Impact Protocol

My original ΑΣΤΕΡΟΕΙΔΕΙΣ game started as a dome experiment: can a huge group coordinate when almost nobody has clear individual information?

In the Tholos immersive dome we ran a playtest with up to 132 players, each with only four colored buttons. The game deliberately ignored who was pressing what. It only cared how many people were holding each color. Asteroids showed a colored reticle and a number; too few players holding the right color and the count asked for more; too many and it went negative. Within seconds the room was shouting: “Leave the red!” “We need two more green!” — chaotic cooperation, exactly what we were testing.

Impact Protocol is the solo port of that idea with similar tension (read the asteroid, commit as a group… for now it’s just you), rebuilt for keyboard and mouse in the browser.

How to play

1. Aim at an asteroid’s target shape with your crosshair.
2. Select a weapon with 1–4 (or the HUD buttons) to match the asteroid’s color/shape.
3. Hold the shown keys while aimed to lock on (~2 seconds).
4. Fire! A missile travels to the asteroid to destroy it and score points.
5. Survive as long as you can. Chords get harder and more asteroids appear over time.

Wrong weapon? The UI tells you what you need (e.g. Green Weapon) instead of letting you lock on.

Controls

Input	Action
Mouse	Aim
1–4	Select weapon (color/shape)
HUD buttons	Select weapon (click)
Keyboard chords	Hold all shown keys while aimed to lock
Click	Start game / resume after alt-tab pause

Credits & context

Music by Dudchyk from Pixabay

Designed and developed for the Hellenic Cosmos / Tholos dome context, then ported for itch.io as a focused solo experience. Original dome version: aggregate color coordination at scale. This version: aim, weapon match, and chord timing under pressure.