Expanded from its humble beginnings as a Macromedia Flash game, Alien Hominid makes a powerful appeal to retro gamers and nostalgists with its 2D, side-scrolling action, which cannily recalls a time when gameplay got more emphasis than graphics. Which is not to say that the game's minimalist aesthetic isn't artful: Hand-drawn in splashy, vibrant colors, it looks and plays like a forgotten arcade classic, with a pint-sized yellow alien hero who seems like a ready-made icon.
On an Earth that's hostile to alien interests, you play a scrappy yellow Hominid (or, in multiplayer mode, a Hominid with a variety of unlockable hats) forced to blast through a relentless, 16-level assault in kitschy America, a pre-glasnost Soviet Union, and, of course, Area 51. Facing wave after wave of blocky FBI and KGB agents–who must be wondering why they went through the Academy just to leap haplessly onto a freeway or spring to their doom from a snow bank–you die dozens upon dozens of times in a quest for alien freedom. Your only friend on Earth is a portly kid with a backpack who offers temporary shields to protect your fragile mortality and extra firepower for your arsenal, which includes a pellet-firing ray-gun, a few grenades, and the ability to bite the agents' heads off in "freak out" mode. At times, you can navigate cars, bulldozers, and other vehicles, including a UFO for Asteroids-esque space battles and even a giant gorilla that scoops up and devours screaming KGB thugs. Each level ends with an epic confrontation with a boss that often consumes the majority of the screen.