HOW CYBER INVADERS WORKS
Everything you need to know before the packets start flying.
CONTROLS
- ← → arrow keys — move your Countermeasure ship left and right.
- SPACE — fire. This is your one job. Please do it.
- P — pause, for tea and existential dread.
- On mobile: use the on-screen left, right and fire buttons. Same energy, smaller screen.
THE THREAT LANDSCAPE
- PHISHING
The one that got Karen in accounts. Looks like a totally normal email from the CEO. Isn't.
- MALWARE
Software with feelings — mostly resentment. Turns your laptop into a very expensive paperweight.
- RANSOMWARE
Encrypts everything, then politely asks for Bitcoin. Takes three hits because it has a lawyer.
- VIRUS
Spreads through the network like office gossip, only faster and slightly less damaging to morale.
- TROJAN
Pretends to be a free PDF converter. Is not a free PDF converter. Takes two hits — it's sneaky.
- BRUTE FORCE
Types 'Password123' four million times a second until something works. Takes four hits, has no imagination.
- BOTNET
A committee of hacked fridges. Individually harmless, collectively will DDoS your Monday.
- FIREWALL BREACHER
The final boss of bad decisions. Five hits and a strongly worded incident report.
THE CYBER SALES PERSON
Every so often a grinning Cyber Sales Person flies across the top of the screen, promising "next-gen AI-powered zero-trust synergy" for only 1,000,000 + tax a year.
Heads up: he doesn't move like the other threats. He is very sneaky and unpredictable. Lead your aim, don't chase him.
Take them out. Every hit permanently raises your Countermeasure ammo pool by +50. He wants to sell them to you, so sometimes this can reduce your score, and other times it does not, as you have negotiated the +50 countermeasures on a PoC.
Prioritise the Cyber Sales Person every time they appear. Think of it as "buying" more countermeasures off him — except the currency is a single well-placed hit instead of a six-figure PO. Stacking those +50 bonuses is the single biggest factor in surviving the later waves. Miss the sales person, run out of ammo, get overrun.
ALERT FATIGUE
Your ship doesn't have a cooldown, it has an ammo pool — the same way the Cyber Team doesn't have infinite attention.
Fire too much and the pool empties. When that happens ALERT FATIGUE kicks in: your shots slow down, threats slip through, and everything that was supposed to be "critical priority" becomes a Slack notification you'll deal with later. Definitely.
The pool refills over time and fully resets each wave.
DEFENCES
Between you and the incoming threats sit five layers of real-world infrastructure. Duck behind them and the enemies will chew through the appliance instead of your ship — for a while.
Each layer has its own health. Enemy fire chips away at them until they crumble and you're exposed again. Use them to buy time, catch your breath, and line up the next shot.
Pro tip: hide under a layer when the wave is dense and pop out to fire.