ONE RULE

Whatever is bigger swallows whatever is smaller.

You start small, on a huge map full of drifting planets. Anything smaller than you is food, and every meal makes you bigger. Keep growing and planets that could have killed you become your next meal.

YOU ARE ALSO PREY

Rival stars grow the same way you do. Any that gets bigger than you will chase you across the map. They spit plasma at range, they pick up planets and throw them at you, and some start out armored and faster than the rest.

You can fight back. Each rival has a weak spot, and a hard enough hit knocks loose some of what it has eaten for you to pick up. You can also let the map do it for you. Lead one into a comet. Drop one through a wormhole. Put a big planet in its path.

SOME PLANETS FIGHT BACK

Elites are planets that are harder to eat. Each one has plates covering a weak spot that rotates slowly around it. Break all of them and the Elite becomes vulnerable for a few seconds.

There are a lot of possible Elite modifiers that each make an encounter unique. One pulls you in. One shoots at you. One calls in a rival star. One drives through the field toward the center star, wrecking and throwing planets at you the whole time.

BREAK WHAT YOU CANNOT EAT

A planet that is too big is not the end of the world. There are several ways to beat one:

• Ram it while boosting

• Break it into pieces with a solar flare

• Slingshot out of the central star's gravity, then bulldoze anything in your path

• Freeze the field and shatter frozen planets by flying into them

• Push one away with your gravity shield and aim it at anything

• Leave a burning trail behind you and let it break whatever follows you

• Throw your shield forward to open everything in its path

THE STAR AT THE CENTER

One star has been eating far longer than you have. Its gravity is so strong you can feel and see it at a distance. Inside its grip, planets are worth more than they normally would be. The most dangerous part of the map is also where you grow faster, if you're up for it. Fly in and the gravity pull charges up a slingshot that releases when you cross back out of the star's influence.

Grow far enough and eat the center star before a rival does. But be careful, it won't go down without a fight.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR STAR

There is a wardrobe of stars waiting to be unlocked.

Earn new skins for your star by completing the achievements. You can also unlock new trails and shield colors to match your new skin.

SPEND WHAT YOU SURVIVE

Runs end, but what you earn is kept permanently.

Star points (SP) buy upgrades on a tech tree laid out as a constellation: four branches that unlock several different abilities and Ultimates.

Each difficulty is unlocked by beating the one before it, and the higher tiers will push you to the limit, so pick your upgrades wisely. Three bounties are randomly selected at the start of every run - complete them to earn extra SP.

How far up the difficulty ladder can you get? There's no known limit.