Space GPU

Space GPU is a faithful recreation of the Space Invaders arcade classic, built from scratch and rendered entirely through the WebGPU API — no Canvas 2D, no WebGL fallback. Every pixel, from the starfield background to the bitmap-font HUD, is drawn by GPU render pipelines running raw WGSL shaders.

Defend Earth against five rows of descending invaders, dodge their fire, and take cover behind barriers that erode pixel-by-pixel under sustained fire.

Controls

• Arrow keys / A–D — move
• Space — fire
• P — pause / resume

Features

• Arcade-accurate invader speed table — the grid accelerates as you clear the screen
• Wave progression — each cleared wave starts faster and drops one row lower (capped so it never spawns on the barriers)
• Per-pixel barrier destruction with directional splash damage
• UFO mystery ship for bonus points (50 / 100 / 150 / 300)
• Full-color retro look with a fullscreen starfield shader
• Synthesized arcade sound effects plus a looping background track
• Global leaderboard — submit your run and see how you rank
• Local high score saved between sessions

Tech

Built with TypeScript + Vite. All graphics — sprites, invaders, barriers, HUD, starfield — go through two WebGPU render pipelines and a single instanced draw call per frame. Game logic runs as pure TypeScript on a fixed 60 Hz timestep, fully decoupled from the renderer.

WebGPU is still rolling out — recent Chrome/Edge work everywhere, Safari and Firefox support varies. If your browser doesn't support it, you'll get a clear message instead of a blank screen.

Credits

Background music: Intergalactic Odyssey by Patrick de Arteaga (https://patrickdearteaga.com), licensed under Creative Commons.