mutant polyhedron

boss

The mutant polyhedron is one of the four bosses in Asteroid Pong: a single large polyhedron that changes shape, color and movement every phase. Its core regenerates at the start of each phase and shields itself right before every attack.

How to beat the mutant polyhedron

Read its movement. Each phase uses a different one: sway (side to side), orbit (a wide circle) or jump (it teleports every 2.6 s). With the jump, shoot as soon as it reappears.
Don't hit it while it swells. For half a second before each attack it grows and becomes shielded: the ball bounces off with no damage. Hit it between attacks.
Ignore the green balls. The decoys blink and fall apart when they reach your row. Keep your eye on the real ball.
Don't shoot straight at it while it absorbs. With the tractor beam on, a ball heading toward it gets held for 1 s and thrown back at your goal. Wait for it to end or hit it at an angle from afar.
Finish every phase. Its health refills each phase: make every finisher count. On the collapse, look for the two free lanes side by side.

Mutant polyhedron attacks

decoysGreen. 2 fake balls (3 in the last phase) that blink and fall apart when they reach your row or after 8 s. They do no damage: they only distract.

mirrorReverses your controls for 4 s. It shares the inverted controls limit: at most once per phase.

absorbPurple. A 2.5 s tractor beam around the boss: if a ball heading toward it gets inside, it holds it for 1 s and throws it at your goal 25% faster.

collapseYour row splits into 5 lanes and 2 adjacent lanes stay free. Last phase only: the first one at 7 s and then every 20 s (26 on easy). The floor of your row turns red and blinks; the hit lands after 2 s (2.6 on easy, 1.6 on hard). If it catches you, you lose a life.

Attacks go in order and loop: in phase 1 it only uses decoys; in phase 2, decoys and mirror; in the last phase, all three (at level 5, with 2 phases, phase 2 is already the last). From phase 2 it always adds a table alteration, and in phase 1 half of the time. The table alterations it can use are:

inverted controls: your controls are reversed for 4 s. At most once per phase, with a 25 s cooldown (40 on easy).
side gravity: for 6 s the balls accelerate toward one side (the «gravity →» or «← gravity» sign tells you which), up to 1.7 times their speed.
meteor shower: from level 15, several meteors fall (one more each phase), each with its warning reticle. See threats.
vortex: the table spins 90° one way, 90° the other, 180° or tilts about 60°, for 6 s. Your controls follow the screen and arrows appear beside the paddle (see controls). In the retro view it only turns ±90°. The last phase always has it in its list.

Phases and health

The mutant polyhedron has 2 phases at level 5 and 3 from level 15. It is a single core that regenerates at the start of each phase, with a bit more health each time.

level	phases	phase 1 health	phase 2 health	phase 3 health
level 5	2	4	5	—
level 15	3	6	7	8
level 25	3	8	9	10

On easy all health is multiplied by 0.7 and on hard by 1.15 (rounded). It attacks roughly every 2 to 3 s, faster each phase and at higher levels; on easy it waits 30% longer and on hard 10% less.

Every time you empty a phase, except the last, a finisher opens: a perfect shot takes 50% of the health of the phase that starts, a good one 30% and a weak one 12%. When the last phase drops below 30%, the final finisher comes: perfect center = boss destroyed; good, 70%; weak, 35%.

A boss level lasts 90 s (110 on easy) and every hit on a piece adds +1 s; the clock freezes during the intro and the death. There is no frenzy in this level.

What it looks like

A large polyhedron with a white one inside and a halo. Each phase it changes shape (3 different ones out of octahedron, cube, tetrahedron, icosahedron and dodecahedron), color and halo (3, 5 or 7 sides), and also its movement. Before each attack it swells for a moment: that's the sign that it is shielded.

On death it does an implosion to the music, with 5-point star ripples.

When it appears

This boss shows up on boss levels, every 5 levels, and it may not appear in your run at all. At the start of every run 8 archetypes are shuffled into one deck shared by bosses and giants: rings, serpent, fortress, mutant polyhedron, colossus, spider, hecatoncheir and totem.

Levels 10, 20, 30… belong to a titan, so in the campaign bosses and giants appear on levels 5, 15, 25 and 35: four of the eight, always different. From level 45 the order repeats.
The first boss never repeats the archetype of the first boss of your previous run, except in the daily challenge, which uses the seed of the day.
In boss rush you start at level 5 and jump 5 levels at a time: the 1st, 3rd and 5th boss come from this deck; the 2nd, 4th and 6th are titans.
It never appears in endless or in 2 players.

It enters rising from below the table with the «warning · boss» banner, its name and its phases. The intro lasts 4.2 s; hold (tap, space, OK or A) to skip it.

Rewards

Beating it gives points, coins and a life, and its music stays in the jukebox for good.

points: 500 for the core. On death: 2,500 × (level ÷ 5), that is 2,500 at level 5, 7,500 at 15 and 12,500 at 25. When the level closes: 500 × level + 20 per second left.
coins: 20 + 5 per 10 levels (20 at level 5, 25 at 15, 30 at 25), plus the level coins: 4 base, +3 if you lost no lives and +2 if you had 30 s or more left.
lives: +1 for beating it and +1 more if you lost no lives in the level (max 7). See lives and shield.
jukebox: Its own theme (166 to 176 BPM) goes to the jukebox, at its original tempo and downloadable as MP3.
bestiary: It is saved in the bestiary (the last 48) with its photo: you can spin it, watch it die and play its theme.
achievements: It counts toward the boss achievements and toward «collector», which asks you to beat all 8 types.

Ω version. From level 15 of the campaign (or after your first boss beaten in boss rush), this boss can show up as the secret boss Ω with a 4% chance: golden, with 30% more health, and beating it gives +100 coins and a special reward.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the ball bounce off the mutant polyhedron without hurting it?

For half a second before each attack it swells and becomes shielded. Hit it once it's back to its normal size.

How do I dodge the collapse?

Your row splits into 5 lanes and only 2 adjacent lanes stay free. Spot the gap and get your whole paddle in it before the hit.

Do the green balls hurt?

No. They are blinking decoys that fall apart when they reach your row; they only exist to make you lose track of the real ball.

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Describes version 0.8.26 · 2026-10-09