Astron IV

Astron IV is a turn based top down maze game. You play a space warrior tasked with cleaning out the pirate asteroid Astron IV by visiting four levels of the complex, destroying all of the power panels, and then escaping.

Each level is a randomly generated 5x5 maze of rooms connected by corridors and one-way elevators between floors. You start on the first level with three vehicles which can transport you through the corridors of the maze. However each step brings you closer to death. You start with a power of 100, and every eight moves of your ship this power is decreased by 1 until you reach zero power and you die. When this happens, you return to control the next ship from the starting position on level 1, or if you run out of ships the game ends.

Throughout the maze, there are robot guards. Every eight of your moves, the robots will get a chance to move also. They can move further than you, but are not very smart. On their turn, robots will directly rush at you until their movement is stopped, and then will deflect in a random direction. If you are hit by the direct rush, you will lose power corresponding to the strength of the robot. During your turn, you can fire Z-bolts at the robots, either horizontally vertically or diagonally. These will reduce the strength of the robot until it reaches zero, at which point it is destroyed. Firing these bolts will also reduce your power.

There are ways to revive your power, but these are relatively scarce. On level 1, small energy orbs revive you by 5 units, and energy transmitters by about 30 units. These increase in effectiveness on higher levels, but so do the robots and their attacks. One-way elevators can be found to take you between floors.

Other objects are found throughout the complex. There are some checkered rectangular objects, which give you points for collecting. There are also power panels, which may be shot and destroyed. Once all of the panels within the maze have been disintegrated, a count-down starts and you need to reach your original position on Level 1 to escape from the complex and win the game.