77%Strong matchWaves
95%97695% positive reviews, Overwhelmingly Positive across 976 reviews·Bullet Hell · Shoot 'Em Up
—







SHOCKWAVE TRIGGERS is an arcade high resolution pixel art shmup/shoot'em up, in which you use the power of Shockwaves and a good timing to get the most bonus from your destroyed enemies. It's simple: shoot, dodge, wait and SHOCKWAVE!
In this high resolution arcade vertical shmup, learn how to use the power of Shockwaves to destroy your enemies and also to score the highest points.
You can either charge and release your own massive Shockwave or use the ones released by destroyed enemies to your advantage, timing is the key, just keep in mind, the size of the enemies Shockwave depends on their sizes.



Shockwave Triggers is a pure arcade game, which is thanks to its tight controls, tiny hitboxes for both player and bullets, simple but effective mechanics and the fully customizable support of gamepads, keyboard and arcade sticks.
In Shockwave Triggers, you can cancel most enemy bullets by releasing your Shockwave super attack, or by timing the explosions of enemies, since these do also create their own shockwave when dying. The enemies shockwave's size depends on the enemy's size and it doesn't hard the player.
Not only for attacking, but you can also use Shockwaves to get higher scores, it's all about timing and learning enemies behaviors.
Shockwave Triggers also rewards the player for being risky thanks to its bullets grinding system; getting closer to enemies bullets makes your fire power stronger and also recharges your super attack meter.




Shockwave Triggers is a high resolution vertical pixel art shoot'em up with colorful and sharp visuals. Everything on screen is hand made/painted and all animations are made traditionally frame by frame. As for the art style, the game aims to offer a retro anime look from the beloved 90s.





Also, the game offers a proper Tate mode for player with vertical mounted screens.


Each game has a story, even a super "arcady "vertical shooter has one. In Shockwave Triggers, you have to save your little sister Norah from the WW Empire who kidnaped her. Somehow, they have a certain use for her secret ability in their plans to rain over this post apocalyptic world that relies on crystals to get power.






Although an arcade style game, Shockwave Triggers offer a console like experience thanks to the different features available:
Steam data © 2026 Valve Corporation. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All matches
Finding similar games…
WavesShares Shooter · 2D · Retro , adds Twin Stick Shooter95% · 976 positive reviews77%Strong match—
Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITIONShares Shooter · 2D · Local Co-Op , adds Difficult94% · 1k positive reviews73%Strong match—
BLUE REVOLVERShares 2D · Top-Down Shooter · Pixel Graphics , adds Anime99% · 743 positive reviews70%Strong match—
IkarugaShares Shooter · 2D · Retro , adds Sci-fi95% · 2k positive reviews69%Strong match—
Sky Force ReloadedShares Top-Down Shooter · Old School · Retro , adds Top-Down93% · 2k positive reviews67%Strong match—
Super Bit Blaster XLShares 2D · Pixel Graphics · Family Friendly , adds PvP94% · 763 positive reviews71%Strong match—All matches
The best games like SHOCKWAVE TRIGGERS are Waves, Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION, BLUE REVOLVER, Ikaruga, and Sky Force Reloaded.
Match on: filter matches for SHOCKWAVE TRIGGERS by tag
Filters all matches
65%+Strong matches