Cheapskate: Playing Galaga for Free

I’m a cheapskate. So it should come as no surprise that I enjoy the fact that I can “play” Galaga in the arcades without even spending a single cent.

Here’s a cute little trick you can show off if you come across a 20-Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga Class of 1981 cabinet:

While the Galaga demonstration is playing, watch the game play and wait for the green ship to fly down and shoot out the tractor beam. Once this happens, start hammering on the fire button and you’ll be given control of the demo.

This glitch can allow for a few interesting things to happen that wouldn’t normally happen during game play. While your ship is spinning in the tractor beam, the demo gitch allows players to fire, sending bullets in directions they wouldn’t normally go in standard play. If you can destroy the ship abducting your fighter, you can play as normal until a third green ship flies down (about 15 seconds) and fires off its tractor beam - if either this happens or your fighter is destroyed, a test menu will pop up for moment and cycle straight into the Ms. Pac-Man demo.

If you allow your fighter to become abducted, the game play will continue as normal and you’ll have a chance to snag a double ship. If you clear the screen of ships, you’ll be able to move around and fire into space for about 15 seconds until the demo cycles back to Ms. Pac-Man.

So, there. Technically you can play Galaga in the arcade without paying - make a competition out of it with your friends to see how many ships you can destroy before time runs out without using the double ships.