028-WAVE Manual

In 028-WAVE, you win if you survive the onslaught of waves long enough to escape. This means making sure you’re in the right position when you make contact with a wave. You’ll score points for matching and for using your power-ups well.

How to Play

Move around. Every time you move, the wave grows too. It’s okay to touch the wave depending on where you are on the map. Touching the wave is called a match. Everything in 028-WAVE depends on where you match. If you make enough matches, a door will appear. Enter the door to go to the next level.

Power-Ups

You can collect power-ups by making a match on the right tile. There are two power-ups: wipe and shot.

Shot

Take aim by pressing the left-er button (Z, O, Numpad 7, South). Then tap a direction to fire. Removes the first obstacle it hits in that direction. Or press aim again to cancel. You get a point if you hit an obstacle.

Wipe

Blank out your current tile and the four adjacent tiles by pressing the right-er button (X, P, Numpad 9, East). Erases any symbol from the board, but not obstacles. This means it will eat power-ups! You get a point for each obstacle you wipe. Don’t worry; it won’t erase the door.

What’s on the Map?

You are the smiley face.

You’ll stop smiling if you match on damage. Do it again, and you’ll be distressed. Any more after that, and that’s game over. Your mood improves when you enter a door.

The darker blue blocks are the level bounds.

There’s no way through, but they widen when you enter a door.

The blank squares are… blank.

You’ll be safe to match here, but you’ll gain nothing besides score. Way less cool than shots or wipes, but better than damage.

The triangle is a shot.

Match here to earn one shot.

The blobby plus sign is a wipe.

Match here to earn one wipe.

The X is damage.

Match here to wreck your mood. Can be removed by wipes. Transforms into an obstacle when you enter a door.

The light blue block is an obstacle.

You can’t move through it. You won’t see any at first; they come from damage. Can be removed with shots. Transforms back into damage when you enter a door.

The blinking circle is a door.

Shows up after you make enough matches in a level. Won’t leave until you enter it. Entering it takes you to the next level and resets the current wave. You’ll win if you make it past level 4.