Lander
Touch down. Gently. A free one-tap game.
Play nowHold to fire the engine · Land soft on the padLander is a one-touch rocket landing game. Each level drops your little rocket from the top of the screen. Gravity pulls it down, and holding anywhere fires the engine to slow it. A landing pad slides back and forth along the ground, so you have to time your descent to touch down on the pad, slowly. Every landing is a new level with a faster, narrower pad, and fuel is tight.
How to play Lander
- Hold anywhere to fire the engine and slow your fall. Let go to drop.
- The rocket only moves up and down. Time your descent so you touch down while the pad is underneath.
- Land slowly: keep the SPEED marker in the green as you touch down. Too fast, or off the pad, and you crash.
- Land soft and close to the gold centre mark for a PERFECT: 2 points and extra fuel.
- Watch the FUEL gauge. When it's empty the engine stops working.
Tips to get a high score
- Don't hover at the top. Let the rocket fall, then brake hard near the ground; that uses the least fuel.
- The dotted line under the rocket turns green when the pad is right below you.
- Start braking a little earlier than feels necessary: the rocket takes a moment to slow down.
- From level 4, red space mines drift across. Wait above them or drop quickly past.
- PERFECT landings refill extra fuel, so they keep long runs going.
Level by level
Level 1 is a warm-up: the pad starts close to you and drifts slowly. After that each pad starts near one side of the screen and slides toward the middle. Through level 14 the pad gets steadily faster, ending up nearly three times its first speed, and shrinks to about half its first width. Past level 14 it keeps getting a little faster and a little narrower every level until it hits its minimum size.
Space mines join at level 4 with one, levels 7 to 10 have two, and from level 11 there are three. They fly at fixed heights across the middle of the drop, wrap around from one side of the screen to the other, and move a little faster each level.
Fuel refills also shrink. A normal landing tops you up by almost half a tank early on, but only by just over a quarter by level 14.
Making the fuel last
Your fuel carries over from level to level, so every landing is a small budget. The cheapest landing is a free fall from the top and one firm burn near the ground, which costs about a quarter of a tank. A PERFECT costs only slightly more, because you just brake a little longer.
Holding your height while you wait for the pad is what drains the tank: tapping to stay still burns about a tenth of a tank every second. Late in a run, a normal landing barely pays back what it costs, while a PERFECT adds almost a quarter of a tank on top of the normal refill. Long runs come from PERFECT landings, not lucky ones.
Scoring follows the same idea. A landing is 1 point and a PERFECT is 2. To get one, touch down very gently and within the middle 40 percent of the pad.
Timing the drop
Even the quickest drop from the top to the ground takes about two and a half seconds, so you need to start falling before the pad is under you. Early on the pad takes over three seconds to cross the screen; by level 14 it's closer to a second and a half. Watch which way it's sliding and start your drop about two and a half seconds before it will reach you.
If you're going to miss it, brake early and let the pad come back round rather than chasing a landing you can't make. Coming down onto the ground or clipping the pad's edge ends the run just like landing too hard.
With mines in play, pick your moment by their gaps as well as the pad. Falling fast through a mine's height and braking below it is usually safer than hovering next to it.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Lander level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
Why did I crash on the pad?
You touched down too fast. The SPEED gauge on the right shows your descent speed; land while the marker is in the green zone.
Can I move the rocket sideways?
No. The rocket only goes up and down, and the pad moves. The whole game is timing your landing for when the pad slides underneath you.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Lander to your site
Lander is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
<iframe src="https://tapamine.com/embed/lander/" title="Lander: free one-tap game" width="360" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:16px;max-width:100%" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; web-share" loading="lazy"></iframe>