Released in 1980, The End arrived during one of the most fertile periods in arcade history, when Konami was establishing itself as a serious force in the coin-op market alongside giants like Namco and Taito. The game entered arcades in the same year as Pac-Man and just a year after Space Invaders had fundamentally reshaped the industry, meaning it competed for quarters in an environment where players had rapidly rising expectations for both visual flair and mechanical depth. The End is a fixed-screen shooter that draws clear inspiration from Space Invaders but introduces its own distinct wrinkles. Players control a cannon at the bottom of the screen and must eliminate waves of alien creatures that descend in formation from the top of the playfield. What distinguishes The End from its most obvious ancestor is the behavior of the enemies themselves: certain aliens can swoop down and steal bricks from the defensive barrier at the base of the screen, gradually dismantling the player's cover. This creates a dynamic tension absent from simpler shooters, because ignoring the swooping enemies means losing the very protection that makes surviving dense alien barrages possible. The aliens are rendered as insect-like creatures with a modest but charming sprite vocabulary that was competitive for the hardware of the era. The cannon moves horizontally along the bottom of the screen and fires a single shot upward at a time, a constraint inherited from Space Invaders that keeps the pacing deliberate and punishes spray-and-pray tactics. Waves increase in speed and aggression as the player clears formations, following the escalating difficulty curve that had already proven commercially successful in the genre. The End also features a bonus stage mechanic that rewards accurate shooting and gives skilled players an opportunity to pad their scores, adding a layer of replayability that kept dedicated players feeding coins. Konami released the game on its own arcade hardware, and it was subsequently licensed for conversion to home platforms, broadening its reach beyond the arcade floor. In its era, The End was received as a competent and enjoyable entry in the fixed shooter genre, appreciated for the added strategic dimension of the brick-stealing mechanic even if it did not unseat the dominant titles of the moment. It represents an important step in Konami's early arcade catalog, demonstrating the company's willingness to iterate on proven formulas rather than simply clone them outright.
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The End
The End is a fixed-screen action game released by Konami in 1980 for arcades. The player controls a gun turret at the bottom of the screen and must shoot descending alien creatures before they reach the ground and consume a row of bricks forming the player's defensive barrier. The aliens move in formation and gradually speed up as their numbers decrease, similar in structure to Space Invaders but with distinct mechanics. Some creatures attempt to eat through the brick barrier directly, adding urgency. The player can also shoot the aliens' bombs mid-air. The game loops with increasing difficulty after clearing each wave. Controls are a joystick for horizontal movement and a button for firing.
- Developer
- Konami
- Released
- 1980
- Platform
- Arcade
- Genre
- Action
- Rating
- 4.7 / 5 (4K)
- Last updated
About The End
Pro tips
- Prioritize shooting the aliens that swoop down toward your base first — letting them steal bricks from your defensive barrier leaves you dangerously exposed in later waves.
- Fire as soon as your previous shot clears the screen; the single-shot limit means any hesitation between volleys gives the formation extra time to descend.
- Focus fire on the edges of the alien formation first to reduce the width of the incoming spread, making the remaining enemies easier to track and hit.
- Keep your cannon moving even when not firing — a stationary position makes you an easy target for the aliens that break formation and dive toward the bottom.
- Watch the speed of the formation carefully; as fewer aliens remain, they move faster, so adjust your lateral movement and timing to avoid being caught off guard.
The End Controls — Arcade Keyboard Keys
Default keyboard bindings for The End on our in-browser Arcade emulator. Plug in a USB or Bluetooth gamepad to auto-detect mappings, or rebind any key from the emulator settings menu.
| Keyboard | Console button | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| ↑ | Joystick Up | Move up |
| ↓ | Joystick Down | Move down |
| ← | Joystick Left | Move left |
| → | Joystick Right | Move right |
| X | Button 1 | Primary action (jump / confirm) |
| Z | Button 2 | Secondary action (attack / cancel) |
| S | Button 3 | Tertiary action |
| A | Button 4 | Quaternary action |
| Q | Button 5 | Fifth button |
| W | Button 6 | Sixth button |
| 5 | Insert Coin | Insert coin |
| 1 | 1P Start | Start / Pause |
Coin and Start are convention "Insert Coin: 5" and "1P Start: 1". Some arcade boards expect specific button mappings — check the in-game prompts on coin-up.
Rebind any key from the EmulatorJS in-game settings menu (gear icon → Controls). A connected gamepad auto-maps to the same buttons.
The End Longplay & Gameplay Videos
Watch a full playthrough of The End on Arcade before you dive in — recommended for getting a feel for the game's pacing, story beats, and difficulty curve.
Watch longplay on YouTube
"The End" Arcade longplay 1980
External references
Frequently Asked Questions
When was The End released?
The End was released in 1980 for the Arcade.
Who developed The End?
The End was developed by Konami, available to play in your browser on RetroGameSpace.
What type of game is The End?
The End is a Action game for the Arcade, playable instantly in your browser — no downloads, no installs.
How can I play The End for free?
Open this page and click "Play Now" — The End runs free in your browser via WebAssembly emulation. No account, no payment, no installer.
Do I need to download anything to play The End in the browser?
No. The End streams from a public archive into a browser-side Arcade emulator. Nothing is installed on your computer.
Can I save my progress in The End?
Yes. Save states are stored in your browser (IndexedDB) per game, and you can also use any in-game save the original Arcade cartridge supported.
Does The End work on mobile devices?
Yes — the Arcade emulator runs on iOS Safari and Android Chrome. Touch controls overlay the game; landscape mode is recommended.
Is it legal to play The End this way?
RetroGameSpace is a transient caching reverse-proxy and does not host first-party copies of The End. Game files are fetched on demand from publicly-accessible archives. You are responsible for compliance with your local laws and the bring-your-own-ROM principle.
How difficult is The End compared to other 1980 arcade shooters?
The End sits at a moderate difficulty for its era. Early waves are manageable for players familiar with Space Invaders, but the brick-stealing mechanic adds strategic pressure that escalates quickly. Later waves move fast enough to challenge even experienced players, making survival beyond the first few formations a genuine accomplishment.
What is the best starting strategy for new players?
New players should focus on eliminating the swooping aliens before anything else, as protecting the base barrier is critical to surviving longer waves. Once the immediate threat is neutralized, work systematically across the formation from one edge inward to reduce the overall number of enemies as efficiently as possible.
Is The End worth playing today?
For fans of early arcade history and fixed shooters, The End offers a snapshot of how developers were iterating on the Space Invaders template in 1980. The brick-stealing mechanic gives it a small but meaningful strategic layer. Casual players may find it brief, but retro enthusiasts will appreciate its place in Konami's early catalog.
What is a common mistake new players make?
The most common mistake is ignoring the aliens that break formation to steal base bricks, focusing instead on the main formation. This leaves the defensive barrier stripped away, making the player vulnerable to enemy fire with no cover — a situation that becomes unrecoverable in the faster later waves.
