Surface Defender Screensaver
Surface Defender is a self-playing arcade screensaver inspired by the 1981 side-scrolling defence classic, complete with the scanner minimap. Landers abduct colonists and mutate while a ship strafes them. It's a free, original homage, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Surface Defender screensaver works
Surface Defender is an original tribute to the side-scrolling planet-defence classic — original art and name throughout.
The world is wider than the screen and wraps around; a scanner minimap up top shows the whole planet at a glance.
Landers descend to grab the colonists walking the surface and haul them up — reach space and they mutate into faster attackers.
A self-playing ship patrols, strafes the landers, and unleashes a smart-bomb flash when it gets swarmed.
A worked example
The ship banks along a jagged horizon as the scanner blips with red landers; one stoops to grab a green colonist and lifts off, the ship swoops to blast it free, and a smart-bomb flash clears a cluster when the swarm thickens.
Settings & tips
- It runs in attract mode — the ship defends on its own.
- Watch the scanner minimap to see threats off-screen.
- A lander that reaches the top with a colonist mutates into a tougher foe.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this Defender?
- No. It's an original homage inspired by the 1981 defence classic, with its own art and name — nothing copyrighted is copied.
- What is the bar at the top?
- It's the scanner — a minimap of the whole wrapping world showing the ship, landers and colonists beyond the visible screen.
- Can I play it myself?
- Right now it runs in self-playing attract mode, like an arcade demo screen. A keyboard-playable mode may be added later.
- Does it need a connection?
- No. It's computed entirely on your device, so it runs fully offline.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.