#Scoring and achievements
What the game is actually measuring, so you can aim at it deliberately rather than hoping.
#Score
Score is time, at 10 points per second, rounded down when the run ends. There is no other source of points. A few consequences worth knowing:
- Risk is never rewarded directly. A close shave is worth nothing on the scoreboard, so only take one when the safe route isn't there.
- Every run is comparable. A 480 beat a 470 by one second of survival, nothing else.
- The score submitted to the leaderboard is the same number shown on the game-over screen.
#What triggers each achievement
| Achievement | GS | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| First Flight | 5 | Finish any run |
| Close Shave | 15 | Let one asteroid pass close without hitting you |
| Wheels Up | 30 | Survive 15 seconds |
| Deep Field | 60 | Survive 30 seconds |
| Long Haul | 120 | Survive 45 seconds |
| Asteroid Ace | 200 | Survive 60 seconds |
| Daredevil | 90 | 10 close shaves in a single run |
| Untouchable | 130 | Reach 30 seconds with zero close shaves |
| Pinball | 60 | Cross the field 20 times in one run |
| Old Hand | 105 | Finish 25 runs |
| New Record | 25 | Finish a run that beats your previous best |
| Night Shift | 160 | Finish a run between midnight and 4:59am |
Survival achievements fire the moment you pass the mark, not at the end of the run, so a crash at 61 seconds still awards Asteroid Ace.
#The fiddly ones
Close shave counts when an asteroid drops past the ship having come within a narrow margin of your hitbox. It's counted once per asteroid, as it passes, so weaving next to the same rock doesn't stack.
Pinball wants twenty crossings, and a crossing means travelling from the outer left quarter of the screen to the outer right quarter, or back. Wiggling around the centre counts for nothing: there's a dead band in the middle specifically so small movements near a threshold don't inflate the count. Twenty full-width traverses is a lot of horizontal travel, so it tends to fall out of a long, busy run rather than a deliberate attempt.
Untouchable is the odd one out: it rewards not doing something for thirty seconds. Play wide and early, take gaps with room to spare, and don't fight for the middle. It's easier on a run you're not also trying to score on.
New Record only fires if you already had a best score, so it can't trigger on your very first run.
Night Shift reads your computer's local clock when the run ends.
#Where your scores live
Best on the game-over screen and your run count are stored in your browser, so
they're per-device and clearing site data resets them. Achievements and
leaderboard scores are tied to your arcade account
instead, and follow you to any machine.
If you're signed out, or the API is unreachable, the game still plays and still tracks your local best. It just has nobody to award the achievement to.