Gameplay

Pulsar splits the classic RTS gameplay layers — Mine, Build, and Fight — into distinct, deepened experiences. Players can specialize in any of these layers to become a highly specialized supplier in the market or embrace them all to become a self-sufficient competitor.

Pulsar is a sci-fi strategy MMO where you build, explore, fight, and trade in a hostile alien world. Establish your base, extract valuable resources, defend your land, and choose your role in a dynamic player-driven ecosystem. Whether you prefer mining, building, or leading battles, the path you take shapes your progression and contribution to the world.

Establish a Base and Explore the Lands

Place your Mothership on a suitable spot, build around the Refineries and Unit Factories, and produce Miners and Combat Units. With this setup, you can start exploring the Land to find hidden Treasures, Alien Nests, and Resource Deposits.

Learn more about the first steps:

Getting Started

Flying Buildings

You can reposition Refineries and Unit Factories without rebuilding them. They enter a flying state, but remember — while flying, they do not produce units or refine resources. Turrets cannot fly, so be mindful of where you place them.

Extract and Refine Resources

Send your Miners to extract from Resource Deposits — there you’ll find Resource Nodes. A Resource Node contains a limited amount of resources, so at some point, you’ll need to move on to another location.

Defend from the Aliens

Aliens periodically invade the Land — you’ll need to cooperate with other players to defend it. Place Turrets and position your Combat Units carefully to repel the Alien Invasions. Sometimes, when the sunlight fades and the day turns into pitch-black night, an anomalous Alien Breeder invades the Land, spawning hordes of Aliens. Kill it if you want to survive!

Fight the Aliens in the Dungeons

The Empire wants you to fight the Aliens in the depths of the planet, on their territory. Anyone brave enough to face the Alien Behemoth will be rewarded.

Level Up the Assets

You can level up all Units and Buildings. It requires resources and time, but with each level, the power of your assets increases significantly. The level cap of an asset depends on its Rarity and your current Mothership level.

Choose a Role

Miners, Builders, and Warlords are soft-enforced roles in Pulsar, allowing you to specialize in one or pursue two or three simultaneously. However, progressing in multiple roles slows overall advancement. Each role offers a distinct experience, letting you focus on what you enjoy most:

Mining

As a Miner, you extract Unrefined Resources and refine them into valuable tokens, including Pulsar's game token, $PLSR. Your gameplay revolves around creating efficient supply chains by strategically positioning Miners and Mobile Depots near lucrative deposits, and upgrading Units and Buildings to boost efficiency.

Building

As a Builder, you focus on establishing a defensive line for other players and upgrading assets.

Fighting

As a Warlord, you engage in combat — slaying Aliens to collect Biomatter. This resource is required to level up Units and Buildings and to produce Buffs. Your gameplay emphasizes combat strategy, composing effective squads, and upgrading Unit Factories and Combat Units.

What Each Role Produces:

• Miners: Extract and refine resources.

• Builders: Build defenses and upgrade assets.

• Warlords: Engage in combat and earn Biomatter.

What Each Role Trades:

• Miners: Sell Refined Resources, used daily by all other players.

• Builders: Sell Upgraded Assets — production assets for Miners, combat assets for Warlords.

• Warlords: Sell Biomatter — a rare resource required to level up Units and produce Buffs.

Unified Gameplay

All players coexist within the same game and often within the same territory. While role-specific choices create unique gameplay experiences, the foundation remains consistent. You’ll be mining, building, upgrading, and fighting to some extent, regardless of your focus.

Core Gameplay Loop You engage in three primary activities:

• Collecting Resources: Extract resources such as the Pulsar token, Biomatter, and Gas.

• Building and Upgrading: Construct and enhance Units and Buildings to optimize production and defense.

• Battling: Explore Dungeons, repel Alien Invasions, fight Aliens in various game modes, and compete on the Leaderboards for rewards.

Generalization vs. Specialization

Pulsar encourages you to find your competitive niche. Specializing in a single role enables you to produce scarcer, more valuable resources, driving trade and collaboration. Generalists, while capable of balancing multiple roles, progress at a slower pace due to resource and time constraints.

Progression Constraints

• CPU and Power Supply: Limit the number of Units and Buildings you can operate.

• Operational Restrictions: Specialized buildings require prerequisites and consume valuable Power and CPU.

• Resource and Time Costs: Upgrading assets for different gameplay types demands significantly more resources and time.

By choosing to specialize or generalize, you can tailor your gameplay to suit your strategic goals and preferred playstyle.