Play Reactor Online

Game Overview

Reactor is one of those Atari 2600 games that feels way ahead of its time. You're piloting a tiny ship inside a nuclear reactor that's about to go critical, dodging these hyperactive particles that bounce around like angry fireflies. The core keeps expanding, shrinking your safe space, and everything wants to ram you into the deadly outer wall.

At first it's chaos—positrons zigzag unpredictably, neutrinos move in slow arcs, and photons zip straight at you. But you quickly learn to use their momentum against them, nudging them toward the kill zone. The decoys are a lifesaver when you're cornered; drop one near the wall and watch every particle swarm to their doom.

My favorite trick? Smashing particles into the control rods on the sides. Wipe out a full set and the reactor actually shrinks back, buying you precious breathing room. Get both and you score an extra decoy—which you'll definitely need when the core starts pulsing like a time bomb. It's tense, strategic, and weirdly satisfying when you clear a level just before meltdown.