Top-down space shooters were fundamental to the foundation of video games, requiring a complicated but mechanical ability to dodge bullets and shoot them same time. In the years since their introduction, space shooters have become less popular, but all the more difficult to pull off successfully. Icarus (no relation to the Kid) may not be a complex game, or one whose gameplay will bear the weight of predecessors like Galaga, but it's a worthy entry into the genre nonetheless.

Compared with some of the more modern space shooters, Icarus is a very primitive game, with only the very basic shooter elements. You maneuver a ship through an environment that is being constantly propelled forward, among obstacles like space debris and asteroids. As you move, ships fly toward you, and you must take them out while dodging their projectiles. These projectiles, depending on their size, will inflict a certain amount of damage upon your ship until eventually it explodes and you're left with the option to quit the game with that score or continue with the score reset to zero. Most games in the genre are set up this way, with the overall difficulty level varying mostly with the maneuverability of your ship. Icarus is minimalist in this regard. It's not always easy to proceed through the level, but at no point does the complexity rival that of other major shooter franchises.