LAKE EFFECT INVASIONCIVILIAN FIELD MANUAL · 1989
Cleveland, 1989. Fight. Eat. Fight again.

How to play

You're an ordinary Clevelander with $8, 50 health, and a long walk to the lakefront. Fight a little. Eat something. Learn a move. Go back stronger.

FIGHTCOLLECT CASHSHOP & TRAINADVANCE

Lost after Explore / Encounters?

The City Directory is your way back.

  1. After a street encounter, choose Back to City Directory in the action choices. You can also use CITY DIRECTORY above those choices, beside How to Play and Text Settings.
  2. If buttons are disabled, let the story finish typing. Click the story text, or press Space or Enter, to finish the current line. For faster play, turn on Text Settings → Instant text.
  3. If Explore started a fight, defeat the alien and collect the bounty to return to the directory, or choose Flee and then Back to City Directory. You cannot visit shops during a fight.
  4. Inside a shop, choose Leave to return. The directory lists only the shops and landmark on your current street, plus nearby travel options.

01 / Get your bearings

Your first few fights

  1. Choose Start Surviving, then Start Adventure.
  2. At level 1, use Explore / Encounters to find aliens. Your first fight highlights Tackle in gold: it is guaranteed to land once in that fight, then normal odds return. You can choose another move. Collect your cash after winning. Hunt an Alien unlocks at level 2 for guaranteed battles after a short 2.5-second search. Watch the search meter fill before combat begins.
  3. Visit the Coffee Shop when hurt. Read the effects under each item before buying.
  4. Save for a training tape at the Record Store. Purchased moves appear in your next fight.

Explore / Encounters can lead to supplies, locals, news, shops, or a fight. At level 1, keep exploring to find two regular aliens and then the street boss. Keep Walking, Continue, and Explore keep you wandering.

02 / Spend to survive

Build your street fighter

  • Food and drinks: restore health. Eligible items also grant a first-taste bonus once per shop/item: maximum health, punch, kick, or accuracy.
  • Training tapes: buy Grappling ($18) and Counterattack ($20) on Ontario at the Record Store. Find Lake Effect Kick ($24) at the Euclid Arcade, Spinning Kick ($32) at the Lakeside Chinese Restaurant, and Ironworks Punch ($28) at the West 6th bar.
  • Conditioning: permanent defense, bought in three stages: Ontario Record Store, Euclid Arcade, then Old River Army Surplus. Each stage requires the previous one.
  • Gear: weapons last three swings, including misses. Armor wears out after a set number of hits.

Permanent means for this run: upgrades survive defeat and Continue. Starting a new run resets them. Revisit earlier shops by walking back to their street.

03 / Read your opponent

Make every turn count

Tackle is reliable but weaker; Punch balances accuracy and damage; Kick hits harder but misses more often. Special moves may be limited to once per fight. Guard halves incoming damage; the Counterattack tape lets you strike back after blocking a hit.

Blue / QuickAccurate strikes. Watch your health.

Green / HeavyBig hits, lower accuracy. Guard softens the blow.

Grey / PsychicIgnores worn armor. Guard and conditioning still help.

Red / RageGets stronger as rounds pass. Finish the fight quickly.

04 / Reach Lake Erie

Ten districts. Thirty wins.

Enemies get gradually tougher as you reach later streets. Each district takes two regular victories and one boss victory. The counter above the story shows your progress. At level 1, the next alien found while exploring after two wins is the boss. From level 2 onward, you can also choose Challenge District Boss after two wins.

Clearing a boss opens the road ahead and grants +10 maximum health and a full heal. You stay on the cleared street until you choose Walk onward. Defeat the two guards in the final district, then beat the Mothership Commander to save Cleveland.

Travel one street at a time. Choose Walk back to revisit a shop, then walk onward to the active street when ready. Cleared streets have no battles; traveling does not reset wins or heal you. Each arrival changes the scenery and introduces the next neighborhood.

Fleeing does not count as a victory. Bounties depend on the district and whether the enemy is a boss; taking extra turns does not earn more money.

05 / Live to fight again

Save, quit, come back

PROGRESS SAVED confirms a local checkpoint. Use Continue on the title screen to resume. During combat, reloading returns to the last completed turn; outside combat, Continue returns to the directory of the street you were visiting. Existing saves and purchased moves carry over.

After defeat, Recover at shelter restores full health and keeps your upgrades and district wins. You lose 25% of your cash, rounded up. Recovery is free at $0.

Use the same browser and site address. Saves do not sync between devices or between the live site and a local copy. Clearing browser data removes them. Starting a new run asks before replacing your save.