What Vacuum Pilot is
Vacuum Pilot is a 2D top-down speedrunning game where you fly a spaceship through levels built around momentum. The whole control scheme sits on your mouse: hold the left mouse button to accelerate toward the cursor. Because you keep most of your momentum, you drift through corners and around obstacles instead of turning sharply, so the skill is in choosing where you point and when you let go. The inputs are simple to pick up, but the timing and line you take through a level take real practice to clean up. It's early access, minimalist and futuristic in style, and every level has a leaderboard for the best time.
Playing with your group
Free Mode runs with 1 to 10 players on official and Workshop levels. You earn medals and climb leaderboards, and the game matches you with others who are on the same level, so you can compare times side by side without it being a head-to-head race. Competitive Mode runs with 2 to 5 players, pairs you against people of similar skill, and feeds the rankings. Arcade Mode is solo: complete random levels without crashing before the timer runs out, with 3 lives per level. Each completed level shortens the time limit for the next one, and longer runs earn more XP. XP levels you up and unlocks ship parts, so you can mix parts into your own ship as you play.
Making your own levels
The Level Editor uses the same tools the developers use for official levels, and uploads go to the Steam Workshop where other players can race your creations for the fastest time. Any Workshop level can be played in Free Mode, so your group can run levels you or someone else built. Workshop levels also get leaderboards like the official ones.
Before you start
The game is in Early Access and marked as singleplayer in places, while online PvP is listed as a supported feature — check the current mode availability if you're planning a session around playing together. Mouse movement is the core skill, so expect a stretch where your times are messy before lines start to click. Leaderboards exist for every level, official or Workshop, and you can compare your times against friends as well as the wider rankings.