threats

mechanic · blocks, drones and more

Threats in Asteroid Pong are everything that gets between your paddle and the CPU: blocks, drones, meteors, black holes, portals and lasers. One new threat arrives per level, from level 3 to 14, and on boss levels the boss's own attacks take their place.

What shows up on each level

Each level adds just one new thing, announced when you finish the previous level.

level	what shows up
level 2	magnet (power-up) and hidden coins
level 3	blocks
level 4	shooter drones
level 5	first boss (then one every 5 levels)
level 6	meteors and burst shooter
level 7	kamikaze and negative ball
level 8	black holes, frenzy, giant ball, golden asteroid and triple shooter
level 9	swarm
level 10	first titan
level 11	portals
level 12	laser drone
level 13	shield drone
level 14	homing

In endless mode the pace works as the level: it rises every 30 s and the same threats show up along the way.

Blocks, hidden coins and golden asteroid

Blocks are asteroids made of cubes that float on the table and break with the ball.

They appear from level 3: 1 on levels 3 and 4, 2 on level 6, 3 on levels 7 and 8, and 4 from level 9. There are 5 shapes, from 3 to 8 cubes.
Each cube takes 2 hits (1 with the giant ball). You get 10 points per cube and +150 for breaking the whole asteroid.
Every hit on a cube speeds the ball up by 1%.
During frenzy they hide and the ball passes through them.

hidden coins: From level 2, outside boss levels and frenzy. One at a time (the first at 14–24 s, then every 24–38 s), hidden behind a block 60% of the time, and it lasts 11 s. Hit it with the ball: +5 coins.
golden asteroid: From level 8 it has a 4% chance per level. It starts blinking at 16 s and vanishes at 20 s. Breaking it brings you closer to a secret: the retro mode.

Drones

Drones are enemy ships that fly around the rival half; the ball destroys them.

drone	color	from	health	points	what it does
shooter	red	level 4	2 hits (3 from level 10)	200	Wanders the rival half and shoots at you.
kamikaze	purple	level 7	1 hit	250	Hovers for a few seconds, draws a purple line toward your paddle and dives. If it hits you, you get stunned.
swarm	yellow	level 9	1 hit each	60 each	A formation of 3 to 6 small drones (V, line or ring) that crosses the table in 11–15 s. A random one fires every 2.2–3.2 s.
shield drone	green	level 13	5 + 1 every 3 levels (9 on level 13)	400	Parks in front of the rival goal, tracking the ball, and blocks your shots. Only one at a time.

Shooter variants, one new per level: plain; burst (3 shots in a row) from level 6; triple (3-shot fan) from level 8; laser drone (a stretch of light that marks its lane) from level 12; homing (a pink bullet that chases you) from level 14.
If a shot hits you, your paddle gets stunned: it shrinks to 55% for 1.3 s on easy, 2.0 s on normal and 2.6 s on hard.
The kamikaze's line lasts 1.5 s on easy, 1.0 s on normal and 0.85 s on hard: get off the line before it dives.
If the ball hits a shot, it destroys it for 50 points. The second paddle (DBL) blocks shots and lasers.
Drones at once: 1 before level 7, 2 from level 7 to 11 and 3 from level 12 (a swarm counts as one). On easy they are easier to hit and arrive further apart.
They give 1 coin for every 4 drones destroyed (swarm drones: 1 every 8).

Meteors

Meteors land where you see the reticle and leave a crater on the table for a few seconds.

From level 6. On level 6 a single one falls every 20–26 s; after that they come more often, and from level 11 two sometimes fall together.
Warning: a reticle with closing brackets, a ring and a column of light that turns from amber to red, for 1.9 s (2.3 s on easy). You can cross it until it lands.
They never land on the paddle rows, so they can't hit you.
Impact: pushes nearby balls outward, breaks nearby cubes, damages nearby drones and deflects power-ups.
Crater: lasts 5.5 s (4.5 s on easy). The ball bounces off its rim, power-ups can't cross it and drones steer around it; it closes over the last 1.6 s. The giant ball ignores it.

Black holes

Black holes bend the ball in a spiral toward their center and, if they catch it, fling it back out faster.

From level 8. There is 1 at most (2 from level 11). The first appears at 7 s and then every 10–16 s; each lasts 14 s.
If the ball crosses the center, it orbits for 0.75 s and gets flung out sideways at 1.25 times its speed.
The pull grows with the level. They also bend shots and power-ups. The giant ball is immune.

Portals

Portals teleport the ball from one side of the table to the other.

From level 11. One pair at a time: cyan on the left and amber on the right. The first at 9 s, then every 14–20 s; they last 16 s.
A ball that enters one comes out of the other in the same direction, and has to wait 0.7 s before it can enter again.
The giant ball doesn't use them.

Lasers and moving beams

Lasers first mark their path on the floor and then sweep it with a stretch of light: get off the mark before it arrives.

Lane laser: marks its lane on the floor and the spot where it crosses your row, with 1.0 s of warning (30% more on easy). Then the light travels down it.
Moving beam (from bosses): sweep (covers about 60% of the width, including you; 50% on easy), pair (two beams with a shifting corridor), pendulum (swings from the boss) and wall (a line across the table that comes down with a gap). Warning of 1.05 s (1.4 s on easy).
On your row, the red strip is what gets swept and the light blue one is safe. Every laser stuns.
During frenzy, drones, shots, lasers and meteors are wiped and no new ones appear.

Boss attack colors

The color of each boss attack tells you what it does if it hits you.

color	effect	who uses it
red	Stuns the paddle: it shrinks to 55% for 1.3 / 2.0 / 2.6 s (easy / normal / hard).	rings (ring of fire), fortress (broadside), totem (gaze), the serpent's bite, every laser and drone shots
light blue	Slow paddle: it moves at less than half speed.	serpent (acid trail), spider (web, spit)
yellow	Takes 3 s off your clock (it never drops below 1 s).	fortress (mortar)
purple	Steals the ball, holds it and throws it at your goal 25% faster.	mutant polyhedron (absorb), hecatoncheir (grab), scorpion and crab spider (pincers)
green	Blinking fake balls (decoys).	mutant polyhedron (decoys)
orange	Shoves you sideways.	serpent (tail whip and bite), colossus (shove)

A red floor on your row during the last phase is something else: it's the final attack, and if it hits you, you lose a life.

Table alterations

Bosses and giants also mess with the table: always from their second phase, and sometimes already in the first.

alteration	lasts	what happens
inverted controls	4 s	Your controls are reversed. At most once per phase, with 25 s of rest in between (40 s on easy).
side gravity	6 s	Balls accelerate toward one side, up to 1.7 times their speed. The "gravity →" or "← gravity" banner shows which way.
meteor shower	—	Several meteors fall in a row, more in later phases. On bosses and giants, from level 15; with titans, at most 3 at once.
vortex ("the table spins")	6 s	The table turns 90° to one side, 180°, or tilts about 60°. The last phase always includes it. In the retro view it only turns ±90°.
tilted table (titans)	6 s	The table tilts about 17° and the ball rolls toward the low side. From the titan's second stage.

With the table turned, your controls follow the screen: see how to move with the table turned.

Frequently asked questions

What does the purple drone do?

It's the kamikaze, from level 7: it hovers for a few seconds, draws a purple line toward your paddle and dives at it. Get off the line; if it hits you, your paddle gets stunned.

Can a meteor hit my paddle?

No. Meteors never land on the paddle rows; they push nearby balls, break cubes and leave a crater the ball bounces off for a few seconds.

What is the golden asteroid?

It's a rare golden block that can show up from level 8 and disappears after 20 seconds. Breaking it brings you closer to the secret retro mode.

What do the attack colors mean?

Red stuns the paddle, light blue slows it, yellow takes 3 seconds off your clock, purple steals the ball, green are fake balls and orange shoves you.

power-upsmechanic · 9 power-ups

finishermechanic · bosses, giants and titans

frenzymechanic · in-game event

retro modesecret · unlockable mode

Describes version 0.8.26 · 2026-10-09