Galaga

is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for Japanese and European arcades; it was distributed by Midway Manufacturing in North America. It is the sequel to 1979's Galaxian, and the second game in the Galaxian series. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued by another ship to give the player a "dual fighter" with additional firepower.

Shigeru Yokoyama led development with a small team. Initial planning took about two months to finish. Originally developed for the Namco Galaxian arcade board, it was instead shifted to a new system as suggested by Namco's Research and Development division. Inspiration for the dual fighter mechanic was taken from a film that Yokoyama had seen prior to development, in which a ship was captured using a large circular beam. The project became immensely popular around the company, with Namco's president Masaya Nakamura even taking interest.