Arcadia

About

Arcadia is a top-down shooter where you bounce between waves of enemies trying to blast you into pixels. The screen fills fast with bad guys you can see almost all the time which means you spend more time dodging and less time searching. Simple controls let you focus on quick reflexes and timing your attacks between bursts of cover. Each run pushes you to beat your last score while avoiding getting swarmed by the next horde. Released in 2010 the game still feels tight with its mix of chaos and strategy. It runs on older systems and the PC Linux and Xbox 360 versions keep the action snappy. Players appreciate how little it asks besides reflexes and patience. The leaderboards add a punch of replayability though the real charm is surviving just one more wave when everything’s coming at you at once.