Survival Games Tips: How to Last Until the Boss

In a survival game, you do not aim or press fire. Your hero attacks on its own, and your job is to stay alive while the swarm grows bigger. It sounds simple, but a good run takes smart movement and smart choices. These tips will help you last until the boss arrives, and then beat it.

How survival games work

You slide your finger anywhere on the screen and your hero moves in that direction. Weapons fire by themselves. Enemies keep coming from every side, and when they die they drop experience. Collect enough of it and you level up.

At each level you pick one card: a new weapon, a stronger weapon, or a bonus. A bar at the top fills as time passes. When it is full, the boss arrives. Beat it and you win the stage. If your hearts run out first, you can try the stage again, or spend coins once per game to keep going.

Keep moving, and move in big circles

Never stand still. Enemies head toward you, so a hero who stops is soon surrounded. Walk in wide loops around the screen and the crowd will bunch up behind you in a line, which is easy to shoot.

Avoid running into a corner or an edge. You cannot escape from there. If you feel trapped, head toward the thinnest part of the crowd instead of the thickest. A small gap is enough to slip through.

Collect the loot, but only when it is safe

Experience drops where enemies die, so you must walk over it to collect it. Grab it often: more levels mean more cards, and more cards mean a stronger hero. But do not dive into a dense group for a single gem. A lost heart costs more than one level is worth.

The best moment to collect is just after your weapons have cleared an area. Sweep through the empty space and scoop up everything at once. The magnet bonus pulls loot toward you from farther away, which lets you stay in safer places.

Choose cards that fit your style

There are four kinds of weapons, and each one plays differently. A shooting weapon aims at the nearest enemy. A spinning weapon circles around your hero and hits whatever comes close. A wave pushes enemies away. A falling weapon lands on enemies spread around the screen.

It is usually better to make a few weapons stronger than to pick everything. Each upgrade adds more projectiles, more spinning objects, a bigger wave or more falling objects. A gold star on a card means it is new for you. Bonuses are also worth picking: boots for speed, a magnet for loot, a heart for safety, and strength for damage.

Know the dangers of later stages

The first three stages are easy, but from the fourth stage enemies can take several hits, and each stage adds a new danger. Shooters fire a pink ball that takes away a heart, and the wave weapon can erase it. Giant enemies with a golden halo are tough and have a life bar. Fast enemies come in swarms, and some groups surround you in a ring.

When you see a ring forming, aim for a gap before it closes. An enemy that flashes and shows a small life bar is hurt but not dead, so keep your distance until your weapons finish it.

Beat the boss

The boss is bigger and tougher than anything else, and it calls for reinforcements. Do not run away from it for too long: if you flee, the boss gets angrier. Keep moving around it in circles, so your weapons can hit it while you dodge.

Later bosses charge at you, and they shake just before they dash. That shake is your signal to step sideways. Keep an eye on your hearts, and do not take risks for loot while the boss is on screen.

Our survival games

In Kitten Ninja, a ninja kitten throws stars at rats and faces the Prankster Tanuki at the end of each stage. In Cosmo Chick, an astronaut chick fires a laser at aliens and meets the Giant Saucer. Both have four weapons and four bonuses, and the stages get harder every time.