A game by Chaotic Phoenix
SWARMCORE
Start as a virus. Grow organs that fight for you. Evolve until you eat the sun.
An arena roguelike for Android phones, played in landscape. Plays offline: no account, no ads, no internet needed.
See it
Your body is the weapon
SWARMCORE is an arena roguelike where your body is the weapon. You start as a virus eating viruses in a drop of blood. Wave by wave you grow, mutate and evolve, until you are a planet-sized horror that eats planets and, last of all, the sun.
Eight stages of evolution
- Virus, bacterium, protozoan, crawler, apex beast, titan, world-eater, planet devourer.
- Each in its own living world: the bloodstream, gut flora, a pond droplet, the forest floor, a scorched frontier, a megacity, low orbit and deep space.
- Each with its own creatures, its own music and a boss, from Phage Colossus to Helios Prime, the sun itself.
- Three waves a stage, the third a boss; between stages your body swells and the old world falls away beneath you.
Grow your weapons
- You move: your organs attack on their own.
- Every level-up offers three mutations: a new organ, a rank for one you have, or an adaptation.
- 11 organs, from Bone Blades and Acid Glands to the Psionic Eye and the Parasite Hive, each to rank V.
- Two organs at rank III fuse into something stranger: 8 fusions to discover, like the Meat Grinder and the Abyssal Gullet.
- Spend the biomass the dead drop in the Gene Market between waves: genes, rerolls and locks.
A new run every time
- 6 strains, 4 of them won in play, each starting with its own organ, strengths and weaknesses.
- 6 hostility levels, each opened by winning on the one before.
- Endless after a win, and a Daily Mutation: the same run for everyone, every day.
- DNA from every run buys permanent upgrades in the Genome.
- A codex and a bestiary that fill as you play, 30 achievements, and leaderboards on your phone.
Made for phones
- Landscape, one thumb: a floating or fixed stick, and a left-handed layout.
- Close the game mid-run and it comes back right where you left it.
- Larger text, high-contrast hazards, reduced flashing, screen shake off, and low effects for older phones.
- Music and sound effects, each with its own volume.
- Plays offline: no account, no ads, no internet needed.
The eight stages
Three waves each, the third a boss. Between stages your body swells and the old world falls away.
1 · VIROPHAGE
Virus · Bloodstream
A rogue capsid adrift in warm plasma. Every virus here wants to replicate. Only you get to.
Rhinovirus, Bacteriophage, Prion Swarm, Influenza. Boss: Phage Colossus, The Injector.
2 · BACTERIUM
Bacterium · Gut Flora
You have a cell wall now. And an appetite. The immune system has noticed.
Bacillus, Staph Cluster, Spirillum, Antibody, Macrophage. Boss: Macrophage Prime, The Engulfer.
3 · PROTOZOAN
Protozoan · Pond Droplet
One drop of pond water holds a whole ecosystem. Soon it will hold only you.
Paramecium, Amoeba, Diatom, Rotifer, Tardigrade. Boss: Tardigrade Matriarch, The Indestructible.
4 · CRAWLER
Crawler · Forest Floor
Visible to the naked eye. Legs, mandibles, venom: the macro world is a war of armies.
Soldier Ant, Wolf Spider, Hornet, Bombardier Beetle, Rhino Beetle. Boss: Queen Mantis, Scythe of the Undergrowth.
5 · APEX BEAST
Beast · Scorched Frontier
Wolves flee. Bears do not. Then the humans arrive with rifles and drones.
Dire Wolf, Hunter, Recon Drone, Grizzly, Containment Jeep. Boss: Containment Mech, Protocol: Sterilize.
6 · TITAN
Titan · Megacity
Skyscrapers reach your knees. The army deploys everything it has. It will not be enough.
Infantry Squad, Strike Jet, Gunship, Battle Tank, Mech Trooper. Boss: Mecha-Leviathan, Humanity's Last Kaiju.
7 · WORLD-EATER
World-Eater · Low Orbit
Your tendrils span continents. The planet's last defenses fire from orbit.
Interceptor, Defense Satellite, ICBM, Orbital Cruiser, Battle Station. Boss: Aegis Core, Planetary Defense Grid.
8 · PLANET DEVOURER
Planet Devourer · Deep Space
Moons are snacks. Planets are meals. At the heart of the system burns the final course.
Asteroid, Comet, Xeno Saucer, Rogue Moon, Gas Giant. Boss: Helios Prime, The Final Course.
The bosses
Phage Colossus
The Injector · stage 1
Macrophage Prime
The Engulfer · stage 2
Tardigrade Matriarch
The Indestructible · stage 3
Queen Mantis
Scythe of the Undergrowth · stage 4
Containment Mech
Protocol: Sterilize · stage 5
Mecha-Leviathan
Humanity's Last Kaiju · stage 6
Aegis Core
Planetary Defense Grid · stage 7
Helios Prime
The Final Course · stage 8
Strains
Each strain starts with its own organ, strengths and weaknesses. Two are yours from the start; the rest are won in play.
Xeno Prime
The balanced seed of the swarm. Bone Blades spin around it from the first second.
Starts with Bone Blades. From the start.
Acidborn
Weeps corrosive bile. +20% Toxic damage, -5 Max HP.
Starts with Acid Glands. From the start.
Hivemind
Never alone. +1 Clone, +25% Swarm damage, -10% Damage.
Starts with Clone Buds. Won with PRIMORDIAL SOUP: evolve into a Protozoan.
Stormheart
A living capacitor. +15% Attack Speed, -2 Armor.
Starts with Electric Organ. Won with UNHOLY UNION: create your first organ fusion.
Leechling
Feeds as it fights. +5% Life Steal, -8% Speed.
Starts with Devouring Maw. Won with APEX PREDATOR: evolve into an Apex Beast.
Thornback
A walking pincushion. +3 Armor, +15% Bio damage, -6% Speed.
Starts with Quill Spines. Won with PANDEMIC: kill 5,000 enemies in total.
Organs
Eleven organs, each to rank V: what each does at rank I, and at rank V.
Bone Blades Bio
2 bone blades orbit you, slicing for 6 damage.
V: 5 bone blades orbit you, slicing for 15 damage.
Acid Glands Toxic
Spits acid globs (1 a volley) for 7 damage, each leaving a corrosive puddle.
V: 3 a volley, for 18 damage.
Clone Buds Swarm
Buds 1 clone that chases and bites for 6 damage.
V: 4 clones, biting for 15 damage.
Tentacles Bio
Lashes the nearest enemy for 9 damage and drags it in.
V: the 4 nearest, for 20 damage.
Electric Organ Volt
Discharges lightning for 8 damage, arcing to 3 more enemies.
V: 19 damage, arcing to 8 more.
Spore Pods Toxic
Seeds spore pods (1 at a time) that burst for 16 area damage.
V: 3 at a time, for 38 area damage.
Quill Spines Bio
Fires 6 quills in every direction for 6 damage, piercing 0.
V: 16 quills for 13 damage, piercing 2.
Miasma Toxic
A choking cloud deals 3 damage twice a second and slows by 15%.
V: 9 damage, slowing by 30%.
Psionic Eye Volt
Fires a piercing psionic beam for 14 damage through every enemy in line.
V: 40 damage.
Devouring Maw Bio
Bites everything in front for 16 damage. Kills restore 1 HP.
V: 42 damage, kills restoring 3 HP.
Parasite Hive Swarm
Releases 1 homing larva that burrows for 9 damage.
V: 4 larvae, burrowing for 18 damage.
Fusions
Two organs at rank III fuse into one. Eight to discover.
Toxic Storm
Acid-charged lightning strikes from the sky, leaving corrosive pools.
Acid Glands III + Electric Organ III
Meat Grinder
Bladed tentacles whirl around you, shredding anything within reach.
Tentacles III + Bone Blades III
Plasma Saws
Electrified saws orbit wide, arcing lightning into the crowd on every cut.
Bone Blades III + Electric Organ III
Abyssal Gullet
Every few seconds, hauls every nearby enemy into a single colossal bite.
Devouring Maw III + Tentacles III
Plague Bloom
Your body exhales expanding shockwaves of spores that choke and slow.
Spore Pods III + Miasma III
Ion Cannon
A continuous ion beam sweeps a full circle around you.
Psionic Eye III + Electric Organ III
Needle Swarm
Living quills seek out prey on their own and pierce through.
Quill Spines III + Parasite Hive III
Broodmother
Births volatile broodlings that hurl themselves at enemies and burst.
Clone Buds III + Spore Pods III
Achievements
Thirty to earn. Four of them win a strain.
- PATIENT ZERO Start your first infection.
- BACTERIAL BLOOM Evolve into a Bacterium.
- PRIMORDIAL SOUP Evolve into a Protozoan. Wins the Hivemind strain.
- NAKED EYE Evolve into a Crawler.
- APEX PREDATOR Evolve into an Apex Beast. Wins the Leechling strain.
- KAIJU RISING Evolve into a Titan.
- CONTINENTAL DRIFT Evolve into a World-Eater.
- PLANET DEVOURER Evolve into a Planet Devourer.
- EATER OF SUNS Devour Helios Prime and win a run.
- HOSTILE TAKEOVER Win on Hostility 3 or higher.
- EXTINCTION LEVEL Win on Hostility 5.
- PAN-SPECIES Win with 3 different strains.
- UNHOLY UNION Create your first organ fusion. Wins the Stormheart strain.
- CHIMERA Discover 4 different fusions.
- MAD GENETICIST Discover every base fusion.
- PERFECTED ORGAN Evolve an organ to rank V.
- FULL BODY HORROR Grow 6 organs in a single run.
- PLAGUE Kill 1,000 enemies in a single run.
- PANDEMIC Kill 5,000 enemies in total. Wins the Thornback strain.
- EXTINCTION EVENT Kill 25,000 enemies in total.
- UNTOUCHABLE Clear a wave (wave 3+) without taking damage.
- FLAWLESS MUTATION Defeat a boss without taking damage in its wave.
- CLOSE CALL Clear a wave with 3 HP or less.
- HOARDER Hold 500 Biomass at once.
- GENE JUNKIE Buy 12 genes in a single run.
- HYPERMOTILITY Reach +100% Speed.
- LIVING FORTRESS Reach 25 Armor.
- DAILY DOSE Finish a Daily Mutation run.
- HEAT DEATH Survive 10 Endless waves.
- SELF-IMPROVEMENT Buy a Genome upgrade.