# Swashteroids

> Retro arcade spaceship game with asteroid mining, alien combat, and power-ups. (iPhone/iPad app by John Nyquist.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/swashteroids/id6472061502 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [John Nyquist](https://appshunter.io/developer/507805527)
- Category: Games, Entertainment, Action, Adventure
- Price: $0.99 (on sale, was $1.99)
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 8 App Store ratings · 2 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 15.6 · 7 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2023-11-20
- Data updated: 2026-06-26
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/swashteroids/id6472061502/reviews.md

## What is Swashteroids?

Swashteroids is a retro arcade-style fast paced game. Use your spaceship—the USS Swashbuckler—to mine asteroids for treasures. Just blasting and avoiding asteroids is dangerous work... but you're not alone out there. Aliens will try to take your treasures, mine asteroids, and even attack you! 

Get the pulsing blue power-up so you can refill your plasma torpedos and the yellow power-up so you can do hyperspace jumps. Use the flip button to do a quick 180°, use hyperspace to jump randomly, or good ol’ thrusters to maneuver around the growing field of asteroids. 

The difficulty increases with each level cleared. But do not worry, help is available thru various power-ups. There is also a helpful tutorial to get your feet wet.

Play with on-screen buttons, with no buttons using the phone’s accelerometer, or using a game controller (like Backbone One). You'll get haptic feedback to make feeling for the on-screen buttons easy.

This game has a tiny file size (it doesn't take up much room on your iPhone/iPad), and it is FAST.

Swashteroids... Where does the name come from? I created this game with the open-source Entity Component Systems (ECS) framework called Swash. 

Enjoy the game! And If you are a game developer... go deeper and check out the Swash ECS framework.

## Key features

- Retro arcade gameplay
- Asteroid mining and treasure collection
- Alien combat
- Power-ups for combat and navigation
- Multiple control options (on-screen, accelerometer, controller)
- Increasing difficulty with levels

## Recent user reviews (2 of 2)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/swashteroids/id6472061502/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Really fun, polished, and true to the original

*2024-07-11*

This game reminds me of the original arcade version of Asteroids. It’s got a clean look, good pacing, and has that same easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master level of difficulty as the original. Also, it has controller support, which is great if you have a Backbone or any other game controller for your phone.

### 5/5 — Fun take on an old classic

*2024-01-18*

The game is very fun, a great take from classic asteroid. 

The on screen controls are a good size, and quite responsive. The power ups are fun and add another level to the game play. I do not have much experience with the motion controls, but they did seem responsive when I used them. 

Looking forward to see what’s next!

## Frequently asked questions about Swashteroids

### What is Swashteroids?

Swashteroids is a retro arcade-style game where you pilot a spaceship to mine asteroids for treasures while fending off aliens. It features fast-paced gameplay, power-ups, and multiple control options.

### What are the control options for Swashteroids?

You can play Swashteroids using on-screen buttons, the phone's accelerometer, or a game controller like the Backbone One. It also provides haptic feedback for easier on-screen button interaction.

### Does Swashteroids have multiplayer?

The provided description does not mention multiplayer functionality. Swashteroids appears to be a single-player experience focused on solo gameplay.

### How does the difficulty in Swashteroids work?

The difficulty of Swashteroids increases with each level that you clear. The game is designed to become progressively more challenging as you advance.

### What devices does Swashteroids support?

Swashteroids is supported on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices. It has a small file size, making it suitable for devices with limited storage.

### Is Swashteroids free to play?

No, Swashteroids is a paid application. It is available for purchase at $0.99.

### How often is Swashteroids updated?

The latest version of Swashteroids is 2.6, and it was last updated on February 16, 2025. This indicates a recent and active development cycle.

### What is the age rating for Swashteroids?

Swashteroids has an age rating of 9+. This suggests it is suitable for players aged 9 and above.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.6 — 2025-02-16

- New Phasing power-up! Temporarily nothing can touch you!
- New Xray power-up! See what treasures are in which asteroids!
- New button to trigger shields, enable them in your own time (or not).
- Improved the TRAINING section.
- Now using Apple SpriteKit’s physics engine to detect collisions.

### 2.5 — 2024-08-11

- Brand new TUTORIAL! Get comfortable learning without being shot at or hit by asteroids!
- Shields power-up! Watch out aliens!
- Scanners power-up! See what treasures an asteroid has.
- If you see the new power-ups, get them before they disappear. They don't stick around like torpedos and hyperspace power-ups.
- Switch to Accelerometer briefly shows the button quadrants so button and info screen removed from start.
- Game over screen is tappable anywhere to restart game, not just the logo (except on the Pause button)
- Ship icons in HUD. So nice :-)
- Alien soldier now a little tougher.
- Changed treasure colors to colorblind friendly colors.
- Max number of asteroids is now 6.
- Lowered average speeds of asteroids a little.
- Updated colors to color blind friendly palette.
- Many new sounds.
- FIX: Asteroids will not split and be on very similar trajectories.
- FIX: Asteroids will never go super slow.

### 2.4.2 — 2024-07-11

Fixed: Game controller was not being recognized on home screen for subsequent plays in same session.

### 2.4.1 — 2024-07-10

The pause alert dialog box now it supports dynamic fonts.

### 2.4 — 2024-07-08

Backbone One game controller support! Have full view of your screen when using the game controller (no buttons or fingers in your view). You do NOT need a game controller to play. If you have a game controller connected, you'll have access to the settings screen to map the game commands to your controller buttons/thumbsticks/triggers. 

The Alien brains have been improved, watch out!

Treasures now disappear after a certain amount of time.

Much work under the hood, performance improvements and bug fixes.

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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| [Asteroid Bop](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/asteroid-bop/id6455302169) | 5.0 (4) | Free | Games |
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## More apps by John Nyquist

- [Near Mint](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/near-mint/id1328733510)

All apps by John Nyquist: https://appshunter.io/developer/507805527

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-26.*