Astral Bounty

Welcome to Astral Bounty. Wreck everything that comes gunning for you in glorious explosions and pocket the coins. Pump them into your arsenal, turn yourself into a flying death machine and kick some serious alien butt. Keep a spare gamepad handy. Or three.

You play Chip Mulligan, bounty hunter, famous across 12 galaxies. Wanted in 9 of them and, sadly, flat broke. Luckily there are four seriously lucrative bounties out there that need someone with more guts than brains. Chip has at least one of those. His last credits buy him exactly one tank of fuel. So, off you go.

The game and its economy pick up where the home computer classic Blood Money left off and drag it into the present. Everything runs on credits you shoot loose in the level: sweet, jingling, hard-earned space change that buys upgrades and, depending on difficulty, checkpoints and revives too.

You decide how merciful that system is. On Easy, shop upgrades are cheaper, checkpoints and revives are free, and you keep your upgrades when you get hit. On Normal, it’s full shop prices, checkpoints cost credits, and every extra revive gets pricier. Take a hit and your upgrades fly off into an upgrade orb you can go grab back. Blood Money scraps checkpoints, revives and upgrade orbs entirely, and even brushing the scenery hurts. Good luck!

Fair doesn’t mean soft. Every death has a cause you can see and a fix you can learn. Every formation has a rhythm, a tactic and a solution, and you’d better figure them out. But without the right upgrades and real skill you’re not getting through. You need both, and neither replaces the other. Then again, you’re Chip Mulligan.

• 3 difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Blood Money

• Cute, charming pixel art as the carrot, a demanding game as the stick

• Blood Money-inspired economy built on credits, upgrades, checkpoints and revives

• 4 playable ships: Heli, Sub, Jetpack and Harrier

• Combo system with chain timer and perfect window

• Full controller and Steam Deck support

• Highscore hunt against your friends with leaderboards and achievements

• Retro arcade feel with modern polish