Galaga
Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released by Midway Manufacturing in North America. It is the sequel to 1979's Galaxian, and the second game in the Galaxian series. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. "Boss Galaga" enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued by another ship to give the player a "dual fighter" with additional firepower.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1981
- Developer
- Namco
- Platforms
- 7 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 1 January 1981 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Namco |
| Publisher | Namco, Midway Games |
| Platforms | Nintendo Entertainment System, iOS, Android, iPad, Android Tablet, PC, Steam Deck |
| Genres | First-Person Shooter |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1043534, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Galaga? How long to beat it
Total play time for Galaga is about 2.5 hours to do everything, and around 0.8 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 0.8h | 56 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 1.9h | 8 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 2.5h | 24 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Galaga sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Galaga lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 30ahead of 0% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 54ahead of 91% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Galaga
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Galaga appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Galaga qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Galaga
What platforms is Galaga on?
Galaga is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, iOS, Android, iPad, Android Tablet, PC, Steam Deck. It first released in 1981.
Who made Galaga?
Galaga was developed by Namco and published by Namco, Midway Games.
How long does it take to beat Galaga?
about 0.8 hours for the main story, 1.9 hours with the main extras, 2.5 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.