# Galaga Tips: How to Get the Dual Fighter and Ace the Challenging Stages

> How to get the dual fighter in Galaga, when the challenging stages come, what every alien is worth and seven tips to last longer in the 1981 Namco arcade game.

- Source: https://yesthisgame.com/blog/galaga-tips/
- Published: 2026-10-26, updated: 2026-10-26
- Author: Yes This Game (the team that makes the games on the site)

## Key takeaways

- Let a Boss Galaga capture your fighter, then shoot that boss while it dives: the ship comes back and you fire two shots at a time.
- Destroy the boss while it sits in the formation and your captured ship turns against you instead.
- Stage 3 and every fourth stage after it is a challenging stage: 40 aliens fly past without shooting, and hitting all 40 pays 10,000 points.
- A Boss Galaga diving with two escorts is worth 1,600 points if you shoot the escorts first.

**To get the dual fighter in Galaga, let a Boss Galaga capture your ship with its blue tractor beam, then shoot that boss while it dives at you. Your captured fighter flies back and docks beside your new one, and from then on you fire two shots at a time.** Shoot the boss while it sits in the formation instead, and your old ship turns against you. Below: the capture step by step, when the challenging stages come, what every alien is worth, and seven tips. You can try all of it in [Galaga on Yes This Game](https://yesthisgame.com/galaga/).

## How to get the dual fighter

1. **Keep a spare ship.** The capture costs a life, so do it while you have at least one ship in reserve (the small ships at the bottom left).
2. **Wait for the beam.** A green Boss Galaga dives, stops partway down the screen and lowers a blue tractor beam. Move under it and let it pull your fighter up. The screen says FIGHTER CAPTURED.
3. **Play on with your next ship.** The boss carries your captured fighter back to the top of the formation, where it now sits above the boss.
4. **Shoot the boss while it dives.** Sooner or later that boss dives at you again with your fighter in tow. Hit the boss twice (not the captured ship) while it is diving.
5. **Catch your ship.** The freed fighter spins down and docks next to yours. You now have a dual fighter.

Two ships fire two shots side by side, which doubles your hits on the formation and makes the challenging stages much easier. The price: you are twice as wide, so a single enemy shot or diving alien can take one of the pair. If one is hit, you carry on with the other.

## The challenging stages

Stage 3 is the first **challenging stage** , and after it every fourth stage is one: 7, 11, 15 and so on. Here the aliens don't attack. Forty of them fly past in five groups of eight, looping through set patterns, and you score for every one you hit. Shoot all forty for a **10,000 point** perfect bonus. The patterns are the same every time, so after a few tries you know where each group will pass.

*The first challenging stages*

| Challenging stage | Comes as stage |
| --- | --- |
| First | 3 |
| Second | 7 |
| Third | 11 |
| Fourth | 15 |
| Fifth | 19 |

## What every alien is worth

Aliens are worth more when you hit them in the air, diving at you, than sitting in the formation.

*Galaga points*

| Alien | In formation | Diving |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bee (blue and yellow) | 50 | 100 |
| Butterfly (red and white) | 80 | 160 |
| Boss Galaga, alone | 150 | 400 |
| Boss Galaga with one escort | 150 | 800 |
| Boss Galaga with two escorts | 150 | 1,600 |

A Boss Galaga often dives with one or two butterflies as escorts. Shoot the escorts first and the boss last, and the boss pays 800 or 1,600 points instead of 400.

## 7 Galaga tips

### 1. Shoot from under the formation early

At the start of a stage the aliens fly in in groups before they take their places. Hitting them on the way in is the fastest way to thin the swarm before the dives begin.

### 2. Aim, don't spray

Only a limited number of your shots can be on the screen at once. Missed shots fill that limit and leave you waiting, so fire when an alien is above you.

### 3. Keep moving between dives

Diving aliens aim at where you are. A short move left or right after they commit usually makes them miss.

### 4. Hit bosses twice

A Boss Galaga takes two hits: the first turns it from green to blue. Finish a blue boss before it flies off.

### 5. Don't fight the beam in a bad spot

If you don't want to be captured, move out from under a boss that has stopped above you before its beam reaches the bottom.

### 6. Clear the corners last

Late in a stage the last few aliens dive faster and more often. Leaving a few easy ones near the centre is safer than chasing the corners.

### 7. Use the challenging stages to learn

They are free points with no risk: nothing shoots at you. Watch where each group of eight enters and be there first.

## Galaga cheats on Yes This Game

The [Galaga page](https://yesthisgame.com/galaga/) has a magic wand button next to full screen. Switch on **Unlimited lives** to keep playing, or **Enemies hold fire** so that no alien ever shoots at you. We tested it with a ship that never moves or fires: without cheats its game was over about 40 seconds after Start; with Enemies hold fire on, the same idle ship was still playing after more than 90 seconds, losing ships only to diving aliens. So the dives can still hit you: keep moving.

## About Galaga

Namco released Galaga in Japan in September 1981 and in North America that November. It is the sequel to 1979's Galaxian, and its capture-and-rescue twist, the challenging stages and the hit-miss ratio shown after every game made it one of the most played arcade shooters ever. Like early arcade classics? [Ms. Pac-Man](https://yesthisgame.com/ms-pac-man/) came out a few months later.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do you get two ships in Galaga?

Let a Boss Galaga capture your fighter with its tractor beam. You lose that ship and play on. Then shoot the Boss Galaga holding your ship while it dives at you, and the captured fighter flies back and joins yours.

### What happens if you shoot the Boss Galaga in formation?

If the Boss Galaga holding your captured fighter is destroyed while it sits in the formation, your old ship turns against you and attacks like an enemy.

### When is the first challenging stage in Galaga?

Stage 3. After that, every fourth stage is a challenging stage: 7, 11, 15 and so on.

### How many points is a perfect challenging stage?

Hitting all 40 aliens in a challenging stage pays a 10,000 point bonus.

### How many hits does a Boss Galaga take?

Two. The first hit turns it from green to blue, the second destroys it.

### Can I play Galaga online free?

Yes. The 1981 arcade Galaga runs free in your browser on Yes This Game, with optional cheats for unlimited lives and enemies that never shoot.

## Games in this guide

- [Galaga](https://yesthisgame.com/galaga.md): Play Galaga online free: shoot the alien swarm, rescue your captured fighter for double fire and ace the challenging stages. Cheats for lives.
- [Ms. Pac-Man](https://yesthisgame.com/ms-pac-man.md): Play Ms. Pac-Man online free: eat the dots, dodge Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue, and chase the bouncing fruit in the 1982 arcade game. Cheats included.
- [River Raid](https://yesthisgame.com/river-raid.md): Play River Raid online free: fly your jet up the river, shoot ships, helicopters and bridges and reach the fuel depots in time. Unlimited fuel cheat.
- [Battle City](https://yesthisgame.com/battle-city.md): Play Battle City online free: drive your tank through 35 stages, destroy every enemy tank and guard your eagle base. Unlimited lives cheat. No download.