Classic vertical shmup action
Fighters, gunship helicopters, kamikaze drones, heavy bombers, destroyers, ground tanks and turrets — ground units leave wrecks and craters behind as the stage scrolls.
Free online shmup game · Browser · No download · No account
The free online shmup game with roguelike builds
Shmup Rogue · shoot 'em up roguelike
Shmup Rogue is a shmup — a shoot 'em up — that mixes classic 90s vertical arcade action with wave-based roguelike build crafting. Blast through 20 timed waves, scoop up scrap, then spend it in the hangar on weapons, items and upgrades. Every run is a new build, and the whole shmup game is free to play right now.
Runs on desktop and mobile · 5 languages supportedHow it plays
- timed waves
- 20
- ships
- 6
- weapon pods
- 12
- items
- 36
- bosses
- 4
- danger levels
- 0–5
The shmup
What is a shmup, and what is Shmup Rogue?
Shmup is short for shoot 'em up, the arcade genre where you pilot a ship or plane, blast waves of enemies and dodge their bullets. Shmup Rogue (雷霆肉鸽) is a free shmup that runs straight in your web browser. On the surface it is a classic vertical scrolling shmup: your fighter flies over oceans, coastlines, cities and deep space while fighters, gunship helicopters, heavy bombers, tanks and turrets fill the sky with bullets. You dodge, grab power-ups, switch main guns with colour-cycling crystals and drop bombs when things get desperate.
Underneath, this shmup plays like a wave-based roguelike. Every wave runs on a timer. Enemies drop scrap, which is both your money and your experience. When the clock hits zero, the remaining drops are vacuumed to your ship and you land in the hangar to level up, shop and plan the next fight. Survive 20 waves and four multi-phase bosses to clear the run, then keep going in endless mode.
It is inspired by classic arcade shmup games and modern wave-based roguelikes, and it is built for short, replayable sessions: a full run lasts about 20–30 minutes, there is nothing to install and no account is needed. If you want a free online shmup game with real build depth, this is it.
Features
Arcade shmup action meets roguelike builds
Everything you expect from vertical shmup games, plus the between-wave decisions that make every run of this shoot 'em up different.
Three main guns
Colour-cycling crystals switch your main gun between the red Vulcan spread, the blue Laser beam and the purple Plasma lock-on lightning. P power-ups raise it up to level 8.
20 timed waves
Each wave runs on a clock: 35 seconds at first, three more every wave, up to a full minute (90 seconds for the final wave). Survive until it ends — leftover scrap is collected automatically.
Hangar shop between waves
Spend scrap in a four-slot shop. Lock the offers you like, reroll the rest, buy weapons and items, and sell anything that no longer fits your build.
Weapon tiers and set bonuses
Mount up to six weapon pods next to your main gun. Merge two identical pods into a higher tier, from I to IV, and stack classes for set bonuses.
Bombs, bosses and crates
Bombs clear bullets, hit everything on screen and grant brief invincibility. Every fifth wave brings a multi-phase boss that drops supply crates.
Screenshots
See the shmup in action
How it plays
How a run of this shmup works
One run of this shmup game, step by step — from the hangar to wave 20 and beyond.
Choose your ship and danger level
Pick one of six fighters, choose a starting weapon and set the danger from 0 (a training sortie) to 5 (ace pilots only).
Survive the timed wave
Move, shoot and dodge: classic shmup action. Auto-fire is on by default, so you can focus on weaving through bullet patterns. Grazing bullets earns bonus score.
Collect scrap and power-ups
Destroyed enemies drop scrap. Shoot down item carriers for crystals, P power-ups, bombs and repairs. Scrap you miss goes into a salvage bag that pays you back on later pickups.
Level up and shop in the hangar
Scrap is money and experience. Each level-up lets you pick one of four stat upgrades, then the shop lets you buy, lock, reroll, sell and combine.
Beat the bosses
Waves 5, 10, 15 and 20 bring a boss. Survive the timer to clear the wave, or destroy the boss to end it early and grab its supply crates.
Clear wave 20 — or keep going
Finish the run for the win, then continue into endless mode, where the bosses rotate back in and the waves keep coming.
Ships
Six ships, six ways to play
Each shmup ship has its own main gun, starting weapon choices and traits that push your build in a different direction.
THUNDERBOLT Mk-II
Main gun: VulcanWell-rounded veteran fighter
+5 Max HP, +5% Speed and +8 Harvesting, with no stat penalties. The best choice for your first run.
FALCON
Main gun: LaserGlass-cannon interceptor
+40% Damage and +15% Speed, but −50% Max HP and −1 Armor. Fast, fragile and deadly.
BULWARK
Main gun: VulcanFlying fortress
+15 Max HP and +6 Armor, and every armor gain is 50% stronger. Pays for it with −15% Speed and −10% Attack Speed.
WASP
Main gun: VulcanDrone carrier
+5 Engineering and 50% more Engineering from every upgrade, at −10% Damage. Built for Option Drones and Shield Orbs.
PHANTOM
Main gun: PlasmaStealth assassin
+15% Crit and +10% Dodge, at the cost of −3 Armor and −2 Max HP. Fires Plasma lock-on lightning from the start.
MIDAS
Main gun: VulcanTreasure hunter
+40 Luck, +15 Harvesting and +10% Scrap, at −10% Damage. Gets richer every wave.
Weapons & sets
12 weapon pods, 5 classes, set bonuses
Weapon pods fire automatically alongside your main gun. Each one belongs to one or two classes, and equipping two or more pods of the same class unlocks a set bonus that grows with every extra pod. Picking pods that work together is the heart of every shmup build.
Vulcan Pod
BallisticFires a spread of tracer rounds.
Gatling
BallisticRotary cannon with a very high fire rate.
Flak Cannon
BallisticShort-range shotgun burst that shreds anything close.
Railgun
BallisticPrecisionHypersonic slug that pierces everything in a line.
Laser Lance
EnergyPiercing laser bolts; pierce grows with tier.
Plasma Arc
EnergyPrecisionLightning that locks onto the nearest foe and chains.
Ion Pulse
EnergyExpanding ring that passes through enemies and erases bullets.
Homing Missiles
ExplosiveSeeker missiles with a small blast.
Nuclear Missile
ExplosiveSlow straight missile with a huge blast radius.
Cluster Bomb
ExplosiveCanister that bursts into a ring of bomblets.
Option Drone
DroneOrbiting option that auto-targets enemies.
Shield Orb
DroneEnergyOrbiting orbs that block bullets and burn on contact.
Roguelike systems
Roguelike systems, quick arcade shmup runs
The roguelike systems are what make this shmup feel different every run. Every number below comes straight from the game.
Scrap is money and XP
Every piece of scrap adds one to your wallet and one to your experience. Missed scrap goes into a salvage bag and boosts later pickups, and Harvesting pays out extra scrap and XP at the end of every wave.
Shop with lock and reroll
Four offers per visit. Lock favourites to keep them for the next wave, reroll for a price that climbs with each reroll, and get a free reroll when you buy the shop out.
36 items with trade-offs
Passive items reshape your stats, often at a cost: Glass Cockpit gives +25% Damage for −5 Max HP, the Piggy Bank pays interest, and the Phoenix Feather revives you once.
16 stats to build around
Max HP, regeneration, life steal, armor, dodge, crit, attack speed, area, luck, harvesting and more. Dodge is capped at 60%, and armor has diminishing returns.
Level-ups, rarity and crates
Each level adds +1 Max HP and a pick of four stat upgrades. Offers roll four rarity tiers that improve with every wave and with Luck. Supply crates can be taken or recycled.
Danger 0–5 and endless mode
Higher danger levels bring more enemies, elite squadrons, tougher waves and extra boss patterns. After wave 20, endless mode keeps the shmup going.
Bosses
Four shmup bosses with multi-phase bullet patterns
Every shmup run builds toward four boss fights. A boss arrives at the start of every fifth wave and switches to new bullet patterns at two-thirds and one-third health.
Wave 5
ARACHNE Siege Walker
A giant ground walker that crawls up the battlefield and opens the bullet hell for the first time.
Wave 10
COLOSSUS Sky Fortress
An airborne fortress bristling with guns that fills the screen with layered fire.
Wave 15
LEVIATHAN Dreadnought
A heavily armoured warship that tests whether your build can burst through its hull.
Wave 20
CRYSTAL HIVE Mothership
The final boss of wave 20 and the toughest fight of the run.
Controls
A shmup that is easy to pick up on keyboard, touch or gamepad
Auto-fire is on by default, so this shmup is all about movement and dodging. Keyboard, touch screens and gamepads all work.
Keyboard
- Move
- WASD / Arrow keys
- Fire
- Z / Space (auto-fire on)
- Bomb
- X / K
- Focus (slow)
- Shift
- Pause
- Esc / P
Touch screens
Drag anywhere to fly — movement is relative, so your finger never covers the ship. Tap with two fingers or use the on-screen button to drop a bomb.
Tips
Tips for your first shmup runs
Start with THUNDERBOLT Mk-II on Danger 0 to learn the shmup waves and the first two bosses.
Commit to one or two weapon classes so set bonuses stack instead of spreading your scrap thin.
Lock shop offers you cannot afford yet — they will still be there after the next wave.
Duplicates are good: two identical pods of the same tier merge into a stronger one.
Shoot item carriers on sight. Crystals, P power-ups and bombs keep your main gun strong.
Save a bomb for boss phase changes: it clears bullets and gives you a moment of invincibility.
Hold Focus (Shift) to slow down and thread tight gaps. The Graze Sensor turns near misses into scrap.
Harvesting and Luck pay off early; Damage, Attack Speed and Armor matter more as waves get longer.
Explore
More shmup games and guides
New to the shoot 'em up genre, or looking for a specific kind of game? Start here.
Plane games onlineLooking for a plane game you can play right now? See how Shmup Rogue works as a free airplane shooter.Raiden III vs Shmup RogueHow the 2005 arcade shooter compares: weapons, crystals, bombs, scoring, and what a roguelike shmup changes.DemonStar vs Shmup RogueThe 1998 Mountain King space shooter next to a roguelike: weapons, the missing shop, co-op and where to play DemonStar today.Beginner's guideShips, main guns, scrap and the hangar shop: everything you need for your first run.Weapons and set bonusesAll 12 weapon pods, their classes and the set bonuses that make a build.
Embed
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FAQ
Shmup FAQ
Is Shmup Rogue free to play?
Yes. Shmup Rogue is a completely free shmup game that runs in your browser. There is nothing to buy and no account to create.
Do I need to download or install anything?
No. This shmup runs in any modern browser: press Play at the top of shmup.org on desktop or mobile and start flying. Your settings and high score are saved locally in your browser.
What is a shmup?
Shmup is short for shoot 'em up, the arcade genre where you fly a ship or plane, shoot down waves of enemies and dodge their bullets. Shmup Rogue is a vertical scrolling shmup with roguelike progression: timed waves, a shop between waves, level-up choices and randomised offers, so every run builds differently.
Can I play on my phone or tablet?
Yes. The shmup plays well on touch screens: drag anywhere to fly; movement is relative, so your finger never covers the ship. Fire is automatic, and a two-finger tap or the on-screen button drops a bomb.
What are the controls?
WASD or the arrow keys move, Z or Space fires (auto-fire is on by default), X or K drops a bomb, Shift slows you down for precise dodging, and Esc or P pauses. Gamepads are supported too. See the full controls →
How long does a run take?
A full 20-wave run lasts about 20–30 minutes, so it is a shmup that fits into a break. The first wave is 35 seconds long and each wave adds three more, up to one minute by wave 10, and the final wave 20 lasts 90 seconds.
How does the main gun work?
Your main gun is Vulcan (red spread), Laser (blue beam) or Plasma (purple lock-on lightning). Crystals cycle through the colours: grab your current colour to level the gun up, or a different colour to switch. P power-ups raise the gun level up to 8.
What happens between waves?
You land in the hangar. Pick a stat upgrade for each level you gained, open any supply crates, then shop: four offers you can buy, lock or reroll, plus selling and combining weapon pods. Launch the next wave when you are ready.
What do the danger levels change?
Danger 0 is a training sortie. Higher levels add more enemies, bring elite squadrons from Danger 2, make waves tougher and denser, and give bosses extra patterns from Danger 4. Danger 5 is for ace pilots only.
Is there multiplayer?
Not yet. Shmup Rogue is a single-player shmup today. Its simulation is deterministic and already designed for online co-op, which is planned for a future update.
Which languages are supported?
English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The shmup follows your browser language, and you can switch in the settings at any time.
Is it based on other games?
It is inspired by classic 90s arcade shmups (vertical shooters) and modern wave-based roguelikes, but Shmup Rogue is an independent game with its own ships, enemies, bosses, art and systems.
Ready for takeoff?
Shmup Rogue is a free shmup game that starts in seconds in your browser. Pick a ship, survive the waves and build something ridiculous.