About Ultimate Cycle Catcher
Ultimate Cycle Catcher is a free, one-tap arcade game about catching spacecraft that never stop. It is made by the Cycle Catcher team, a small independent group that likes space, simple controls and games you can learn in seconds.
What the game is
The game is set in an imagined year 2700, when large vessels called cyclers loop endlessly between worlds and smaller craft must meet them on the fly. You ferry crew outward from Earth, past Venus, Mars and the asteroid belt, to the moons of Jupiter, across ten routes that grow steadily harder. There is only one action, a tap at the right moment, but every target is moving on its own orbit, and the camera shifts between Earth-centered, Sun-centered and Jupiter-centered views as the journey unfolds.
It runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers, with no download, no signup and no in-game purchases. Progress is saved on your device, and an optional online scoreboard lets you compare your best runs with other players. The game is available in English and Portuguese.
Why we made it
Orbital mechanics is famous for being counter-intuitive. To catch up with something ahead of you in orbit, you often have to slow down; to reach a planet, you aim at empty space where it will be months later. We wanted a game where that feeling becomes something you learn through your thumbs rather than through equations. Leading a moving target, adapting when the frame of reference changes, and conserving propellant are the same skills the game asks of you, just compressed into seconds.
We also wanted the game to respect players' time. A route takes about a minute. There are no timers that force you to come back, no energy systems, and nothing to buy.
How it is built
The whole game is a single lightweight web page that draws on an HTML canvas. The scoreboard is a small server function backed by a database, and it stores only what is needed to rank players. You can read exactly what is collected in the privacy policy.
About the science
We take care to keep the science honest. Orbits in the game are simplified and dramatically sped up, but the rules they follow are real: closer orbits are faster, targets must be led, and resonances lock certain moons into repeating rhythms. Our science pages explain the real astronomy behind every stop on the tour, written in plain language by the team.
Content on this site
The game and the written guides on cyclecatcher.com are original work by the Cycle Catcher team. Numbers on the science pages are rounded values of widely published astronomical data. If you spot a mistake, we genuinely want to hear about it.
Advertising
The game is free, and in the future the site may show a small number of clearly labelled ads on its article pages to help pay for hosting. Ads will never appear inside the game, over its controls, or on menus and results screens. We will never ask you to click an ad.
Get in touch
Feedback, bug reports and ideas for new routes are welcome. See the contact page for how to reach the team, or start playing.