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Arrow Keys to move, Space to rewind
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Phase Spector is a top-down arcade shooter built around a unique time-rewind combat mechanic. Instead of conventional attacks, players record their movement path and then rewind through it at double speed, damaging any enemies caught in their trail and deflecting incoming projectiles.
The game features endless wave-based progression with dynamically scaling difficulty. Three distinct enemy types — melee chargers, ranged shooters, and multi-pattern mini-bosses — force players to constantly adapt their positioning strategy. A chain-kill score multiplier rewards aggressive play and precise rewind timing.
Every fifth wave spawns a mini-boss that cycles spread shots, aimed bursts, and telegraphed melee dives. Defeating one drops a powerup that extends your rewind buffer length, or a healing pickup that restores a life — turning each boss into a real risk-reward decision. Wrapped in a polished title screen, walkthrough instruction screen, and persistent high score leaderboard.
Key Features
Time Rewind Mechanic
Record up to 1.5s of movement, then rewind at 2x speed to attack enemies along your trail. Enemies freeze during rewind, turning positioning into the core combat loop.
Projectile Deflection
Enemy projectiles caught along the rewind path get re-skinned, flipped to the player's collision layer, and fly back at 50 damage — one-shotting any other shooter they hit.
Tiered Multiplier Feedback
The on-screen multiplier bar shifts color through five tiers (1.2x → 2.0x), giving instant visual feedback on how aggressive your chain-kill streak is.
Rewind Ghost Trail
While rewinding, player projection sprites mark each frame of your retraced path, telegraphing exactly where attacks and deflections will land.
3 Enemy Types
Melee Chargers (50 HP, 8-direction pursuit) rush your position, Ranged Shooters (50 HP) strafe and fire from distance, and Mini-Bosses (300 HP) cycle multiple attack patterns from the top of the arena.
Multi-Pattern Mini-Bosses
Every 5th wave triggers a mini-boss that cycles between a 5-projectile spread shot, 3 aimed shots, and a telegraphed melee dive. Dive speed ramps up each wave for escalating pressure.
Powerups & Healing Pickups
Defeated mini-bosses drop powerups that extend your rewind buffer length and healing pickups that restore a life — pause-aware so they never get lost during a rewind.
Score Multiplier
Chain kills within a 6-second window to build a multiplier from 1.0x up to 2.0x in 0.2x increments. Taking damage resets the chain — risk vs. reward at every rewind.
Dynamic Difficulty
Wave-based spawner ramps enemy count toward a cap of 7 per wave and increases base move speed each wave (up to 350). Every 5th wave is a mini-boss encounter.
Top-5 High Score Table
Persistent named-entry leaderboard of the top five runs, displayed on the game-over screen so each session has a clear target to beat.
Polished Game Flow
Custom title screen, walk-through instruction screen, on-screen tutorials, hit-flash effects, hurt sprites, i-frames after damage and after rewinds — built to feel like a finished arcade game.
Technical Details
Engine
Godot 4.6
Language
GDScript
Spawning
Wave-based, mini-boss every 5 waves
Collision
Layered Area2D collision system
Signals
Event-driven signal architecture
Scenes
Dynamic scene instancing
Rewind Buffer
Position history ring buffer (1.5s)
I-Frames
Post-hit + post-rewind invincibility
Controls
Move your character in any direction
Activate time rewind along recorded path
Rewind Mechanic Pipeline
Move
Navigate the arena and position strategically
Record
Your movement path is continuously saved to the history buffer
Rewind
Press Space to retrace your path at 2x speed
Freeze
All enemies freeze in place during rewind
Attack
Damage enemies and deflect projectiles along your path
Cooldown
Rewind ability enters cooldown before next use
Move → Record history → Rewind at 2x → Freeze enemies → Attack along path → Cooldown