Ramming shell
THE GYRO
Deep Drift: THE NAUTILUS
Charges along a lane. Bait it into a rock and it is stunned and open.
Wave-survival shooter
Wave Battler
Steer, dash and outlast forty waves
Survive 40 waves, build your ship and beat 10 bosses. Free in your browser, on a computer or your phone.
A free wave survival shooter. Your gun fires itself; you dodge.
- Players
- Solo or 2-player online co-op
- Online
- Co-op with a 6-digit room code
- Device
- Keyboard, controller or a phone held sideways
- Session
- Saved at every shop; continue later
- Genre
- Wave survival shooter
- Price
- Free; optional paid Legendary skins
Wave Battler videos and screenshots
Highlights
What makes Wave Battler fun
01
Two worlds, one game
Deep Drift is a sunlit seabed with a brass sub. Neon Grid is deep space with a fighter.
02
Cards that evolve
Six card lines reach a fork at level 3 and a final form at level 6.
03
The Devil's contracts
After some shops the Devil offers power for a price. Sign one, hold two, or walk away.
04
A tree that stays
Six branches, talents, keystones and five more abilities. Every run earns points, and resetting is free.
05
Online co-op by code
Host a game, send the 6-digit code, and play the same run. Phones can join too.
06
Easy to Impossible
Five difficulties. Brutal sends two bosses at once; Impossible switches your skill tree off.
The cast
Meet the bosses
Ten bosses, each with a Deep Drift name and a Neon Grid name, rated by stars.
Colossal worm
DATASTREAM
Deep Drift: THE LEVIATHAN
Crosses the arena from off the map. Every bead can be shot; the head pays most.
Armored by darters
THE NUCLEUS
Deep Drift: THE ANEMONE
Eight darters shield it. Kill them to strip its armor before it uproots.
Four arms, four tricks
THE ABDUCTOR
Deep Drift: THE KRAKEN
Slam, beam, bubble and grab arms. Cut them to open the head.
Rolling claw machine
THE MAINFRAME
Deep Drift: THE WRECK
Curls up and rolls after you. Sidestep it into a wall and punish the stun.
Pouncing spider
THE NETWORK SPIDER
Deep Drift: THE SEA WEAVER
Hauls itself rock to rock, pounces, poisons, webs the arena, then lays egg sacs.
The speed check
INTERCEPTOR
Deep Drift: THE MAKO
Dash chains, a fin that hunts you, and a strike from your blind side.
Blinking caster
PHANTOM PROCESS
Deep Drift: THE SEA WITCH
Blinks after every spell and splits into three. Only the real one has a heartbeat.
Bullet-hell dancer
PRISM
Deep Drift: AURORA
Runs a fixed loop of patterns. Learn the order and you can dodge everything.
Campaign finale titan
THE SINGULARITY
Deep Drift: THE COLOSSUS
Wave 40: beams, an inhale, giant hands, a shrinking abyss, then its last light.
Everyone else in the waves
- Hexa
- Dart
- Monolith
- The Eye
- Nova
- Suppressor
- Gyro Bit
- Vector
- Cable Head
- Glitch Caster
- Deflector
- Cell
Clips
Wave Battler in 15 seconds
How to play
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Controller | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | W A S Darrow keys | Left stick | Joystick |
| Dash | SpaceShift | B○ | DASH button |
| Ability | R | A✕ | ABILITY button |
| Your build | Tab | D-pad up | – |
| Pause | PEsc | StartOptions | Pause button |
Shooting is automatic.
Guides
Wave Battler guides
Wave Battler Beginner's Guide: How to Survive Your First RunsEverything you need for your first runs7 min read
Wave Battler Bosses: Every Boss in Deep Drift and Neon GridAll ten bosses, their attacks and how to win9 min read
Wave Battler Enemies: A Field Guide to Every Wave Survival FoeEvery enemy, when it appears, how to beat it8 min read
Wave Battler Builds: Cards, Evolutions, Abilities and Skill TreeCards, evolutions, the tree and builds that work10 min read
Wave Battler Devil Deals: Every Contract and When to SignThe Devil's contracts and when to sign8 min read
Wave Battler Online Co-op: Play With a Friend Using a Room CodeHost, join and win together7 min readFAQ
Wave Battler questions
Latest updates
World leaderboard
First-time tips
Online co-op
Is Wave Battler free to play?
Yes. It runs free in your browser. Legendary ship skins are an optional paid unlock and change looks only.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Open hqbg.ai/play in a browser on a computer, or on a phone held sideways.
Can I play Wave Battler with a controller?
Yes. Any controller with the standard layout works: left stick to move, B / ○ to dash, A / ✕ for your ability.
How long is a Wave Battler campaign?
Forty waves, with a boss every fifth wave. Your run is saved at every shop, so you can stop and continue later.
Can I play Wave Battler with a friend online?
Yes. One player hosts and gets a 6-digit code; the other joins with it. No sign-up needed.
What is the difference between Deep Drift and Neon Grid?
The look and the names. Deep Drift is an undersea world, Neon Grid is space. The waves, cards and bosses play the same.
Is there a leaderboard?
Yes, 20 world boards: solo or co-op, Campaign or Endless, across five difficulties. You can post under a nickname without signing in.
About Wave Battler
Read more
A free browser game about surviving the next wave
Wave Battler is a wave survival shooter you play in the browser. You steer a small craft around an arena while enemies arrive from every side. Your gun aims and fires by itself, so your hands are free for the part that matters: moving, dashing through shots at the right moment, and choosing when to use your ability.
Between waves you walk to the shop and spend coins on cards. Each card is a level: more damage, faster fire, an extra projectile, a chill field that slows what comes near you, spiked orbs that circle you. Six of those card lines evolve. At level 3 the game stops and asks you to choose a path, and at level 6 that path reaches its final form. Twin shot can become a wide Spreadfire for crowds or a tight Focus Fire for bosses.
Bosses you learn, two worlds to fight them in
Every fifth wave is a single boss with the arena to itself. There are ten, from the two-star Nautilus, a ramming shell you can trick into a rock, to the five-star Aurora, who runs a fixed bullet-hell loop you can learn by heart. Each boss shows its attacks before they land, with lanes, circles and rings with gaps, and each one has moments when it is stunned or wears a gold OPEN ring and takes extra damage.
The game has two worlds. Deep Drift is a sunlit seabed where you pilot a brass sub past pufferfish, crabs and an anglerfish that spits light. Neon Grid is deep space, with crystal bugs, block golems and a fighter ship. The rules are the same in both, so what you learn in one carries over, but every enemy and boss has a name of its own in each world.
Progress that carries between runs
A run ends when you fall or when you clear wave 40 in the campaign. Your cards reset, but the points you earned do not. Points pay for a skill tree with six branches: Gunner, Runner, Gambler, Gorilla, Bulwark and Frost. Each branch has small boosts, a starting kit, talents you slot in, a new ability, and two keystones that change the rules, such as firing twice as fast for less damage per shot.
Resetting the tree is free, so you can try a frost build one evening and a thorn tank the next. Five difficulties, from Easy to Impossible, set how hard the world pushes back. Endless mode removes the finish line for players who want to see how far a build can go.
Play alone or with a friend
Wave Battler plays well on a keyboard, with a controller, or on a phone turned sideways with a thumb joystick. For two players there is online co-op: one person hosts and gets a 6-digit code, the other types it in, and you share the same run with your own cards, coins and shop. The world grows to match two heroes, and a downed teammate can be picked back up by standing next to them.
Your best runs go onto world leaderboards for solo and co-op, Campaign and Endless, on every difficulty. You can post under a nickname without an account. Start a run at hqbg.ai/play, or read the beginner's guide first.
Follow along
New clips every week
Gameplay, boss fights, behind-the-scenes and the first look at new games.