How to play Rimflare

A visual guide · Make your first interception and learn armor, combo points, hull repair and Bank.

Your goal

Circle the rim. Stop the drones.

Steer the silver ship around the ring and line up drones before they reach it. Your ship fires toward the centre automatically. Keep your hull and combo glowing through endless waves.

These are simplified teaching diagrams, separate from your live field. Rimflare runs in real time. Opening the game's How to Play or Visual Guide pauses play. Close it, then choose Start for a fresh run or Resume if you had already started.

01Make your first interception

Move around the rim, then let your ship fire

Before: a scout is between your ship and the centre. After: an inward bolt clears it. At the starting multiplier, your first scout earns 100 points. You steer the ship; there is no fire button.

Choose Start. Mouse: move your pointer around the field to guide the ship. Its nose keeps facing inward while it travels around the ring.
Touch: press and drag around the field. Lift to stop steering. Touching near the centre keeps your last aim. Portrait and landscape both work when there is enough room.
Keyboard: focus the game, then use Left and Right or A and D to orbit. P pauses or resumes. After an interruption, release held keys and choose Resume before steering again.
The ship takes the shorter route toward your aim at a steady turn speed. Watch warning arcs and line up the next drone early.

02Read the drones and build a combo

One hit for scouts, two for armor

The scout has a pointed, angular silhouette. Armor has a broader body; a cracked core means one hit remains. Damage alone earns no points. Base points are 100 for a scout and 200 for armor, before your combo boost.

Stop drones in a row. The fifth consecutive drone earns ×2 points; the tenth starts ×3. The chain carries into the next wave.
Combo shows the points multiplier, not the number of drones stopped. A missed bolt keeps the chain; a drone reaching the rim resets it.

A clean first wave from a fresh run

All 6 scouts stopped: 400 points for the first four + 400 for the next two + 200 for the clear + 100 for no escapes = 1,100. Clear and clean bonuses are not multiplied.

03Protect your hull

An escape costs one hull

Start with 3 hull, shown by filled diamonds. Each escaping drone uses one hull and resets your combo, keeping earned points. Every fourth cleared wave restores one hull, up to 3. Zero hull finishes the run before any repair.

A clear still earns 200 points after an escape, but loses the 100 clean bonus. One repaired hull can help you carry the next wave.

04Continue, take a break, or Bank

Clearing a wave starts the next one

Patterns repeat while your score, hull and combo carry forward. The challenge settles from wave nine. Clearing a wave continues the run; Bank or losing the last hull finishes it.

Choose Pause to take a break. How to Play keeps the original instructions; choose Visual Guide inside it for these pictures. Closing help keeps a started run paused until you choose Resume. A fresh run waits for Start.
Bank asks you to confirm. Bank score keeps your earned total, even partway through a wave, and adds no bonus. Keep playing returns you to a paused run. Play Again starts fresh; Menu returns to the games.
The square field needs at least 280 × 280 pixels, plus room for the HUD and controls. If you see More room to play, your run is preserved. Rotate, resize or expand the game, then choose Start for a fresh run or Resume to continue.
Use Full screen when available, or Expand game for more room. Browser bars may remain. Use the same display control to exit. Scroll outside the field to reach information below.

Play Rimflare