About This Demo

A screen full of bullets. Thread the needle.

IronBird is a roguelike vertical scrolling bullet hell where firepower spirals out of control as power-ups stack, every dodge is by a hair's breadth, and thousands of build combinations shift with each run.

What's in this demo

This demo covers the tutorial and the first two of the game's five acts (Acts 1–2) and ends after the Act 2 boss.

- 5 aircraft: IronBird, Falcon, Rayce, Vanguard and Hornet (full game: 10)

- 5 sub-unit types and 2 fusions (full game: 10 types)

- A selection of Normal and Super cosmic powers (full game: 70, including Curse powers)

- No Protocols (full game: 12)

The full game is available now on Steam.

5 Aircraft — Not skins. Entirely different games.

Switching aircraft changes your handling, firepower layout, optimal position, and charge shot entirely.

VANGUARD pierces enemies with a single laser that cuts through the entire screen.

HORNET commands up to 8 autonomous drones that surround and hunt targets.

Play the same stage with a different aircraft 5 times — 5 completely different experiences.

Sub-Units — Assemble your own squadron.

Several sub-units fight alongside your aircraft (full game: up to 5).

Rapid-fire cannons, piercing shots, shields, reflectors, beams.

Level up two sub-units to LV3 and fuse them together.

Rapid-fire + Piercing → Piercing burst. Shield + Reflector → Reflect barrier.

Combine freely. There is no single answer.

Cosmic Powers — The moment synergy hits.

Cosmic powers earned after each stage clear are the heart of your build.

- Normal — Stable buffs like fire rate boosts and auto-recovery. Pair them with the right sub-unit and the effect grows stronger.

- Super — When conditions align, the synergy goes wild. Crit system + Railcannon triggers piercing criticals.

The combination of powers stacked in a single run is different every time.

You'll feel "this is the best run ever" in a completely new way each time.

Bosses — Every one is different. Every one is brutal.

Face multi-phase bosses at the end of each Act.

Destroy armor plates to expose the core.

Take out the main cannon and the curtain fire vanishes.

Even at zero HP, they unleash desperation bullets. Let your guard down and you die instantly.

Graze — The closer the danger, the stronger you become.

Every time enemy bullets graze your hitbox, your charge gauge fills.

The closer you get to danger, the faster your devastating charge shot builds.

Stay safe at a distance, or weave between bullets to build charge.

The tightrope between risk and reward never lets up.

Assist Mode

Stuck early? Turn on Assist Mode on the ship select screen: +50% max HP, enemy bullets 15% slower, longer invulnerability after a hit and the hitbox always visible. Assist runs don't count for leaderboards or score records.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Generative AI was used during development to create content that ships with the game: pixel art sprites and UI art, painted background art, sound effects, background music, and first drafts of the multilingual translations. The developer selected and integrated the generated assets into the game. No content is generated with AI while the game is running.