Play Star Lander online
Star Lander is an original lunar-landing arcade game: pilot a little rocket down through low gravity and shifting wind onto five glowing pads.
Thrust is your only tool and fuel is your budget. Fire the main engine to slow your fall, side thrusters to line up, and touch down gently — too fast, too sideways, or off the pad and you lose a hull point.
Each pad is narrower than the last and the wind changes every flight, so the final pads demand a steady hand and a light throttle. Land all five to complete the mission.
How to control Star Lander
- Main engine: Up / W or hold the ▲ pad
- Side thrusters: Left / Right or hold the ◀ / ▶ pads
- Restart: R, Mute: M
How to play
- 1
Your rocket falls under gentle moon gravity; thrust is the only way to slow down.
- 2
Fire the main engine (Up) to brake your descent and side thrusters (Left/Right) to line up over the glowing pad.
- 3
Touch down with vertical speed 45 or less and horizontal speed 30 or less, centered on the pad, to land.
- 4
Land on all 5 pads to win; each crash costs a hull point (3 total) and the mission clock is 240 seconds.
Tips for a better run
Fall fast early, brake late: gravity is gentle, so save fuel for the final 100 px of descent.
Cancel horizontal drift before you worry about vertical speed — a sideways touchdown is a crash even if you are slow.
Watch the wind arrow: a constant small side thrust holds you over the pad better than big corrections.
A soft landing banks your leftover fuel as points, so an efficient descent outscores a wasteful one.
Frequently asked questions
How do I land without crashing?
Thrust with Up (or hold the ▲ pad). Left and Right fire side thrusters. Landing is gentle only: vertical speed at touchdown must be 45 px/s or less and horizontal speed 30 px/s or less, with your ship centered over the glowing pad.
What does the wind do?
Each pad is narrower than the last and the wind changes per pad. The wind arrow at the top shows the current push; fire the opposite side thruster to hold position.
How do I win?
A soft landing pays 200 points plus 1 point per unit of fuel left (up to 100). Land on all 5 pads to win. A crash costs one of your 3 hull points; losing all 3, or running out the 240-second mission clock, is a loss.
Does fuel refill?
Fuel refills after every landing and after every crash, so each attempt starts full. Spend it on the descent: short, well-timed main-engine bursts beat holding the throttle down.
