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From our classic games collection

Xeroids

Honestly, this is a little gem :) Created for Printware and published with their kind permission, this is a CRAZILY enhanced version of classic Invaders with pickups and swooping aliens!

Go to gameAbout the game
Xeroids artwork
Xeroids

A little internet history

When games arrived in the browser.

1995
Java applets helped turn web pages into places you could play, with games running inside the browser.
The plug-in era ends
Browsers gradually stopped supporting Java plug-ins. Java 11 removed the browser deployment tools; the Java language itself continues.
Today
This original game runs through our browser emulator. You don’t need to install the old Java plug-in.

Our part in that early web

Our Java games began on Smilie.com in the 1990s, before Matica followed. A surviving Smilie archive from 1 June 1997 refers to Mirkin’s Darts; Matica appears in the archive from 11 November 1998.

These games are part of that first wave of web play. We’re keeping them accessible, along with their original pages and history.

Read more: Java’s early tutorial history · Oracle’s applet deployment notes

Play Xeroids

Original game notes

Click within the applet
Use the left and right cursor keys to move.
Press 'Space' to fire.
Shoot all the alien printers to clear the level.
Shoot the Printware logo for a bonus.
Shoot enough printers and you can enter your name in the high score table!
Press S to turn the sound effects on or off, Press M to turn the music on or off