Controls
You fly with one thumb. The ship shoots by itself, so your whole job is where to be and which way to face.
A small sketch of how the Vanguard handles, against a training bell. It is not the game itself.
- Drag to fly and aim
- Quick tap to dash
- Tap toward the bell, up close, to strike
- Two fingers together to parry
With a mouse: drag to fly, click to dash or strike, right-click to parry. With keys: arrows or WASD to fly, Space to dash or strike, P to parry. Your gun fires by itself.
Every gesture
| Do this | What happens |
|---|---|
| Drag anywhere | Fly that way and face that way. The drag can start anywhere on screen. A slow drag moves you one to one, a quick one up to twice as far, and the ship stops where your finger stops or lifts. |
| Quick tap | Dash. You are untouchable for a moment, so a dash can pass through bullets. |
| Tap toward a close enemy | Melee strike: dart in, hit with an explosion, spring back unhurt. It reaches about 64 px, the width of four floor tiles. |
| Two fingers, tapped together | Parry by default. It swings all round you and cuts every bullet near you. Pick another action at any Lantern Dock; the Parry wall button always stays. |
| Three fingers, tapped together | Your quick ability: slow-mo by default. Pick another at any Lantern Dock. |
| Hold a second finger while flying | Aim separately. That finger holds your heading where it landed, then points the ship by its angle from there, so you can shoot back while retreating. |
| Switch button | Swap between your two guns. |
| Other wall buttons | Use an item or ability at once, with no freeze. |
| Pause icon, top right | The map, your run's numbers, Settings, Skills and Quit. Quit saves the run. Two thumbs held together resume. |
How aiming works
You aim by the way you are flying. In drag mode, the heading is the line through the last 5 mm of your finger's path, exact at any angle and steady through a shaky hand. To aim without travelling far, make a very short drag in the direction you want.
A small aim assist bends a shot that would just miss by at most 8.4 degrees. It never seeks, and it never turns the ship. The Wisp Seeker is the exception: it aims itself at enemies within 80 px.
What is on screen
- Top left: your hull plates, one per hit, and the picture of each gun you carry.
- Top wall: the room's wave count or goal, or a boss's name and health.
- Bottom wall: your wall buttons. They can move up the left or right wall in Settings.
- Round the ship: the Parry's recharge ring, and a dashed lilac ring further out for the melee strike.
Changing the controls
| Setting | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Stick movement | A stick under your thumb, not drag |
| Steer anywhere | The stick hides and follows your thumb |
| Drag speed | How far the Vanguard flies for your finger |
| Sensitivity | Higher: the Vanguard flies further for less thumb travel |
| Tap away from enemies | A tap away from enemies: Dash, or Lunge to strike what you pass |
| Stick side | Buttons and Pause take the other side |
| Wall buttons | Where the ability buttons sit: along the bottom wall, or up the left or right wall |
| Button order | Tap a button, then another, to swap them; 1 sits at the corner. Grey ones you have not had in a run yet |
| Action buttons | Dash, Bomb, Slow-mo and Halo on screen |
| Mini-map | Faint, on the arena floor, top left |
| Vibration | A buzz when you are hit |