About Space Ninja
A 2D cyberpunk action platformer aboard a derelict orbital fortress that is about to burn up in the atmosphere. You are the augmented shinobi sent to shut its defences down first.
Space Ninja is built around movement rather than health bars. Almost every hazard in the game can be passed through rather than absorbed, if you time the dash correctly. Once that clicks, the difficulty stops being about damage and starts being about reading patterns — which is where the game is actually fun.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Touch |
|---|---|---|
| Move | A and D, or arrow keys | Virtual thumbstick |
| Jump / wall cling | Spacebar or W | A button |
| Katana slash | J or left click | B button |
| Air dash | L or shift | X button, or swipe |
| Throw shuriken | K or E | Y button |
The four mechanics that matter
- The air dash is invincible. It grants 18 frames — about 300 milliseconds — of complete invulnerability. Lasers, missiles and melee swings all pass straight through you. This is the core defensive tool and most new players never use it as one.
- Shurikens run on heat. You carry three, and each throw starts a 1.2 second cooldown. They pierce low-tier drone shields and stun armoured mechs for half a second, which is exactly enough time to close the distance.
- Wall cling resets your jumps. Hold toward a wall to slide at 35% of normal fall speed; jump from the slide to kick off at 45 degrees. Every wall kick restores your double jump, so a well-shaped shaft can be climbed indefinitely.
- The katana parries. Slash within 120 milliseconds of an incoming projectile and it reflects back at double speed. Against ranged enemies this is faster than closing the gap.
Bosses
Each stage ends with an encounter that is a puzzle rather than a damage race. The Iron Warden's frontal riot shield makes every attack from the front do nothing — wait for its charge, dash over the top, and hit the cooling vents on its back. The Shadow Drone Swarm punishes melee while the perimeter is intact, so thin it out with ricochets first. The Cyber Core Overlord runs three phases: rotating quadrant lasers, gravity anchors that must be destroyed before they crush you, and finally an exposed spark chamber.
Scoring
Finishing a stage without taking a single hit awards a 10,000 point Untouchable bonus, which is worth more than most players earn from combat in the entire stage. Consecutive kills build a multiplier up to 4x. Both push the same way: play for clean movement, not for aggression.
Scores sync to a global leaderboard. No account is needed to play — only to appear on the board.
More
The master game guides carry full boss routes and frame data. The rest of the arcade is at makecade.com/arcade.