DarkArts Studios DARKARTS
Discord
← All products
Games New

Star Warrior

A space shooter handwritten in BASIC by a 12-year-old in 1989

A space shooter handwritten in MSX BASIC by a 12-year-old in 1989, never actually run until reconstructed in 2026.

In 1989, during mandatory study halls at a South African boarding school, the entire game was written by hand in pen across five pages of a school exercise book. The notebook survived 35+ years before being photographed and faithfully reconstructed into a playable HTML5 version.

Features 16+ progressive stages with increasing difficulty, five distinct enemy types with homing AI, a shield mechanic, and a retro CRT aesthetic with scanlines and green phosphor glow.

Controls: Arrow keys or WASD to move, Space to fire, S for shields.

Play It

Play on itch.io

Open on itch.io ↗