How to play Star Prospector
A complete guide: flying the ship, fuel, the six minerals, how the planets' markets work, the shipyards and every upgrade, the dangers of each system, and the habits that make a mining career pay.
In one paragraph. You fly a small mining ship around a star system. Shoot an asteroid with the mining laser and chunks of mineral break off; pick them up and they go into the cargo hold. When the hold is full, fly to a planet, dock and sell - each planet pays its own prices. Spend the credits on fuel, repairs and upgrades. Every system has a target: earn that many credits there, from sales and bounties, and you may jump to the next, richer and more dangerous system. There are fifteen.
Flying
The ship flies like a real spacecraft. It turns on the spot, and its engine only ever pushes it forward, along the nose. Let go and it keeps drifting in the same direction; to stop, turn around and burn the other way (or use the reverse thrusters, which are half as strong). Engines, a bigger fuel tank and practice make all the difference.
On a phone or tablet
Pick your controls on the main menu:
- Steering stick (the default). Put your left thumb anywhere on the left half of the field and point the stick where you want to go. The ship turns that way and, once its nose is pointing roughly there, fires the engine - the further you push, the harder it burns. Point the stick behind you to turn around and brake. Hold your right thumb anywhere on the right half to fire.
- Classic buttons. Turn left and turn right on the left, thrust and fire on the right, as on the arcade cabinets. A thumb can roll from one button to its neighbour.
- Once you own a missile rack, a round missile button appears on the right.
- Pause is the button under the field. The game also pauses by itself when you switch apps.
On a computer
- ← → or A D turn, ↑ or W thrusts forward, ↓ or S fires the reverse thrusters.
- Space fires the laser, E (or Shift, X) launches a guided missile, P or Esc pauses.
The laser leans a few degrees onto whatever is right in front of the nose, so you do not have to aim to the pixel.
Fuel
Every second of full thrust burns one unit of fuel. The stock tank holds 100, which is enough to cross a system a few times - but not if you burn all the time. Coasting is free. With an empty tank you are left with weak reserve thrusters, enough to limp to a planet. Refuel whenever you dock; ice worlds and mining colonies sell the cheapest fuel.
Mining
Asteroids hang still in fields. As a rock takes laser fire, chunks of mineral break off it; the last ones fly out when it shatters. A large rock holds eight chunks, a medium one four, a small one two. Fly through the chunks to scoop them up - the tractor beam upgrade pulls them in from further away. Each chunk takes one slot in the hold. Loose chunks drift away after about fifty seconds, and rival miners will happily take them.
| Mineral | Usual price | Where it is found |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | 8 | Everywhere, especially close to the first planet. |
| Copper | 14 | Common in the early systems. |
| Silver | 24 | Further from the first planet, from the very start. |
| Gold | 40 | At the edges and near the suns early on; common from about the fifth system. |
| Platinum | 65 | Crystal-studded rocks; rare before the fifth system, common from about the ninth. |
| Xenite | 110 | Glowing green and rare; mostly in the last systems, close to the suns. |
Precious rocks are tougher: a gold rock takes almost twice as many hits as an iron one. Rocks further from the first planet and near a sun are richer, but that is where the danger is too. When a system's belt runs thin, new asteroids drift in.
Planets
To dock, fly into the dashed green ring around a planet slowly - under the docking speed the ship docks by itself. Too fast and you sail past. Each planet sits inside a shield bubble (the faint blue circle): pirates cannot enter it and their shots stop at it, so it is a safe place to catch your breath. Docking also recharges your shield and saves your game.
| Planet | Pays best for | Services |
|---|---|---|
| Trade hub | Everything at fair prices | Shipyard |
| Mining colony | Iron and copper (+35-40%) | Cheap fuel |
| Tech world | Platinum and xenite (+40-50%) | Shipyard, cheap repairs, pricey fuel |
| Ice world | Silver (+35%) | The cheapest fuel, pricey repairs |
| Frontier outpost | Gold (+45%), and most things a little | Expensive fuel and repairs |
Each planet's exact prices vary a little from system to system. The market screen marks a price well above the usual with ▲ and well below with ▼, and tells you which planet in the system pays best for every mineral. Only trade hubs and tech worlds have a shipyard; the radar rings them.
At the dock
- Market - sell a single mineral or the whole hold.
- Services - refuel, repair the hull and buy guided missiles (if you have a rack). If you are short of credits you get as much fuel or repair as you can afford.
- Shipyard - the upgrades below.
- Once the system's target is reached, a Jump button takes you to the next system. You can keep trading first; the cargo in your hold comes with you.
Upgrades
| Upgrade | Stock → max | Prices, level by level |
|---|---|---|
| Laser power | 10 → 42 damage | 300 · 1,100 · 3,750 · 10,000 · 28,000 |
| Laser cooling | 3 → 8 bolts a second | 400 · 1,600 · 5,750 · 18,000 |
| Multi-laser | single → twin → triple | 1,800 · 11,000 |
| Engines | 220 → 430 thrust, faster turning | 250 · 1,250 · 4,750 · 16,000 |
| Fuel tank | 100 → 400 | 150 · 750 · 3,000 · 10,000 |
| Cargo hold | 20 → 90 slots | 250 · 1,000 · 3,500 · 11,000 · 30,000 |
| Shield generator | 40 → 150 | 300 · 1,250 · 4,750 · 16,000 |
| Shield recharger | 4 → 13 a second | 450 · 2,500 · 10,000 |
| Hull armour | 100 → 260 | 250 · 1,100 · 4,500 · 15,000 |
| Autorepair unit | none → 2.5 hull a second | 1,500 · 6,250 · 20,000 |
| Tractor beam | 30 → 180 range | 200 · 1,250 · 6,000 |
| Missile rack | none → 14 missiles | 700 · 3,000 · 11,000 |
| Long-range radar | 900 → 2,400 range | 300 · 2,250 |
The first level of almost everything costs a few hundred credits, so the first full holds already buy something that makes the next trip better. The top levels are expensive on purpose - there is always something worth saving for. Guided missiles cost about 45 credits each; their blast grows with Laser power.
How a guided missile picks its target: it always locks on to a hostile ship first - a pirate, or a rival miner that is fighting you - preferring the ones in front of your nose and the ones already hunting you, up to 1,100 units away. It flies around any asteroid in the way and keeps chasing its ship until it hits. Only with no hostile ship around does it go for a mine, and only then for the nearest rock - and a missile heading for a rock switches to a pirate the moment one appears. Peaceful rival miners are never targeted.
Dangers
- Suns pull your ship towards them - further and harder the closer you get - and burn it inside the dashed orange ring. Rich rocks gather near them. Keep your speed up and your nose ready to burn away.
- Rocks are solid. A gentle bump does nothing; ramming one at speed dents the hull.
- Rival miners (yellow haulers) mine the same rocks and grab loose chunks. They leave you alone unless you shoot them - then they fight back. Destroying one pays a bounty and drops whatever it carried.
- Pirate fighters (from the second system) are quick and hunt in pairs later on; raiders (from the fifth) add homing missiles - a hard turn shakes them off; gunships (from the ninth) are slow and armoured and fire three bolts at once. Each one destroyed pays a bounty.
- Minefields (from the third system) arm when you come close, blink and explode. Shoot mines from a distance - a blast also sets off its neighbours.
The shield takes hits first and recharges itself two and a half seconds after the last one. The hull does not (unless you buy an autorepair unit) - repair it at a planet. If the ship is destroyed, a salvage tug brings you back to the last planet you docked at: you lose the cargo in the hold and pay a towing fee, but keep your credits and upgrades.
The fifteen systems
| # | System | Target | New here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kepler Reach | 1,200 | A quiet belt to learn to fly in. |
| 2 | Cinder Belt | 1,800 | The first sun, rival miners, pirate fighters. |
| 3 | Frostline | 2,600 | An ice world; the first minefield. |
| 4 | Tarsis Drift | 3,600 | A frontier outpost; three planets. |
| 5 | Pale Harbour | 5,000 | A tech world; pirate raiders. |
| 6 | Vesper Gate | 6,500 | |
| 7 | Twin Suns | 8,500 | The first binary star. |
| 8 | Ashfall | 11,000 | |
| 9 | Marrow Deep | 14,000 | Pirate gunships; four planets. |
| 10 | Corsair's Rest | 18,000 | Pirate country. |
| 11 | Glass Nebula | 22,000 | |
| 12 | Hollow Crown | 27,000 | |
| 13 | Iron Tide | 33,000 | Only raiders and gunships. |
| 14 | Last Light | 40,000 | |
| 15 | Xen Abyss | 50,000 | Xenite, and the heaviest pirates. |
Tips
1. Buy the cargo hold and the fuel tank first
Money per trip is simply the size of the hold times the value of what is in it. A bigger hold is the best early investment; a bigger tank means fewer detours to refuel.
2. Sell where it pays
Before you set off, glance at the market's "best:" hints. A hold of iron sells for 40% more at a mining colony, a hold of platinum for 40% more at a tech world - often worth the longer trip.
3. Stop, then shoot
Drifting past a rock while shooting wastes bolts and fuel. Burn towards it, turn around, burn to stop at a short distance, then turn back and mine. The chunks fly towards your side of the rock.
4. Respect the suns
Approach a sun from the side, never head-on, and do not run out of fuel near one. The dashed orange ring is where the heat starts.
5. Run for the shield
If a gunship catches you with a full hold, head for the nearest planet. Once you are inside its shield bubble, the pirates cannot follow.
6. Bounties count
A system's target counts every credit you earn there, bounties included. A few pirates shot down can save a whole trip.
A short history
Shooting asteroids is one of the oldest ideas in video games, going back to the vector arcade machines of 1979, where you turned, thrusted and drifted through a field of rocks. Later space games turned the rocks into a living: mine them for minerals, trade at planets, refuel, fight pirates and rival miners, and upgrade your ship until you have earned enough to move on. Star Prospector is an original game built around that loop, made for the phone.
Frequently asked questions
Is Star Prospector free?
Yes. All fifteen systems are free, with no account and no purchase. Credits exist only inside the game and cannot be bought. The site is paid for by the advertising described in our Privacy Policy.
Why does my ship keep drifting?
That is how it flies: there is almost no friction in space. To stop, turn around and burn against your motion, or use the reverse thrusters.
How is my progress saved?
In your browser's local storage, every time you dock, trade, jump or lose a ship: your system, credits, cargo, fuel, hull, missiles and upgrades. A flight in progress is not saved - reload and you are back at the last planet you docked at.
Can I play offline?
Once the page has loaded, the game needs no connection - everything runs in your browser. Only the advertising and the measurement need the network.