How to Play Void Trader - Step by Step
The Void Trader page loads a ~50 KB Canvas 2D space trading roguelike in an iframe. You fly a physics-based ship through eight procedural sectors, mine asteroids for ore, dock at stations to buy and sell goods, upgrade the ship, and fight pirates - one life, one run. Press Play to start.
Step 1 - launch and learn the HUD
Press Play on the game page, then LAUNCH on the title menu inside the iframe. The HUD shows hull, shield, credits (you start with 500), cargo (0/20), sector, and depth. The game is adapted from Daniel Silva Perez's open-source Orbitron project (MIT license); the license and credits ship next to the game files.
Step 2 - fly, mine, and stay alive
Use WASD or arrows to thrust with inertia, and aim the turret with the mouse. Left click fires the cannon; right click or X fires a homing missile (limited ammo). Space raises the shield. Asteroids are mining targets and collision hazards - bumping one damages the hull. Destroy pirates for a bounty that scales with sector depth.
Step 3 - dock and trade
Fly near a station (cyan ring on the map) and press E to open the trade panel, or Tab for cargo. Stations buy and sell five goods with base prices - Titanium Ore (20 Cr), Crystal Shards (45), Plasma Cells (80), Nav Data (150), Quantum Core (300) - that each sector randomizes around. Your cargo hold holds 20 units.
Step 4 - repair, restock, and upgrade
At a dock you can also repair hull, recharge shields, restock missiles, and upgrade the ship from Scout to Fighter to Cruiser. Each class trades speed for hull, shield, and fire rate, so pick the upgrade that matches how you fly.
Step 5 - clear the sector and jump deeper
There are eight sectors on a 4000-unit map. Sector 1 has one station; deeper sectors spawn more asteroids, more pirates (Scout, Fighter, Cruiser classes with chase, circle, or wander behavior), and up to three stations. Clear every enemy in a sector to auto-jump to the next; clear sector 8 to win. If the ship is destroyed, press R to restart from sector 1 with 500 credits - there is no continue.
| Setting | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Download size | ~50 KB | Single HTML file in a same-origin iframe |
| Input | Keyboard + mouse | WASD move; mouse aim; click fire; E dock; Tab cargo |
| Goods | 5 types | Ore 20, Shards 45, Plasma 80, Nav 150, Quantum 300 Cr base |
| Sectors | 8 | Clear enemies to jump; sector 8 = victory |
| Saves | None | Permadeath; no localStorage |
| Server calls | 0 | Runs entirely client-side; Canvas 2D, no WebGL |
See when to play it in the browser, Asteroid Blaster, and Gravity Orbit Golf on this site.
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