We Need a Bigger Ship

It starts small: a little ship, a few empty slots and one gun. Then the waves arrive, and it becomes clear you need a bigger ship.

Your ship is your backpack

Every weapon, support and bag takes up room on your ship's grid. Turn pieces to make them fit, set supports against the weapons they boost, and snap on bags of new shapes to grow the hull. A good layout is the difference between a tin can and a fortress.

Put a weapon beside the right parts and hold its forge badge: they fuse into a stronger weapon. A Needler becomes a Gatling Needler, a Rail Driver an Impaler Rail, and a Nova Mortar a Hellfire Mortar, which can be forged again into a Doomsday Mortar.

• Campaign: build between rounds, then hold the line against waves of enemies, with a boss every fifth threat level. Fly your pilot yourself or hand the controls to the autopilot. If your core shield breaks, the run is over.

• Ranked: your base against other players' saved builds. Hit their core, shoot their fire out of the sky, and reach 10 wins before 5 losses.

• Chill mode: endless, with no bosses and no way to lose. Leaks only dent the shield. Fly it yourself or let it fly.

In Ranked, lasers meet in mid-air, missile swarms fan out and curve in, and glass shields crack under fire until one base blows apart. Every opponent is a build someone made.

Pick your pilot

Nine pilots, each with its own way of shooting and its own starting kit: Outrider's straight shots, Trident's poison multishot, Spearhead's piercing lances, Whirlwind's rapid fire, Rearguard's all-round guns, Blastlance's explosives, Ricochet's bouncing orbs, Scattershot's splitting pellets and Bulwark's ram.

Foot soldiers, cavalry, shield bearers and armored giants. Ratters, Spore Hulks, Gravity Wells and Worms. Elite Brutes, Stalkers, Bastions and Colossi. And three bosses: the Siege Titan, the Serpent Queen and the Brood Mother. Each one asks something different of your build.