Palm Star Defender

Goal of the game

In Palm Star Defender you play with your hand in front of the camera. Show an OPEN PALM to the camera — your fighter follows your hand along the bottom. Say FIRE (or clap / "pew! ") to shoot.

Say MISSILE to launch 4 homing rockets (5 s recharge). Make a FIST and hold it for rapid auto-fire (overheats! ). Aliens dive at you in waves — don't let them touch you.

Quick start

Palm Star Defender in one line: Slide your open palm to fly, shout FIRE to blast alien waves, MISSILE for homing rockets!

• Press Play on this page — Palm Star Defender loads in a few seconds right in the browser.
• Tap Allow when the browser asks for the camera, then read the short tutorial card.
• Play your first run of Palm Star Defender slowly to learn how it reacts to your hand in front of the camera.
• After a game over, press Play again to try to beat your best.

Controls explained

• Quick reminder shown in Palm Star Defender: Palm = fly · say FIRE · MISSILE · fist = rapid fire.
• Hold one hand about an arm's length from the camera so Palm Star Defender can see your whole palm and fingers.
• Move slowly at first: Palm Star Defender follows your fingertip in real time, and smooth movements are tracked more accurately than jerky ones.
• If Palm Star Defender feels too hard at first, play a practice round to learn the timing before chasing a high score.

Scoring and levels

Every 400 points you reach a new level, and Palm Star Defender speeds up and sends more at you each time. You start with 3 lives. Your best score is saved in your browser, and signed-in players also appear on the Palm Star Defender leaderboard. Watch out for boss waves, which take several hits but pay out big points.

Power-ups

Power-up orbs appear every few seconds in Palm Star Defender. Touch or collect them to activate:

• ✨ Triple (8 s): multiplies your attack or catch three ways.
• 🛡️ Shield (10 s): blocks the next hit so a mistake does not cost a life.
• ⏳ Slow-Mo (6 s): slows the whole game down so you can line up precise moves.
• 2️⃣ Double Points (10 s): doubles every point you earn while it lasts.
• ❤️ Extra Life: adds one life (up to six).
• ❄️ Freeze (5 s): freezes every moving threat in place.

Characters and world

The 3D world of Palm Star Defender features craft speederAs, aliens, craft miners and meteor detaileds. Learning how each one moves is the key to reading the screen quickly.

Tips and strategy

• Stay near the centre in Palm Star Defender; it gives you the most room to dodge in either direction.
• Aim at the nearest threat first in Palm Star Defender; letting one slip through costs more than a missed shot.
• Save your focus for the moment a Freeze or Slow-Mo starts — that is when Palm Star Defender gives you free points.
• With a Shield active, play aggressively in Palm Star Defender; the next mistake is free.
• Good, even lighting from the front makes tracking in Palm Star Defender far more reliable than a bright window behind you.
• Replay Palm Star Defender a few times: each run teaches you the patterns, and scores usually double after the first five games.

Device requirements and privacy

Palm Star Defender needs a device with a front or web camera (any recent Android phone, iPhone, laptop or Chromebook) and works best in Chrome, Edge or Safari. Allow camera access when asked; hand tracking runs entirely on your device with Google MediaPipe, and no video ever leaves it. It is free to play; free players may see a short ad between rounds (never during play), and Premium removes all ads.