't let a wanted ship dock.

PLAY OFFLINE, ANYWHERE
• A single-player offline space game: no internet needed to play, no account and no sign-in.
• The game autosaves, and a job takes a few minutes, so short sessions work fine. Close the app mid-fight and the fight is still there when you come back.
• No in-app purchases, no banners and no interstitials. There are two optional rewarded ads: watch one only if you want an insured tow after your ship is destroyed, or a better price from the fence.

Fit your first guns, take your first job and break through the first ion storm in this pixel space shooter.

Recent changes:
Smoother fights: no more stutters when new ships turn into view.