Beam Them Back

About this game

Beam Them Back is a goofy 1950s B-movie alien invasion, and you and up to three friends are the only thing standing between a flying saucer and the town it wants. Between waves you build: walls, turrets, generators, tar pits that trap a leg mid-stride, propane barrels that go off when you shoot them, and lures that pull a whole horde somewhere you chose. Fifteen waves a run, climbing in size and nerve.

Then you hold. The aliens are not chasing you, they are chasing the shelter, the townsfolk hiding behind whichever door you left thin. Empty the shelter and the run is over, even if every player is still standing.

Eight species come for different reasons and answer to different tricks. Five roadside places, five different defensive problems. Turrets run dry and need a hand on the trigger. Someone always needs rescuing. The run summary names who did what, in 1957's own voice.

In short

15 waves, 5 roadside places, 8 alien species and a boss that lands every fifth wave.
Build by day, hold by night. Walls, turrets, tar pits, propane barrels and lures. The aliens are coming for the shelter, not for you.
Full 1–4 player co-op. Rejoin after a drop, spectate a downed teammate, ping what you see.
Nothing automatic wins alone. Turrets run dry and need a hand, and every species answers to a different trick.
Endless mode, three difficulties, full key rebinding, and a controller that can do everything a keyboard can.

Screenshots

A flying saucer over a desert mini-golf course, a cow rising in its green beam — It starts with a saucer over the mini-golf course, and a cow going up the beam.

First-person view of a wall with a turret at each end across a drive-in snack bar door, with a briefing panel listing the 43 aliens in the next wave — Between waves you build. A wall and two turrets cover the snack bar door, and the briefing says what wave 7 brings: 43 aliens from three directions.

Two tentacled aliens pressed against a wooden wall in the desert, a warning that the turret is jammed, and the screen edges red from damage — Wave 9 at the Mesa. Aliens at the wall, one screaming loud enough to jam the turret, and you are taking hits.

A huge blue alien with a health bar labelled Behemoth walks toward the camera at dusk, smaller aliens beside it — Every fifth wave something bigger lands. Wave 10 at the Crater, and the Behemoth has brought company.

The lobby card: an invite-friend button, who is here, and pickers for the place, the mode and the difficulty — The lobby. Pick the place, the mode and the difficulty, then invite friends straight from Steam.

The end screen after all fifteen waves: a short epilogue, a Tonight's Honours card naming who did what, and the scoreboard — All fifteen waves held. The run ends with tonight's honours: who shot the most, who hit the deck the most, who picked the team up.

Before you buy

Known limitations, honestly

We would rather tell you now than have you find out mid-wave.

No host migration. If the host quits, the run ends. Bring the whole squad back next time.
No minimap. There is a compass. Learn the doors, read the terrain.
English only, for now.
Windows only, for now. Steam Deck runs it through Proton.

Soundtrack

Music credits

The soundtrack is Creative Commons: surf, spy-jazz and a title theme that thinks it is a newsreel. Drop your own mp3s or oggs into the Music folder beside the game and yours take over instead.

"Pixel Spy Vs. Spy" by Eric Matyas (www.soundimage.org)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Bond Esque" by Patrick Maney (opengameart.org)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Surf Riot" by joeBaxterWebb (opengameart.org)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Chase!" by Ted Kerr
CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)

"Victory Fanfare Short" by cynicmusic
CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)

"Game Over Theme (Retro)" by Cleyton Kauffman
CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)