What ho, Pilots! It’s the Commander here from Rogue Aces – the new aerial combat arcade rogue-lite from Infinite State Games and Curve Digital. Now, for your eyes only, are some exclusive tips I like to give plucky recruits on how to achieve jolly, big and fat scores and not totally suck.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than a little friendly competition, so why not spice things up with some insider knowledge, what-what?

Firstly, Ignore Me

Feel free to ignore my missions. You’re a Rogue Ace after all, it’s not like I expect you to behave! In fact, anything with a flag on the battlefield needs destroying, so if you happen to blow something up before I ask you to do so will net you a nice early completion bonus!

Secondly, Don’t Autoland

You’ll need to learn to land manually. You can use autoland, but that will spend some of those precious points you have earned. Yes, yes, it’s not very easy, it does take practice, but there’s nothing quite like the feeling of taking a burning and beaten up plane all the way back home and landing it safely. I always tell my pilots in training that as you approach, use your throttle to adjust your altitude. You can even use the drag of your plane’s nose to slow down. If you overshoot a run-way? Not a problem old chum! You can taxi along the ground, which is also handy for moving to a better take off position.

Third, Aerial Steals

There’s been talk of some pilots undertaking an extraordinary procedure called the ‘Aerial Steal’. Word has it, they eject from their plane, land on an enemy plane, and then take control by throwing out the pilot! Now, as long as they remember to move the throttle up again on the stolen plane, that would of course technically work, but I couldn’t possibly sanction such absolute nonsense. But, let’s say one did manage to pull off an ‘aerial steal’ as it were, one would replenished their bombs, rockets and fuel in return for such a feat of derring-do. You do however inherit the damage of the stolen plane, so best not fill it with holes first my old fruit!

Fourth! Bombing targets

Buildings drop a whole lot better when the explosion is at the base. So what we like to do at Rogue Aces HQ is barrel along the ground like an absolute maniac blasting the bombs at the very bottom of the building. No, it’s not very elegant, and it certainly isn’t very stealthy but who cares? TALLY HO!

Fifth, Fuel

Aaah, yes. You’ll need to keep an eye on the fuel gauge at the top of the screen, so you’ll know when you need to return to base. You’ll see a red dot on the gauge; this shows the distance to the nearest possible refuelling base. If that whole bar goes red, well, it may be time to consider an aerial steal. Not that such a thing is plausible.

Sixthly and finalfthly! Grab Those Crates

Your plane is lucky enough to inexplicably improve its mechanical statistics by collecting wooden crates dropped by enemy planes. Best not to overthink about the mechanics behind that, but the point is, always check planes to see if they’re carrying upgrade loot after every mission. If you keep collecting crates, your plane will become more and more irresponsibly overpowered.

I could go on for ages giving my little tips and tricks, but we must leave some for you to discover yourself. Fortune favours the brave, pilots!