Motivated by my rant about what an “influential” game is, I went looking online to see if anyone had a playable version of Space Invaders. There were many, but I was impressed by this clone and the fact that the designer (Paul Neave) posted his embeddable code so that anyone could include it on their site. If you get a chance, you should check out his site in general RIGHT HERE. He has an inspired sense of design and his interface maintains elegance while being quite modern. (Nice work Paul!)

To begin, click on “Yes, I understand” in the box below and then click on “Play Space Invaders” from the following screen.

← moves your ship left
→ moves your ship right
[SPACEBAR] fires the missile

This version is a little easier than the arcade original, but you get the idea. Without further ado, take a look at the state of the art of videogaming from 30 years ago!

Also, if you’re interested in playing the game full screen, just click HERE.

As an ending note, I believe that there has been a playable version of Space Invaders in every generation of consoles and on almost every platform made. There have been evolutionary steps as well as attempts to simply preserve the classic experience. If there is any question as to whether or not Space Invaders has evolved or been influential, check out the trailer below for the most recent incarnation of the series for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.