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Co-op Nova Retro — Game Guide

Co-op Nova Retro is a classic-style vertical bullet-hell shooter you can play together with a friend in the same room. Fight through 17 sectors, each guarded by a giant boss with multi-phase patterns, and build your own strategy from 5 main weapons plus sub-weapons and ships. No install — play instantly on mobile and desktop browsers.

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Overview

Pilot your ship near the bottom of the screen, dodge incoming enemies and bullet patterns, and shoot enemies down for score. Each sector ends with a boss that has its own unique attack patterns; defeat it to advance. Clear all 17 sectors and a new loop begins with the difficulty bumped up a tier, so you can chase ever-higher scores.

• Solo: pick a ship and difficulty and start right away.
• 2-player co-op: create a room, share the 6-character code with a friend, and play together in real time.
• Daily Challenge: every day everyone gets the same ship/difficulty/handicap combo.

Controls

Mobile (touch)

• Press and drag anywhere; the ship follows your finger.
• Main and sub-weapons fire automatically, so you focus on dodging and positioning.
• Use the 💥 bomb button at the bottom-left to clear the screen of enemy bullets.

Desktop (keyboard)

• Move with the arrow keys or W A S D.
• Trigger a bomb with Space or B.
• You can also move by dragging with the mouse.

The 5 Main Weapons

Each weapon upgrades from power 1 to 6 and fills a distinct role. Choosing the right one for the situation is key.

Weapon	Character	Best for
V — Vulcan	Fastest fire rate. Forward shots with slight spread.	Single-target DPS, all-round basics
L — Laser	Tall piercing beam; hits a whole column at once.	Single-file formations, pierce damage
P — Plasma	Explodes on impact, dealing splash to nearby regular enemies.	Clearing crowds (weak single-target/boss DPS)
S — Spread	Wide fan shot; the best horizontal coverage.	Wide rows of enemies, area control
H — Homing	Auto-tracking single shot; no aiming needed.	When you want to focus on dodging (slower clears)

Sub-Weapons

• Missiles: homing missiles that fire automatically, independent of your main weapon. Higher levels fire faster and harder, and at max level they split left and right.
• Drones: defensive drones orbit your ship and intercept enemy bullets. At max level (5) they also shoot. Missiles and drones are mutually exclusive — picking one swaps the other.

The 4 Ships

Ship	Traits
STANDARD	Balanced all-rounder.
BUNNY	Defensive: +1 starting bomb, longer post-hit invulnerability.
STAR	Offensive: +1 starting weapon power, faster movement.
TITAN	Heavy: slow but tough, with longer invulnerability and more bombs.

Items

• Weapon / sub upgrades: the same weapon raises power; a different one swaps your weapon.
• Bomb (B) / 1UP: more bombs, an extra (shared) life.
• Roulette items: change type every 2 seconds while drifting around — you get whatever it shows when grabbed.
• Weapon Roulette (spinning wheel): rerolls your main weapon at random — it can land on the same one — and drops its level by 1 (min 1). A gamble pickup.
• Overflow bonus: picking up an item while already maxed converts it into bonus score.

Difficulty

Five tiers — EASY, NORMAL, HARD, VERY HARD and ULTIMATE — raise enemy health, bullet density and mid-boss frequency as you climb. Clearing every sector starts a new loop with the difficulty bumped up. The online leaderboard ranks scores by difficulty and by period (today / this week / all-time).

The 17 Sectors and Bosses

Every sector has its own backdrop, environmental gimmick and a boss with multi-phase patterns. Bosses reveal new patterns as their health drops, so learning the phase-transition timings is the heart of each fight.

Sector	Boss	Notes / how to approach
S1	SENTINEL	Gatekeeper that calls in reinforcements — clear the escorts first.
S2	HURRICANE	Whirlwind bullets — read the rotation and slip into the inner gap.
S3	KRAKEN	Swiping arms + a vision-blocking ink cloud. Poke from outside arm range.
S4	VULCAN	Lava pillars from below — pre-pick the gaps between them.
S5	ANUBIS	Transforms into a roaming centipede at low health.
S6	LEVIATHAN	Screen-spanning blue beams — dodge sideways on the charge tell.
S7	GLACIER	Ice-snake patterns plus narrowing ice walls.
S8	FIREWALL	Digital worm — weave its data-packet bullets left and right.
S9	OMEGA	Massive magenta beam — take position early since it's wide.
S10	SINGULARITY	Gravity field that pulls your ship — drag against it while dodging.
S11	BROODMOTHER	Hatching spawn pods — destroy pods before they hatch.
S12	CHRONOS	Time warp that slows then speeds bullets — read the rotation itself.
S13	SPECTER	Spawns mirror clones for side crossfire — break clones to cut it.
S14	ABYSS MAW	The deep-sea maw: grappling arms + aimed lasers + pincer crossfire.
S15	MAGMA THRONE	Lava throne: lava pillars combined with a molten-centipede phase.
S16	PRISM AEGIS	Orbital shield nodes — destroy every node before the boss takes damage.
S17	OMEGA NULLITY	The series finale — time your passage between lighthouse-like sweeping lasers.

Scoring & Strategy Tips

• Keep your combo alive with continuous kills for big score multipliers.
• Wiping a whole formation grants a bonus and a guaranteed item — miss even one and the bonus is gone.
• Asteroids are indestructible solid cover: they block enemy bullets but also block yours, so position carefully.
• Use Laser (L) or Vulcan (V) for single bosses, and Plasma (P) / Spread (S) for crowds.
• Save bombs for emergencies, but firing one right before a heavy boss pattern can carry you through a phase safely.
• Clear the daily Challenge and quests to earn medals and unlock ship skins.

2-Player Co-op Tips

• Split roles. One player takes the boss with single-target/pierce damage (Laser/Vulcan) while the other clears crowds and bullet sources with Plasma/Spread — the screen stays far cleaner.
• Lives are shared. One reckless death hurts both of you; when things get hairy, bombing to survive together is usually the better trade.
• Run a drone carrier. One ship soaking bullets with drones lets the other push in aggressively.
• Wipe formations together. Clear a whole formation without letting one escape for a guaranteed bonus drop.
• If you disconnect, reconnecting within 30 seconds restores your slot. If one player leaves for good, the other automatically continues solo.

FAQ

Do I need to install anything?

No — it runs directly in the browser, with no app install or sign-up required.

How do I play with a friend?

Create a room in the menu to get a 6-character code (or invite link). When your friend joins with that code, real-time co-op starts in the same room. A room currently holds up to 2 players.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. It supports iPhone/Android mobile browsers and desktop, auto-fitting the aspect ratio and size. Use the size toggle in the main menu to fill the screen or view it in a 9:16 frame.

Is my progress saved?

High scores, settings and attendance are stored in your browser (localStorage). Your nickname and score are recorded on the online leaderboard only if you choose to submit them.

Do higher difficulties give more points?

Yes — higher difficulty applies a larger score multiplier. The leaderboard is split by difficulty, so you compete within the same tier.

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