SLINGSHOT
Orbital mechanics, no shortcuts. Use gravity assists to slingshot around planets and escape the solar system. Brutal difficulty, pure physics.
One button. Zero mercy. Slingshot is a pure orbital-mechanics game built for Vibe Jam 2026. Every tap burns precious fuel; every periapsis is a decision; every close flyby is a gift from Kepler. Chain gravity assists across planets to reach escape velocity before your tank runs dry, and discover what lies at the edge of the solar system.
HOW IT WORKS
One input
Space / Tap fires a prograde burn. Arrows / Drag rotate the ship. W toggles time warp (with the tech). M opens the system map. R restarts the run.
Real gravity
Newtonian gravity from every body, simultaneously. Velocity Verlet integration with 4 ms substeps means orbits are stable and slingshots behave like the real thing. No fudging.
Burn at periapsis
The closer you burn to a planet, the more energy you gain. That's the Oberth effect. Chain flybys across Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Save fuel for the long coast between giants.
THE SYSTEM
Every heliocentric body, from Mercury to Sedna, rendered in the same colors the game uses. The map below is on a log scale so the inner planets and the Kuiper Belt both fit on screen.
TECHNOLOGIES
Earn XP from runs and achievements, then spend it on upgrades. Every tech changes how the ship flies. Combinations matter. Rank 1 techs are the starter kit. The rest are hidden behind a single click so you can stay unspoiled.
PROPULSION
EFFICIENT THRUSTERS
RANK 1+-40% fuel burn · -30% heat
Advanced fuel injectors reduce consumption
POWER NOZZLE
RANK 1++50% thrust · -40% heat
High-pressure exhaust nozzle
SYSTEMS
OPENS IN A NEW TAB · NO DOWNLOAD · INSTANT
Vanilla JS, HTML5 Canvas.
Zero runtime dependencies. One developer. Made solo by Romain Simon for Vibe Jam 2026. Physics runs on Velocity Verlet integration with 4 ms substeps. The solar system is defined in a single JavaScript file. No image files, no sprite sheets, no 3D models — every pixel is drawn procedurally on a canvas.
Read the wiki.
Every body in the system. Every technology. Every achievement. Plus, if you want to spoil it, the full ending and the story of the probe that never launched.
OPEN WIKI→