Malware Hunter
Malware Hunter is the deepest game on the BLEShark Nano. It's a vampire-survivors-style action game: you don't fire anything yourself, the game fires for you on a cooldown, while you focus on moving, rotating, and picking the right upgrades as you level up.
Open it from Games -> Malware Hunter. The title screen reads MW HUNTER.
Title Screen
Three options, navigate with [L] and [R], confirm with [S]:
- PLAY - start a new run.
- SHOP - spend coins earned on permanent upgrades.
- EXIT - return to the games menu.
Controls During a Run
The controls are laid out for one-handed ergonomics. The game fires your slash on its own about once per second.
- [L] - rotate left (tilt counter-clockwise).
- [R] - move forward (thrust, with gentle acceleration and deceleration).
- [S] - rotate right (tilt clockwise).
There's no manual fire button. Your slash attack auto-triggers on a one-second cooldown, and any upgrades you pick up during the run fire on their own cadences.
In other games, long-pressing [S] quits back to the games menu. Malware Hunter doesn't do that, because [S] is your right-rotate button during a run and a long hold is just a hard turn, not a quit. You leave a run only by dying, by winning, or from the title screen.
What's On Screen
- A slim HUD at the top with your level and XP bar.
- Your character is in the centre of the play field.
- Enemies close in from every direction: walkers, fast swarmers, ranged shooters, tanks, elites, and eventually a boss.
- Pickups drop from dead enemies. Passing over them fills your XP bar, and pickups inside your magnet radius pull toward you automatically.
Levelling Up Mid-Run
Every time your XP bar fills, the game pauses and shows three upgrade cards drawn randomly from the pool. Pick one with [L] / [R] / [S]. Upgrades picked during a run only last for that run.
| Upgrade | What it does |
|---|---|
| Aura+ | A damage ring around you that hurts anything close by. Tuning levels enlarge and strengthen it. |
| Speed+ | Faster base movement. |
| HP+ | Extra max HP plus a partial heal on pick. |
| Magnet+ | Bigger pickup pull radius, so drops snap to you from further away. |
| BitCan+ | The Bit Cannon fires an auto-aiming bullet at the nearest enemy on cooldown. |
| Orbit+ | A blade that orbits your character, hitting whatever it passes through. |
| Multi+ | Spread shot, fires several bullets at once on cooldown. |
| Chain+ | Chain lightning that jumps between enemies. |
| Slash+ | Adds more directions to your built-in slash: forward, back, right, and left. |
| Regen+ | Passive HP regeneration over time. |
| Mine+ | Drops proximity mines that detonate when enemies step close. |
| Shock+ | A radial shockwave that bursts out from you on cooldown. |
Surviving and Winning
Keep picking up XP, take smart upgrade picks, and stay alive. Beat the boss encounter at the end of the run to win. Your character has no pause, so you can't step away mid-run without risking your health bar.
Game Over
If your HP hits zero, the Game Over screen appears with your run stats:
- T - how long the run lasted.
- K - kills this run.
- $ +N - coins earned this run (added to your total between runs).
- Best - your longest-ever run, with a NEW! badge if this run broke it.
Press [S] to return to the title screen.
Victory
Beat the boss and you'll see YOU WON! with a celebratory header, plus the run's time, kill count, level, and coins earned. Press [S] to return to the title.
The Shop
Coins you earn in runs can be spent between runs on permanent upgrades that carry into every future run on this device. Each upgrade has a cap on how many times you can buy it, and the cost climbs with each level.
| Shop item | What it does |
|---|---|
| HP+ | Higher starting HP. Up to three levels. |
| Aura | Starts every run with the damage aura already unlocked. One-time purchase. |
| Mag | Permanent boost to your pickup pull radius. Up to five levels. |
| Spd | Permanent boost to your base movement speed. Up to five levels. |
| Slot | Unlocks an extra upgrade slot so your late-run loadout can carry more. One-time purchase. |
| Luck | Makes in-world potions spawn more often. Up to three levels, shortening the spawn interval each time. |
From the shop list, select an item to expand it and see your current level, the cost of the next purchase, and a confirm button. The STATS row shows your lifetime totals, and the RESET row wipes shop progress (with a confirm prompt) so you can start the meta-progression fresh if you want to.
What's Saved Between Runs
The device keeps:
- Best run time (used for the Best line on the Game Over screen).
- Total coins earned across all runs.
- Total runs played.
- Total kills across all runs.
- Total time spent playing.
- Highest level reached in any run.
- Every shop purchase.
These survive reboots and firmware updates.
Shop upgrades compound across runs. Early on, the cheaper picks (HP+ and Mag) give you the most per coin, so grab them first. Save up for Aura once you can afford the one-time unlock, then focus on Slot to open up bigger late-run loadouts.