Nebula Hunters: Target Practice in the Asteroid Belt

Space instead of sea

Most free fishing games are set underwater. Nocturn Play moved this one into orbit: in Nebula Hunters the targets drift through a violet nebula while Rocco, a raccoon in an orange spacesuit, sits on a small ship at the bottom of the screen. Tap anywhere to fire at that point, or hold to keep firing. Shots bounce off the edges until they hit, and a shot that hits nothing is refunded. When a target is captured, you are paid its multiplier times your bet.

Each shot costs the bet multiplied by the weapon cost, and higher bets power the cannon up through three visual levels. Captures are decided by the server, so aim decides what you hit, not whether it falls.

Targets, from Star Minnows to the Golden UFO

The paytable runs in a neat ladder. Star Minnows pay ×2 and arrive in shoals. Then come the Space Jellyfish (×3), Satellite Crab (×5), Orbit Puffer (×8), Asteroid Turtle (×10), Crystal Squid (×15), Plasma Ray (×20), Rocket Shark (×30) and Comet Whale (×40). The Golden UFO carries a random value between ×50 and ×100. Bigger targets fall less often, which is exactly what the demo lets you measure without spending anything.

Three special targets change the board:

• Nova Bomb: explodes and takes every target around it.
• Freeze Comet: stops everything on screen for five seconds.
• Black Hole: pulls every target on screen into one point for a single combined prize.

Bosses and the Void Leviathan

A BOSS INCOMING alert announces each one, and a bar shows the damage dealt. If the boss crosses the screen, it escapes. The Titan Crab King pays a random ×100 to ×200, the Nova Serpent ×120 to ×300. The headline act is the Void Leviathan, a huge whale-like creature covered in six shield panels. You break them in order, and every broken panel raises its multiplier, from ×150 at the start to ×600 with all six gone. The poster shows it in profile, a row of glowing hexagons along its back. Whatever happens, a single shot is capped at 2,500 times the bet.

Plasma, laser or gravity well

• Plasma cannon (×1): one target per shot, the everyday weapon.
• Chain laser (×4): hits a target, then jumps to four more.
• Gravity well (×10): pulls nearby targets together, then implodes on all of them.

Auto keeps firing for you. Lock follows the most valuable target, or the one you tap, which is handy during a boss.

How to use the Nebula Hunters demo

Because you can play Nebula Hunters free with no sign-up, treat the first ten minutes as a test flight. Keep the plasma cannon on a low bet, say the equivalent of 10p, and shoot into the thick of the shoals to learn the pace. Save the chain laser for moments when several mid-value targets line up, and keep the gravity well for crowded screens; at ten times the bet, firing it at a lone minnow makes little sense. When a boss alert appears, switch on Lock and watch how much damage the bar takes before the creature drifts away.

Everything runs in the browser, on desktop or mobile. When you are ready for the real thing, the same game runs for real money at the casinos listed below.