---
title: "Enemy capture"
package: "@phaser-ae/enemy-capture"
tier: Pro
version: 3.0.0-3
released: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-20
description: "The session of a single-screen capture-and-clear platformer: trap enemies, finish them off for chained scores and fruit, beat the hurry-up and clear round after round."
url: https://phaser.io/packs/enemy-capture
site: Phaser - https://phaser.io
---

# Enemy capture

The arcade structure of a capture-and-clear platformer: trap an enemy, then pop, kick or roll it for chained scores,
fruit and items, before the hurry-up catches you. Bubbles, snow or both do the trapping; this pack runs the session
around them.

## What it does

In these games the player disables enemies first and finishes them second, and the score comes from doing several at
once. This pack owns everything except the trap itself. It runs rounds from platform maps, with enemies entering, the
player respawning, and the round clearing when the required enemies are gone. It scores chains: pop several trapped
enemies together or roll one snowball through many, and each is worth more than the last, leaving fruit and items
behind. Counters, such as bubbles blown, jumps made or distance run, earn special items with effects like a power-up, a
smart bomb, a round skip, a stopped timer or a freeze, and they carry across rounds.

Pressure comes from time. An enemy that escapes a trap, a round that runs long or the last enemy left grows angry and
faster. After a while a hurry-up warns, and then an invincible chaser comes in. Letters float in or are carried by
creatures, and spelling the word gives an extend or a life. Bosses have hit points and can be hurt by rolled balls,
lightning or both.

The capture mechanics are their own packs. `bubble-trap` traps and pops, `snow-roll` covers and rolls, and
`platform-hazards` supplies the projectiles, chasers and enemy behaviours, so a game can use bubbles, snow or both at
once. Every body is a `platform-walker` walker on a `platform-map` level, with enemies run by `platform-enemies`. The
whole configuration is plain data, and `configure` changes rules on a running game, so a settings panel can retune
trapped time or anger speed mid-round.

## Features

- **Rounds** — authored rows, air currents, gap columns where special bubbles float in, entry delays, per-round speeds,
  trapped time, specials and items, and a loop after the last round.
- **Chained scores** — pop and roll chains, items left by each enemy, an all-in-one bonus and fruit on clearing.
- **Special items by counter** — thresholds on bubbles blown, empty pops, jumps, distance, element pops and more, with
  effects such as power-ups, smart bombs, skips, timer stops, freezes and showers.
- **Power-ups** — range, shot speed, rapid fire, running speed, power and a balloon, kept until death.
- **Letters** — a bonus word spelt from letter bubbles or creatures, for an extend or a life.
- **Anger, hurry-up and chasers** — enemies speed up on escape, on hurry and as the last one left, and a chaser comes
  after a set time, more of them later.
- **Bosses** — hit points, a bonus, and a choice of what hurts them.
- **Elements** — water, fire and lightning specials that appear at a set rate per round, with water streams that carry
  players along.
- **Up to four players** — scores, lives, letters and power-ups each.
- **Three difficulties** — Easy, Normal and Arcade scale speed, trapped time, patience, chasers, enemy population,
  lives, enemy fire and letters.
- **Live reconfiguration and snapshots** — `configure` patches rules while running, and snapshots restore into a game
  from the same config.

## Good for

- **Bubble-trapping platformers** in the style of Bubble Bobble, with letters, fruit chains and a hurry-up.
- **Snowball-rolling platformers** in the style of Snow Bros, with kicked snowballs, rebounds and a boss floor.
- **Hybrid capture games** that use bubbles and snow in the same round.
- **Co-op single-screen platformers** for up to four players.
- **Score-attack arcade games** built on chains, items and counters rather than simple kills.

## Make it yours

A `CaptureConfig` is plain data, and `captureConfig` builds one from a game's own parts: its name, mechanic, rounds,
enemy kinds and the player's profile and start, with every other section a plain default or the override you give.
Beyond that you can set the tile and legend, vertical wrap, player count, per-round values, enemy kinds with their
capture, deadliness, boss and letter settings, the player's lives and fire rate, the bubble, snow and element settings,
shots, the scoring tables, item tables and special counters, power-ups, letters, anger, hurry, timing, difficulty and
seed.

The two arcade games built on it show the range: `bubble-cave` is a hundred-round bubble game with air currents, letters
and its own item table, and `snow-tower` is ten floors of snow and a boss. Your own game can be a single-round
bubble-and-snow arena with one enemy kind, a three-hit snow cover and a short roll chain, built in a few lines with
`captureConfig`.

## A quick look

A game of your own that uses both mechanics, with one round and one enemy kind:

```ts
const EC = game.enemyCapture;
const g = EC.createCaptureGame(EC.captureConfig({
  name: 'OWN', mechanic: 'both',
  rounds: [{ rows: room, enemies: [{ kind: 'walker', x: 120, feet: 72 }], start: [{ x: 30, feet: 72 }] }],
  kinds: { walker: { enemy: { profile, move: { type: 'custom', name: 'hunter' } } } },
  player: { profile, start: [{ x: 30, feet: 72 }] },
  snow: { cover: 3 }, scoring: { rollChain: [300, 600] },
}));
g.control(0, { x: 1, y: 0, jump: false, fire: true });
g.tick(dt);
```

## Works with

- `platform-map`, `platform-walker` and `platform-enemies` — required: the rounds, every body and the enemies.
- `bubble-trap` — the trap-and-pop mechanic.
- `snow-roll` — the cover-and-roll mechanic.
- `platform-hazards` — projectiles, chasers and enemy behaviours.
- `bubble-cave` and `snow-tower` — two complete arcade games built on this pack.
- `platform-rounds` and `dig-trap` — sibling rule packs for reach-bump-kick rounds and dug holes.

## Good to know

- Elements are water, fire and lightning, and the counters are the ones listed; a new element or counter needs the
  session extended.
- Bounds: at most 1,000 rounds, 4 players, 1,024 bubbles, 1,024 snow shots and 128 enemy projectiles.
- Structural changes, such as the mechanic or the player count, need a new game rather than `configure`.
- Snapshots restore only into a game made from the same config.
- The pack draws nothing: your game draws the rounds, bodies, bubbles and snow from the state.

---

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