The best starship captains lead by example – and in Space Squad Survival, that’s you! Use intuitive one-touch controls to quickly jetpack around exotic planets, vaporise hostile aliens and mine valuable resources. Expand your ship with labs and greenhouses – plus sleeping quarters for the adorably animated crewmates you’ve rescued from the clutches of space pirates. Aye aye, Captain!

What we love: The over-the-top weapons. Finish plundering a planet and you’ll get to choose a wacky new power-up, such as alien-obliterating energy blasters, homing missiles and even a meteor shower that smashes everything in its path.

Quick tip: As your ship grows, be sure to build enough turrets to fend off attacks from any angle. And if missiles slip through and blow holes in your hull, hover over the ship icon above the hangar bay to do quick repairs – it’s faster than patching individual breaches.

Meet the creator: Husband-and-wife indie game studio Rebel Twins is also behind Cookies Must Die, Daddy Was a Thief and Dragon Hills. One of the aliens in Space Squad Survival was inspired by the couple’s fast-growing cactus plant.