Nova Swarm

READ THE PATTERN. BREAK THE BOSS. BUILD THE RUN.

Nova Swarm is a fast top-down vertical shoot 'em up built around quick restarts, deliberate attack patterns, and ranked runs that evolve after every boss.

Start with one ship and unlock 29 more as your career develops.

In Mayhem Tactical, the main ranked mode, fight through shifting enemy formations, defeat a major boss at the end of each sector, then choose one of three upgrades. Your pick stays active for the rest of the run, steadily transforming your starting hull as you chase higher scores and deeper sectors.

BUILD A DIFFERENT SHIP EACH RUN

Mayhem Tactical contains 32 upgrades across Offense, Mobility, Defense, and Utility. Increase weapon damage, strengthen drones, improve movement or recovery, add defensive failsafes, and push towards more specialised combinations.

Upgrades can stack, evolve, and combine into Fusion protocols. Each run starts with one rescan, giving you one chance to replace an unhelpful set of offers. Your starting hull establishes the foundation; your decisions shape the final build.

30 SHIPS, 30 STARTING POINTS

Unlock reliable all-rounders, spread-fire craft, precision cannon ships, drone specialists, mobility-focused interceptors, and demanding late-career hulls. Every hull has its own weapon behaviour, handling, trait, strengths, and tradeoffs.

Changing craft changes how you read the arena, which targets you prioritise, and which upgrades are worth chasing.

PLAY YOUR WAY THROUGH THE SWARM

• Mayhem Tactical – The main ranked run, with a new draft after every boss.
• Mayhem Pure – The original score-attack ruleset, with no drafted upgrades.
• Daily Signal – The same fixed ship and route for every pilot under shared daily rules.
• Scout Run – A lower-pressure way to learn patterns and experiment with ships and builds.
• Sector Run – Practise later sectors from checkpoints earned through Mayhem.
• Overrun – Reach Sector 30 to unlock a direct start at Sector 51, then push deeper in Tactical or Pure variants.

READABLE CHAOS. LEARNABLE BOSSES.

Bosses have distinct silhouettes, warnings, movement rhythms, and attack patterns. Later encounters can call reinforcements, protect support craft, shield priority targets, or turn an open arena into a much tighter problem.

The screen can become crowded, but the challenge is built to be learned. Read the windup, find the safe lane, decide what must be destroyed first, and carry that knowledge into the next attempt.

THE CABINET IS WAITING

At the heart of Nova Swarm's mystery is The Cabinet: a worn arcade machine that watches your runs, records what it sees, and challenges you throughout your career. Voice performances bring different parts of the Nova Swarm universe to life. Discover 60 Cabinet Wonders, each opening another window onto the strange world surrounding the fight.

CABINET WONDER: STARWHALE CONSTELLATION

Between attempts, advance pilot ranks, unlock ships and checkpoint starts, complete Pilot Orders, expand the Threat Codex, and inspect detailed Run Reports with practical counter-advice. Separate leaderboards track Mayhem Tactical and Mayhem Pure.

Nova Swarm is built for the moment after a defeat when the pattern finally clicks, another build is already taking shape, and the next attempt is only seconds away.